Joseph Sabino Mistick: Trump works against many of his supporters

Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real thing, but those Never Trumpers who still let Donald Trump work them into a lather are not the only people suffering from a malady. Here’s another phenomenon that has puzzled many observers: Why do so many of Trump’s most militant supporters still fervently support him even as he works against them?

As reported by KDKA-­TV’s investigative reporter Andy Sheehan from the scene of Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade, nearly all union leaders have lined up behind Vice President Kamala Harris for president, “but it’s no secret that many members are voting Trump.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told Politico that “labor and labor leaders are not monoliths, nor do we have magic wands, nor do we have fairy dust. People make their own decisions.”

Liz Shuler, the AFL-CIO president, said of Trump, “It’s no secret that over the course of time, he’s been very effective at messaging to working-class people.” But it is hard to understand how any labor union member could support Trump.

As vice president, Harris worked as part of the most pro-labor administration since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Harris chaired the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, which made it easier for new and existing employees to join a union.

Harris cast the tiebreaking vote in the Senate that saved the pensions of hundreds of thousands of union workers and retirees, mostly Teamsters.

She also cast the tiebreaking vote that funded the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act, creating 800,000 construction jobs.

And the AFL-CIO gave her a 98% lifetime pro-labor score for her voting record as a senator.

Trump’s labor record is different. One year ago, when it was clear that he would get the Republican nomination, the AFL-CIO called him out on wages, safety, health care and retirement.

“The idea that Donald Trump has ever, or will ever, care about working people is demonstrably false. For his entire time as president, he actively sought to roll back worker protections, wages and the right to join a union at every level,” Shuler said.

Shuler cited a long list of Trump’s anti-labor actions, including undermining the merit-based civil service system, making it harder to file a grievance, stacking the National Labor Relations Board with union busters, opposing an increase in the federal minimum wage, defending “right to work” laws in the Supreme Court and rolling back federal job safety regulations.

There is a similar mystery involving some of our veterans. Trump reportedly called fallen American war heroes “losers” and “suckers.” He said that Sen. John McCain was “not a war hero” because he was shot down over Vietnam and held prisoner. He reportedly called President George H.W. Bush a “loser” for getting shot down in World War II. And he recently posed for a campaign ad, grinning and giving the thumbs-up, at the graves of fallen Marines at Arlington National Cemetery. Yet some veterans still say that they’re voting for Trump.

A similar puzzle involves the pro-Trump insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 and savagely beat police officers with makeshift truncheons, including poles with American flags, severely injuring and maiming them. Trump has called the people who did this “great people” and he has promised to pardon many of them. Astonishingly, some police officers still support him.

Hopefully, this is not about people no longer feeling that it is honorable to stand up for those who have stood up and fought for us. In the past, when our national character has been on the line, the American people have come through.