every single smug Republican politician and their equally smug, shit-eating voters excuse this behavior constantly. Even the voters who "voted because they were concerned about their jobs and families", which is a very limp excuse they like to trot out to make it seem like they're not "the bad ones who vote because they dig the Republican racist platform". If they're actively trying to soften the image of the racist Republican voter, they obviously know it's shitty, they just don't want to acknowledge it and are too afraid to otherwise denounce it.

Fuck that. I don't care if people yell at me to "just take the time to understand where they're coming from". If Republican leaders and their voters constantly give creeps and losers like Steve King a free pass, then every single vote from them endorses racism and keeps the flame of bigotry alive. So they deserve no sympathy or doting thinkpieces from the media on "why they went with Trump since they're all just such decent, hardworking, kindhearted folks".