During Donald Trump’s tariff-happy era, it is hard for small business owners to make a living. The actual tariffs on items appear to change weekly, and the regulations disappear with a frightening frequency. Do not even get them started on health care, but if you want a smile during this drama-fraught time, check this out.
Fundraisers draw all sorts of people. Yet, in this highly divisive environment, people across the country have been hiding their true political leanings. In the Hamptons, Donald Trump supporters have taken to submerging their actual beliefs as a matter of survival.
The president headed to Southampton and Bridgehampton for the dwindling high-dollar Republican fundraisers. Still, the residents have been cautious after billionaire Stephen Ross’ gym was boycotted. This followed Trump showing up at his mansion. Ross has lived in the Hamptons for many years.
Real-estate developer Joe Farrell served up a $2,800-per-person Trump fundraiser at his 17,000-square-foot mansion named Sandcastle and located in the little hamlet, Bridgehampton.
A Manhattan artist recently attended the Watermill Center Trump benefit at a Southampton Arts location. She said she was stunned to see Commerce Secretary to Trump, Wilbur Ross and his wife Hilary Geary Ross in attendance, hanging out with the artists and art dealers. A Manhattan artist was shocked, according to The New York Post:
‘They’re Republicans! What were they doing there?’
A Southampton boutique owner was afraid that should his Democratic customers discover that he supports Trump, he would lose business:Â
‘We are all in the closet. It’s like you have this disease and people want to run away from you.’
He continued:
‘You can’t win. If you want to stay in business, you have to learn to lie to people. You have to say stuff like, “I hate his hairdo.” I’m just struggling to make the bottom line here. Honestly, I am not rich enough to have a political opinion.’
Westhampton builder has been stressed out about being boycotted by his customers, too, should people find that he supported Trump:
‘People have really strong opinions here and if you go around wearing a MAGA hat, you really need to fear physical violence.’
Trump has been losing voters who appeared on the cusp of the Democratic vote but went Republican when given the choice between the current president and Secretary Hillary Clinton. People in the area tend to go Democratic especially during the summer months. That was when New Yorkers from NYC flooded into the little villages along the beach.
In Suffolk County, the president took 51.5 percent of the 2016 vote against 44.6 percent going to the Democratic candidate Clinton. In both 2008 and 2012, the county majority went to President Barack Obama.
An art consultant in Sag Harbor said:
‘They’re all Democrats, so for us it’s a matter of survival. We live in the land of the First Amendment, but if you want to stay in business out here, you have to keep your opinions to yourself. We are hitting a very dark and strange place as a country.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
