I like the general idea of empathizing with Trump supporters, regardless of whether we support Trump, but I‘m frustrated that the author is just as guilty of engaging in elitist patterns, even while criticizing them: “If you earn your money using your intellect (like Jonathan Chait), you score high on elitism, and you probably view the world very differently from a man driving heavy equipment in Birmingham, Alabama, who uses his body for labor.” Typing articles into a computer is also using your body (in fact it’s directly comparable to operating the control panel of heavy equipment), and the licensed skills required to operate heavy equipment are just as legitimate a use of intellect. Every laborer has skills and knowledge required to do their job well, and they’re just as important regardless of how much society values them.