The real reason Australian elites hate Trump: The bandana bore says Americans are just dumb. The truth is Don’s comeback reminds us of something we lost and will never get back, writes STEPHEN JOHNSON

Australia’s cultural elites are truly mocking working-class pride when they have a meltdown reaction to Donald Trump‘s election victory.

Left-wing author Peter FitzSimons struggled to show any civility when an X-follower politely called him out for espousing the idea that Trump supporters were beneath contempt.

“I have no respect for Trump whatsoever,” he replied as the election results rolled in.

FitzSimons, a resident of Mosman on Sydney’s very posh lower north shore, would likely struggle to understand how working-class Americans voted Republican because they are more concerned about high inflation and job security than identity politics over race and gender .

Vice President Kamala Harris not only lost the industrial states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, after she made abortion and ‘defending democracy’ key issues of her campaign.

She also gave Democrats their worst electoral college vote in the presidential election since 1988, when Trump’s Republicans captured states with the highest percentage of workers.

But this time she also became the first Democrat in two decades to lose the popular vote after preferring to campaign on stage with the likes of Bon Jovi, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez.

Trump instead donned a McDonald’s uniform, served up fries, and also sat in a garbage truck wearing an orange fluorescent vest – which was ridiculed by the left-wing media.

In any case, the Republican president-elect showed an affinity for low-paid workers, or those who performed heavy physical labor.

This is something that certain snobbish B-class celebrities – including those who wear a red bandana as a fashion statement – ​​may find it difficult to understand as centre-left political parties, from the US Democrats to the Australian Labor Party, lose the support of those without a university . rank.

FitzSimons even dismissively suggested that Australian followers of Trump – with their red Make America Great Again hats – were mentally unwell.

“The saddest part for me is that Australia’s MAGA supporters claim to be ‘patriots’ – completely oblivious to the fact that they are nothing more than a neglected branch of American idiots,” he posted on X a month before the election.

“As UN-Australian and unpatriotic as they come!”

The irony of FitzSimons describing Trump supporters as unpatriotic and ‘crazy’ for wanting to protect local jobs!

In fact, Trump’s plan to impose 10 to 20 percent tariffs on imports is exactly the kind of policy Australia pursued when it still had an auto industry.

From 2000 to 2005, Australia imposed tariffs of 15 percent on imported cars.

In 2002, Holden – not Toyota – was still Australia’s best-selling brand, with the Adelaide-built Commodore the best-selling car.

Import tariffs fell to 10 percent in 2005, and under Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd they were halved again in 2010 to just five percent.

In 2011, the Australian-made Holden Commodore was no longer Australia’s best-selling car, with the fully imported Mazda3 taking the crown.

Never before has a fully imported car been Australia’s top seller, with the country’s most popular car previously either assembled or manufactured entirely locally.

Just six years later, Australia made its last car, with Holden, Ford and Toyota all having closed their local manufacturing operations.

This happened during Trump’s first year in office in 2017.

The end of Holden was a blow to Australia’s national pride, ending 100 years of the former Adelaide saddlery company assembling American General Motors cars and launching the first Holden in 1948.

The brand synonymous with the Kingswood and the Commodore was once the pride of Australia, but the car brand with the lion emblem died in 2021.

The Ford Falcon nameplate had endured for 56 years – as a car proudly made in Australia – but the world’s longest-standing model name is now little more than a historical footnote.

Trump could be ridiculed by elites for wanting to impose high tariffs, including the 60 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.

But from 1978 to 1988, Australia actually had 57.5 percent tariffs on all imported cars.

The elites also love to mock Trump for wanting to tear up free trade agreements.

It’s all well and good if both sides operate in good faith, but in the case of Thailand, Australia was fooled after signing such a deal in 2005.

In an attempt to protect its own car industry, Thailand imposed special taxes on larger cars, making it impossible for Ford Australia to export the Territory SUV to that market.

Ford also only made large right-hand drive cars, and with obstacles standing in its way despite a free trade agreement, the company had no viable export program to survive as a local manufacturer beyond 2016.

It is now too late for Australia to revive its car industry.

In any case, Trump – the author of The Art of the Deal – understands that it is the working class who bear the brunt of bad deals.

That’s something the wealthy, left-wing elites may want to consider — but it’s probably beyond them.