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华尔街日报

特朗普支持者是如何失去那份爱的感觉的How Trump Supporters Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’

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10月17日,在肯塔基州海兰海茨举行的一场竞选集会上,总统唐纳德·特朗普望向支持者。(凯文·拉马克/路透社)President Donald Trump looks at supporters during a campaign rally, Highland Heights, Ky., Oct. 17. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

一封写有“美国普通叛教共和党人”签名的信件被发现于白宫信箱。亲爱的总统先生:我一直希望您能收到信息,事情并非全然安好,而且已经很久了。我受够了。我们受够了。我厌倦了向朋友为您辩护,而且最重要的是向自己辩护。像个傻子一样,我一直以为会有所改变。您说您爱我,但有时爱还不够。

The following letter was found in the White House mailbox bearing the signature “America’s Average Disaffected Republican.”Dear Mr. President: I kept hoping you’d get the message that things aren’t all right. And they haven’t been for a while. I’m done. We’re done. I’m tired of making excuses for you to my friends, and most of all to myself. Like a fool who would never see the truth, I kept thinking something would change. You say you love me. But sometimes love ain’t enough.

自从我第一次投票支持您以来,过去十年如坐过山车。我起初就有疑虑。我的朋友们说您是疯子,有人甚至把您和希特勒相比。但您在第一任期通过减税和放松管制赢得了我的支持。我将永远怀念我们共度的美好时光。

It’s been a roller coaster of a decade since I first voted for you. I had my doubts at the start. My friends said you were crazy. Some compared you to Hitler. But you won me over during your first term with your tax cuts and deregulation. I will always look back fondly on the good times we had.

汽油每加仑2.50美元。在苹果比斯餐厅的家庭晚餐并未让人觉得是奢侈消费。我的工资增长速度快于账单,我也不必担心那些声称自己是女孩的男孩在学校里使用我女儿的女洗手间。

Gas cost $2.50 a gallon. A family dinner at Applebee’s didn’t feel like a splurge. My paycheck grew faster than my bills. And I didn’t have to worry about boys who claimed to be girls using my daughter’s restroom at school.

即便在新冠疫情期间,我也支持您。事情并不容易。您常说的那些让我作呕的话,比如“当骚乱开始时,枪声就开始了”。您会指责别人把您的话曲解,并将其归于您的恶意。但真正的问题在于:您常常以为自己在开玩笑,而实际上并非如此。

Even during the Covid pandemic, I stuck by you. It wasn’t easy. You often said things that made me cringe. “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”You blame others for taking you out of context and attributing to you bad intent. But the real problem: You often think you’re being funny, and you aren’t.

您总是必须站在每场新冠疫情记者会的中心位置。您承诺“15天内遏制疫情扩散”,但封锁措施却持续拖延。您在2020年选举中落选并不令人惊讶。不过,根据福克斯新闻民意调查,在选举前46%的选民仍批准您的整体表现,而如今仅有36%,创下您两届任期的历史新低。

You always had to be at the center of every Covid press conference. You promised “15 days to slow the spread,” but lockdowns dragged on and on. It was no surprise you lost in 2020. Still, 46% of voters approved of your overall performance before the election, according to a Fox News poll. Now only 36% do, a record low during your two terms.

2020年,我虽然很不情愿,但还是投票给了你——因为另一个候选人(乔·拜登)的情况更糟糕。然而随后发生了1月6日的国会山骚乱事件:当那些相信你、认为选举结果被篡改的美国人冲进国会山时,你却袖手旁观、无所作为。诚然,各州确实放宽了选举规则,但选举真的被篡改了吗?你根本不愿承认自己输了,就像你不愿承认自己的错误一样。

I reluctantly voted for you in 2020 because the alternative, Sleepy Joe Biden, was worse. Then came the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. You fiddled while Americans who believed you when you said the election was stolen stormed the Capitol. Yes, states had eased election rules, but stolen? Really? You couldn’t admit that you lost, any more than you can admit a mistake.

然而,拜登执政的四年让我的愤怒与失望与日俱增。民主党完全失去了控制;通货膨胀率高达9.1%,让我无比怀念你上任初期的经济繁荣时期。就连那些投票给拜登的朋友们也感到无比失望。

Still, four years of Mr. Biden and Democratic lawfare made me enraged. Democrats were out of control. Inflation, which peaked at 9.1%, made me long for the good old economic days of your first term. Even my friends who voted for Sleepy Joe were fed up.

你曾宣称:“我的复仇就是让美国再次繁荣。”我当时想:“也许他真的成熟了……”但事实证明我错了。说实话,你对提高所有商品关税10%的承诺并没有让我感到兴奋。不过,投票给某人就意味着接受这个人的所有政策——虽然没有哪个候选人是完美的,但毫无疑问,你确实比卡玛拉·哈里斯更强。

You declared “my revenge will be success.”I thought, hmmm, maybe he’s matured. Did I turn out to be wrong. Honestly, I wasn’t enthused about your promise of a 10% across-the-board tariff. But when you vote for someone, you’re buying a package. No candidate is perfect, but there was no doubt you were better than Kamala.

因此,2024年我还是再次投票给了你。虽然我知道接下来的四年不会一帆风顺,但过去两年简直是一连串的失望。我支持你关闭边境、驱逐非法移民的立场,但在很多问题上你都做得太过火了。最近我听说已经有3.5万名儿童的父母被驱逐出境……我一直认为你是个有担当、有爱心的人……但现在我开始怀疑你的真正意图了。

So I voted for you in 2024, warts and all. I wasn’t under the illusion that the next four years would be a stroll in Central Park, but the last two have been one disappointment after another. I support your commitment to closing the border and deporting criminal illegal aliens, but as with so many other things, you went too far. I recently read that 35,000 kids have had their parents deported. I always thought of you as a tough guy with a big heart. I am starting to wonder.

你总吹嘘自己的关税政策让国家变得更富强,但我看到的只有超市里不断上涨的商品价格。我同意我们需要阻止中国对我们的剥削,但你们却选择与加拿大挑起贸易争端……这到底有什么意义呢?

You boast about how your tariffs are making the country richer, but all I see are higher prices at the supermarket. I agree with you that we need to stop China from ripping us off, but instead you’ve picked a trade fight with Canada. Where’s the sense in that?

你告诉我,我不该为通胀感到不安,说经济比以往任何时候都好。你假装一切都没问题,否定我的感受。但不只是我一个人。39%的共和党人不赞同你处理经济的方式。你宁愿转移话题,但我已经听腻了关于舞厅的那些话。你说会在五周内结束的伊朗战争已经拖延不止。你一向就不擅长把事情做完。

You tell me that I shouldn’t be upset about inflation, that the economy is better than ever. You pretend nothing is wrong and invalidate how I am feeling. But it isn’t just me. Thirty-nine percent of Republicans disapprove of your handling of the economy. You prefer to change the subject, but I am sick of hearing about the ballroom. The war in Iran that you said would take five weeks has dragged on. You always did have trouble finishing a job.

我支持你阻止伊朗那个弥赛亚式政权获得核武器的目标,但我不明白你的终极目标是什么。我也不明白你儿子们和那些跟班的加密货币交易细节,但那些交易闻起来很臭。我也不明白你和弗拉基米尔·普京的“男男情谊”,也不明白你为什么为肯·帕克斯顿这样的坏蛋辩护。

I support your goal of stopping Iran’s messianic regime from getting nuclear weapons, but I don’t understand your endgame. Nor do I understand the details of the crypto business deals by your sons and flunkies, but they stink. I also don’t understand your bromance with Vladimir Putin, or why you stick up for bad dudes like Ken Paxton.

你已经准备好,如果共和党失去国会,就把责任推给别人。弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基。卡尔·罗夫。哎呀,你甚至可能怪罪我。我只是不欣赏你据称做的所有美好事情。我应该更感激才对。把你的问题归咎于别人,这招老了,唐纳德。你就不能一次承担责任吗?

You’re already preparing to scapegoat others if Republicans lose Congress. Volodymyr Zelensky. Karl Rove. Heck, you may even blame me. I just didn’t appreciate all the wonderful things that you supposedly did. I should be more grateful. Blaming other people for your problems is getting old, Donald. Can’t you take responsibility for once?

如果我11月3日不去投票,那是因为你把我的支持视作理所当然。你一次又一次地违背承诺。现在你想承诺发一张5000美元的支票来买我的选票。金钱买不来支持。借用泰勒·斯威夫特的一句话,我只希望你能成为一个更好的人。

If I don’t turn out to vote on Nov. 3, it’s because you’ve taken my support for granted. You’ve broken promise after promise. Now you’re trying to buy my vote by promising a $5,000 check. Money can’t buy you support. To steal a line from Taylor Swift, I just wish you were a better man.

[视频] WSJ Opinion: It’s the Economy, Stupid—but How Stupid?

[video] WSJ Opinion: It’s the Economy, Stupid—but How Stupid?

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