The heart of Trumpism.

I suppose a bright shiny object for a tribe to bond around isn’t entirely “nothing,” but in his case, it’s close.

For me, it's encapsulated in that quote by one of his deplorables: "He's not hurting the right people."

But yes, enthusiasm for its own sake is also a huge part of it. Like junkies, they're forever chasing the 2016 dragon; that fluke election is where it all started.

They’re like Deadheads without the music. The hats, t-shirts, flags so-called “rallies” are actually the agenda—with a soupçon of xenophobia.

Stunted emorional maturity, lack of education, xenophobia and racism.

This is why Trumpism is so hard to defeat, it's like fighting air, and if you try, your opposition becomes the proof that Trump 'must be on to something'. And he is--that something is how you can convince people you will protect them using racist dog whistles, empty threats, violent imagery, paranoia, anger, and prideful ignorance. He adds to the general confusion with more confusion--reacting to a mash of current events with inane comments and childish insults. Trump WANTS his people in the weeds, and he's figured out how to keep them there.

It's Hate. They hate minorities, foreigners, women, LGBTQ, non-Christians, Socialists, intellectuals, abortion proponents, liberals, green/renewable energies, vaccines, gun opponents... Anyone who can help further their agenda of cleansing society of this 'vermin' they will support.

Also grievance and vengeance against perceived enemies and their own failures.

[quote]heart of Trumpism

Oxymoron.

I'd say that it's fear as much as hate. The angry old straight white Christian men are terrified of losing their privilege despite the fact that they are not and won't in our lifetimes. What they see is a softening of others' attitudes toward minorities which leads to, eventually, liberty and justice for all, lofty goals for sure and supposedly what this nation is all about until you peek under the hood and realize that pledge should have concluded "for straight, white, Christian men" were it historically accurate.

Seems to me that those who still hang onto Trump are the dumbest of the dumb. There have been Republicans who have supported him that are now tired of him and his antics. We don't hear about those Republicans much because they're not attending his rallies.

It's white people who still have PTSD from eight years of a Black man running the country and the feeling they were losing their control over society.

He has pulled together a coalition of (1) people with hate in their hearts; (2) low intellect under-achievers; (3) people susceptible to a hive mind belief system; (4) the perpetually aggrieved; and (5) rich people who want an oligarchy where 98% of the population are the working class.

Yes, they fear and they hate, but Trump doesn’t really have any agenda for them . No platform—literally none. Sure, he will cut taxes for the rich, but that’s not what the MAGAs want. He talks about building a wall, but he didn’t do it the first time, it wouldn’t work, and they don’t care.

It's a Carnival of Hate, with cheap merch to bamboozle and entertain the poors while the super rich continue to fleece everyone.

What they love about Trump is he’s an empty vessel ready to absorb and repeat whatever gets them excited. He exists to be the focus of their tribal identity.

Only a politician who stands for nothing but himself could pull off that trick. Like his new company—it’s literally nothing, but they throw money at it.

[quote]What they love about Trump is he’s an empty vessel ready to absorb and repeat whatever gets them excited.

Yes, they have no consistent political principles or a coherent ideological framework, so they have no problem with Trump espousing completely different ideas from one day to the next.

"TikTok must be banned!" (Applause! Applause!)

Trump gets an infusion of cash from a TikTok investor: "TikTok is wonderful!" (Applause! Applause!)