A Short Dialogue In Which I Attempt To Explain Trump’s Election To My Son In The Future

Me: So what probably killed Clinton as a candidate was that people just didn’t find her likable enough.

My son: Was that because her opponent was so likable?

Me: Oh no, he literally was the least likable and most loathsome serious candidate for President as far as anyone could remember. People despised him. He made their skin crawl. He produced a visceral level of revulsion in a huge cross-section of the American public. He spent one of the debates stalking behind her like a serial killer.

My son: So Trump won because he had more experience?

Me: God no! He had almost no relevant experience whatsoever and was and remains so arrogant that he barely seems to even know what goes into the job of being President.

My son: She must have been even less experience, then.

Me: Not at all! If anything, she had maybe too much experience. She’d been first lady, Senator from a hugely important state and secretary of state. He had hosted several reality shows and played himself in multiple Whoopi Goldberg movies.

My son: So he was honest, and of high moral character and people respected that?

Me: Oh god no! He was a delusional, pathological liar. Couldn’t help himself. And he was just a loathsome, loathsome human being. Made your skin crawl. Had a problem with everybody: women, gays, Jews, minorities, immigrants. A lot of people straight up despised the man.

My son: So he had great ideas that captured the public’s imagination?

Me: His ideas were all juvenile, impractical and nonsensical. Hell, he barely seemed to know what his beliefs were, or if he even had any beyond a desperate belief that he should possess all the power in the world.

My son: So he was incredibly unlikable, lied all the time, had terrible ideas and no experience. Did he just win because people hate women?

Me: Pretty much.

We both sigh

Nathan Rabin is a dad, columnist and the author of five books, most recently the hugely expanded e-book 7 Days In Ohio: Trump, The Gathering of the Juggalos and the Summer Everything Went Insane