As someone who attended more colleges than Sara Palin, and not because we were academically inclined, I should be able to identify with critics of the intellectual liberal elite, the experts on everything.
On the other hand, how does knowledge inhibit decision-making, or stifle informed choices? How does reading diminish understanding? The logic escapes me.
In a Trumpian world supporters of Donald are more comfortable with the basics, a false statement repeated, an altered platitude, a fiery attack, since the best defense is a good offense. 
Upward mobility is elusive and changing demographics confusing, which feeds desperation and hostility, fueling the debate and divide, whether it makes sense or not. An alternate reality, lacking moral direction, is the lifejacket in their lifeboat. 
Exploiting the superficial and irrelevant, while Rome burns, is a successful tactic in a cognitive vacuum, if it makes you feel better.
To paraphrase a familiar retort: “Have we no sense of decency?” Not really.
Alexander Lyall
Middlebury