From Salon today:
Bernie and the blame game: Accusing the progressive left of thought crimes is no way to rebuild the Democratic Party
The charge that Sanders is an apologist for the bigotry of Trump supporters (or even Trump himself), or that he is brushing aside social issues in favor of economic ones, has become increasingly popular in the liberal critique of not only Sanders but also the entire progressive left. These days, whenever leftists stress the importance of class or urge the Democratic Party to embrace a more radical economic agenda to confront historic levels of income and wealth inequality and appeal to working people, they inevitably face some unsavory accusations of defending or trivializing white supremacy, transphobia, sexism or xenophobia.
The bulk of the article covers familiar ground, but it does go on to explore the idea of distinguishing Trump supporters from Trump voters, suggesting that Democrats could find common cause with some of the latter.
In other words, there are Trump supporters and there are Trump voters. A Pew Research Center survey conducted shortly before the election, for example, suggested that a significant number of those planning to vote for Trump were really intending to cast a ballot against Clinton. And 2016 exit polls showed that of the 15 percent of voters surveyed who said that neither candidate was qualified to serve as president, about two-thirds voted for Trump. Of the 39 percent of voters polled who considered as most important the quality that the candidate “can bring needed change,” more than 80 percent cast ballots for the billionaire.
*** Content Warning: The article definitely has some primary re-hashing, so you may want to skim or skip those parts if you need a break. Overall, I thought it was worth the read.