I feel like this irony is at the core of the modern Republican party (witness the fact that more ideologically consistent libertarian types have basically found themselves ignored in the post-Trump era).
The cynical way of looking at this (and IMO supported by the popularity of Trump's rhetoric) is that most on-the-ground Republicans aren't actually opposed to government handouts, they're just worried that government handouts are mostly going to the wrong people - groups outside of their circle of empathy. Unfortunately, this often seems to be largely defined by race...
The cynical way of looking at this (and IMO supported by the popularity of Trump's rhetoric) is that most on-the-ground Republicans aren't actually opposed to government handouts, they're just worried that government handouts are mostly going to the wrong people - groups outside of their circle of empathy. Unfortunately, this often seems to be largely defined by race...