One thing about the pundit focus on Real America (where glorious white people do white things in diners, or something) is that they just tend to assume that it benefits Republicans. Okay, to be fair, they tend to assume everything benefits Republicans, but the privileging of the mythical Real American And His Culture tends to lead them to think that every time Republicans throw some red meat to the base, a majority of the country claps. Sure people lie to pollsters and issues have different intensities for people. It could be good politics to do something even if a majority disapprove because it might not be an issue that those who disapprove care about much. But I don't think your typical white male Sunday morning panel guest, or David Brooks, really has his finger on the pulse of this Real America
even if it exists.
I'm focusing on the football issue, specifically. I don't claim to have my finger on the pulse of Real America either, but I'd guess a lot of the people who disapprove of Trump's handling of the issue also don't really like the players kneeling during the anthem. Still, they probably get that Trump is injecting politics into their Sunday Funday much more than the players are. They want to run out and get a beer during the anthem, not feel like they have to stand there with more than the usual peer pressure to look patriotic. They don't want to have to argue about this shit while watching the game at the bar. They were probably mad at the players, but Trump made it worse.
