....Trump draws a largely working-class crowd, including unionists, Blacks and Latinos, and rural toilers. Some are enthusiastic supporters, others say they come because working people face a growing crisis and they are looking for new answers.
Some liberals and the petty-bourgeois left say Trump is a fascist, pointing especially to his right-wing demagogy against undocumented immigrants, including calls for building a wall along the Mexican border. When 30,000 turned out for a Trump rally in Mobile, Alabama, Aug. 21, Chris Matthews of MSNBC referred to the area as the "Redneck Riviera."
What's drawing the large crowds to Trump's rallies is not racism, but rather his insistence that a sharply different course is needed for workers and his disdain for establishment candidates and politics as usual. He says he's a successful businessman and tough negotiator who will get things done, especially getting people working. Trump talks about rebuilding infrastructure and promoting trade policies he claims will "bring jobs back to America."
He says all the other candidates, of both parties, have created a mess for working people. Speaking to thousands in Jacksonville, Florida, Oct. 24, he declared, "We don't need nice, we need competent."
Asked about foreign policy on "Face the Nation" Oct. 11, Trump said, "I want to have a much stronger military. I want it to be so strong that nobody is going to mess with us." He argued against deeper U.S. military involvement in Syria, saying, "What, are we going to start World War III over Syria?"
And he pledged to take care of workers who have served in the military, who he notes "are treated terribly." Instead of calling for greater conflict with Moscow, as most other candidates do, Trump says when Putin attacks Islamic State in Syria, "I'm all for it."
Socialist Workers Party members have set up tables outside Trump events, including at his Oct. 21 rally in Burlington, Iowa, discussing politics and selling the Militantand Pathfinder Press books on revolutionary working-class politics. While some say they aren't interested, many welcome discussion on the party's proposals to defend working-class interests....
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