Trump. We know why he's hated. But why is he still around? Why does little under 1/2 of this country like him?

[quote]WHAT THE HECK IS THE ATTRACTION?

He triggers us libs to high heaven and he says things out loud politicians didn't use to say before he came along. In a way, people craved that reality TV "realness" in politics; there was something inauthentic and unapproachable about the forced civility in pre-Trump politics.

I don't think they'll ever forget the high of that fluke election win in 2016 where he defeated the personification of what I described in the previous paragraph (much as I love her).

He gave the ignorant and malcontent a soap box and permission to shout from it;

People want a leader that’s like they are, and a lot of Americans are assholes.

He hates the same people that they hate and the whole country has daddy issues

OP, I believe your answer to the question lies in how dissatisfied Americans are with government. They wanted someone who could shake things up — and he continues to do that, so they continue to love him. Also, don’t underestimate pride. People have too much pride to admit they got fucking scammed by Trump, so it’s easier to just keep the rah-rah going than admit they were all played like a fiddle.

I think it’s good to understand them IF the goal is to move us forward. But I refuse to understand them out of pure empathy, nope, no way. I’ve also come to accept that millions will be left behind, we aren’t going to change them, so keep the country moving without them. At the same time, we can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of the Civil War again. These people who cross the line and support him *must* go to prison. I want fair trials for all of them, including Trump. The biggest gift we can give the country is a completely fair trial of Trump because it neutralizes them.

I do have a theory, OP. I think there are a few reasons he has so many supporters. Number one, many have bought into the fantastical tale that has been manufactured about him; that he's this incredible businessman and leads a privileged life that they can only dream of. Kinda like how people are fascinated with Tom Cruise. It's escapism that they think has some tangible meaning to their lives. Many white, working class people see him as expressing the rage that they feel. He's an outlet that allows them to spew their hatred of big government, taxes, and the threat of black and brown people claiming and actually gaining their legitimate place in our society. These people probably don't know anything about policy or even how our government is set up, but hell, neither does Trump. They think he'll burn it all down, 'drain the swamp' (yeah right!), and we'll come out on the other end with our country in a better place. It's these politically uneducated people who are keeping the establishment Republicans from simply throwing Trump out with the trash. Most of those elected Republicans are all in mortal fear that if they talk or go against him, they'll all lose their jobs in the next election. They're really the ones to blame.

Then there are folks who see him as the best choice simple because he's the Republican choice, and no matter what he's done, how little he understands about governing or his complete lack of fitness to serve in elected office, God Dammit, he's going to protect their financial interests.

It's tragic, but fascinating at the same time.

Trump isn't loved by anyone. People are loyal to him because they think he hates people like us. Plain and simple. It's hate, not love, that motivates his followers.

Your relatives are morons. Was that so hard to deduce for you?

Because the other half - whom they hate - hate him.

Half of the country just wants to be told what they want to hear. It doesn’t have to have any credibility but if you say the right things, the people who are either too stupid or invested will go along with it. We support the police, but don’t make me go the speed limit. Tax breaks are bad but not when our people benefit. Religion is okay, but only if it’s “Christian”. You can have as many guns as you want, but don’t identify as heterosexual don’t talk to us.

There’s a huge percentage of the county that don’t read or watch the news. Sure, if there’s some big weather event—a hurricane or wild fires—they’ll turn it on out of curiosity but most people are too wrapped up in their own families, work, and lives to pay attention. The problems that the US has are long standing and complex. No one wants to read up on them, it’s too depressing. It’s easier to read some bs hot take on Facebook or Twitter. It’s easier to blame Biden for inflation vs nameless corporations. This, without even getting into Trump.

Even though he is a fat slob who is 77, he plays the aloha male and that’s why he is so loved. He insults, attacks, lies, and makes dumb jokes and they love it. Even though he has broken many laws and put our country at great risk, they don’t care. He gets away with anything (so far) because they want a fat pig leader.

^ alpha male

And he’s into white power.

And hillbillies like white power.

A little under one half of Americans like him? I think not, more like under a quarter.

[quote] They think he'll burn it all down, 'drain the swamp' (yeah right!), and we'll come out on the other end with our country in a better place.

Except Trump didn't do any of those things during his four years in office, so why would they think he'll do them this time around? Trump's supporters are idiots, but you'd think at least a few of them would catch on to the fact that Trump never does any of the things he says he will. He didn't "drain the swamp." He didn't "build a wall and make Mexico pay." He didn't repeal and replace Obamacare. He didn't "lock her up." "Infrastructure Week" never happened. Coal mines aren't buzzing with activity again. Most of the MAGAts' lives didn't improve at all while Trump was president. Yet they continue to see him as their great hope and personal savior. They won't even consider any other candidates. Now, Trump is once again promising to "make America great again." Well, if he had made America great during his first term in office, there would be no need to do it again.

They don't care R17. Half of Americans would like to smear their feces on the wall and insult their neighbors. That's all it is.

He seems to be the mascot of disaffected Americans who want a President who doesn’t do anything and just says “fuck it.” This includes being the ugly American on a global stage.

“In Mizzourah, we pray to the orange god no matter how hard fucks us. It’s like what did done, he’s showing love. It’s tough love from tha Messiah!” 🐍

OP, you need to edit your posts.

His whole schtick, which Republicans have adopted, is owning the libs. There is no policy, just being jerks and gross Americans. A lot of the population is like this so they identify with random anger over problem solving..

[quote] They don't care [R17]. Half of Americans would like to smear their feces on the wall and insult their neighbors. That's all it is.

That's what's so scary and depressing. I can maybe understand how 10% or 20% of Americans would be fine with electing a clueless president who does nothing except insult "the libs," immigrants, black people, etc. But we're talking about 40%-45% of Americans. Plus an entire political party that's OK with it. It's hard to look at those facts and not conclude that we are totally fucked as a country. It seems that there is no way forward, except waiting for all of the MAGAts to die and hoping the next generation is better and smarter.

Unfortunately the media keeps Trump in the news 24-7. He’s not really doing anything. He’s a criminal defendant and they should stop reporting on everything he says. That would extinguish him pretty quickly.

[[R23]]. Totally agree. It's insane to watch people not call him out. I've never seen the country like this before in my lifetime so its very strange.

Watch My Cousin Vinnie and Goodfellas. I swear Joe Pesci played a big part in Trump’s popularity. Pesci’s rotten characters are admired dues to his “lovability.” Think of the scene in Goodfellas where Pesci gets riled up because a woman says she can understand why a white girl would marry Sammy Davis Jr. 90% of the male white audience for Goodfellas agrees with him. Tommy’s “tellin’ it like it is” and being funny at the same time. (“We don’t want her kissing Nat King Cole over here”). When he says, “I understand what you’re saying. He’s very talented. But you have to be careful the way you say things or people will get the wrong impression…..Why don’t you just leave it alone now? The guy’s very talented. Leave it at that.”

It’s exactly something Trump would say. Trump would hang out with Kanye West for clout and to show he’s not a racist, but if Ivanka ever said she wanted to date West, that’s what Trump would say. “He’s very talented. Leave it at that.”

In My Cousin Vinnie, Pesce lies about his identity throughout the trial to the judge. He never gets found out for his lies and so he “outsmarts” the judge when it’s really his gf who saves Vinnie’s bacon by contacting a judge who has wonderful things to say about Vinnie despite the fact Vinnie’s never tried a case before and it took him years to pass the bar. But it’s ok because Vinnie is everyman. He lies because he “needs to” and it works for him. What’s the problem? He didn’t get caught lying, so it’s ok.

US media has been throwing antiheroes at the public since the 1950s. Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, James Dean, Tony Soprano and his crew. Antiheroes used to break the law for a fundamental belief in a moral system they adhered to, but eventually antiheroes just became bad guys who did bad things to enrich and empower themselves. And audiences liked that. As long as the antihero sticks it to “the man,” it’s ok.

And that’s what Trump is. He’s a bad guy enriching and empowering only himself and that’s ok with Americans who’ve spent their entire lives consuming 20th and 21st century entertainment. The bad guys are the cool guys. They tell us they’re fighting “the man” - the evil government that wants to take away their freedom to say, “I don’t want her kissing fucking Nat King Cole over here.”

Don't waste your beautiful mind thinking about Trump. He's ruined himself and is clinging to his last shreds of dignity.

WHITENESS.

Remember the average to borderline special ed students from your school, the ones who copied off you in the classroom while bullying you in the hallway? They love trump because he tells them it’s ok, even good, to cheat at life and hurt others to get what they’re entitled to.

Seeing this person as front runner of one of the two major political parties, and that he has a chance of winning says a lot Americans. The Republican voters are amoral. They’re fine with criminals running the government. They’re fine with the outright cruelty inflicted on the rest of society, including gun violence and death. They’re fine with polluting the environment and trashing the planet. They’re depraved, and I don’t think this country will survive with them having as much power as they have.

A couple of weeks ago, Ron DeSantis, a leading Republican candidate for POTUS, announced that, if elected, on his very first day in office, he would begin to "slit the throats" of government employees. 50 years ago, nobody would have dared say such a thing, and if they had, they'd be silenced immediately. Rhonda's remarked barely caused a yawn when the bitch said it, which only shows how low political discourse and politics have fallen in the United States. But when a Democratic senator shows up for work in a hoodie and shorts, the outrage was deafening.

If Trump's is elected for a second term, he'll do nothing but settle old scores and revenge against anyone who he thought was disrespectful of Our Lord and Savior.

R2 So apparently that was something that was choking people up. I kinda get it although I think he's a moronic criminal.

Republicans whom I used to consider decent, especially the true conservatives among them, made a deal with the devil. I'm talking about people like Romney, McConnell, and even Graham. They believed the opposite of me most of the time, but they worked within the establishment to try to enact their (shitty) policies. With Trump, they agreed to look the other way to secure major objectives: massive tax cut for the very wealthy and corporations, packed Supreme Court, overturning Roe v. Wade and so on.

As for the hoi polloi, they want somebody who says things they might have thought but would not say (until now) – non-White people deserve to be second- or third-class citizens, women should obey their men, Christians are superior to adherents of other religions, government overreaches (when it benefits somebody else more than them), etc. I used to think it was because those folks has some kind of aspirational affection – he said he became a billionaire despite starting out poor – and they admired that and thought it could happen for them as well. We all know Trump is full of shit, but these are the things he said or at least telegraphed to disaffected, mostly White Americans. When he lost reelection, Trump had no choice but to claim fraud and a big, left-wing cabal was out to get him and those who support him. It's an easy crutch that requires no critical thinking skills.

And here we are. As long as Democrats do not follow their usual practice of fucking themselves, national Republicans will be out of power for another generation. The stain of Trump will last as long as sycophants like Jordan, Cotton, and the like keep getting reelected. He provided them with a proven game plan to appeal to the disaffected and feed them lines about how they are victims. Honestly, I probably won't be alive when national politics is finally rid of Trump and his acolytes, but one can hope.

Simple:

TRUMP HAS CHARISMA

It's mostly tribal. Like being devoted to your sports team, or favorite wrestler, or even church leader. Trump's following has been mostly cult of personality from the very beginning.

If you live long enough you see the same thing happening again: In 1970 my brother worked for a radio station. The owner of the station also owned a small market. My brother arranged for me to work at the market. We moved from the small town where he lived to an even smaller town near the market. Across the highway from our house was a church that had rock 'n' roll music coming out of it. We were curious but never went over there . Many years later my brother and I were talking and I mentioned that church and the music. My brother said "that was Jim Jones". Right across the highway all this poop is going on! That was a cult and the Kool Aid Trump is hawking is that the election was stolen.

People who have been duped by a con man don't want to admit they were so stupid to be conned, so they double down on their support.

I will happily donate the grape flavor aid to these sons of bitches. Drink up, cunts.

He’s a lazy fat fuck and so are many Americans. They see themselves in him. Do you remember the Bob Dylan song Only A Pawn in Their Game? “The rich politician preaches to the poor white man, You’ve got more than the blacks, don’t complain. You’re better than them, you’ve been born with white skin , he explained . And the negros name it’s used in vain ,while the poor white remains on the caboose of the train ,but it ain’t him to blame, he’s only a pawn in their game.” That’s what Trump does..raises these people up while putting down people of color or anybody who doesn’t fit the narrative…but he has done absolutely nothing for these hillbillies.

He is their cult leader and they worship him. Logic does not apply.

We need a couple more "big events" like January 6th caused by Trump and the MAGAts with some kind of body count to refocus everyone on his destructive criminality in the next year.

1. The popular kid in high school pays attention to the nerds 2. While he’s getting press attention for dumb soundbites, conservatives push through their agenda that help the rich. (The libs may grumble but they ,too, are rich & like the outcome - more wealth) 3 he’s a tv star. People like celebs (& like to hate them - use DL as an example) so - the ignored aren’t, the rich got richer & everyone loves/hates celebs.

Well if we all just kiss the ring a little harder next time!

Because Americans have become less educated than third world countries.

What would you post about here if he wasn't here?

[quote]Well if we all just kiss the ring a little harder next time!

Are you able to spread his asscheeks wide enough to get to it?

The national average IQ is falling below freeway speed limits

R45, You. We'd post about you and your misguided high opinion of yourself when in reality you are an illogical weirdo.

R45 It’s not like if we ignore him he’ll go away. We need to unite against him to keep him out of power!

It's NOT half the country. Have you guys never seen the actual percentages on this?

Let's be generous and say 50% of eligible voters actually vote in America. Dump has 30-35% of the Republican voters locked down. The rest are open to other Republican candidates and many would prefer someone else.

Never in his life has Dump had half of the American people on his side. N E V E R H A P P E N E D. He's a circus sideshow and as we have already demonstrated, he can be beaten.

R39 here, I meant South politician not rich politician

Because some Americans are racist as fuck and don't like that even the lilly whitest of towns in the ass ends of the country now contain a few families of color. They want to be a white monolith like Russia. Seriously. It's just racism. Luckily it's not a majority. Hillary was right on with that basket of deplorables math

Uh oh.

Because he has given stupid people permission to be their true, ugly selves. They no longer have to hide in the dark.

Loud, obnoxious cowards are now heroes.

If only he would go away.....far far away.....forever - and take his followers with him.

Trump:

1. Is entertaining as President Troll 2. Frees everyone to be total selfish assholes (like he is) 3. People are tired of hearing about people who are different than themselves 4. People are afraid of "others", that these "others" will take something from them or make them change in some way. 5. Own the libs.

Trump is liked by Republicans because he won the election in 2016. And he likely would have won again (it was very close) if not for mail-in balloting. Republicans like him bc he appointed three conservative Supreme Court judges. That is all he had to do. He tried to get through some initiatives (like building a wall to reduce immigration, and fighting useless green energy spending programs) but it’s going to take longer than 4 years to get that stuff done. A lot of Republicans don’t even care what he says, his dumb Tweets, his awful self-tanner, his strange family — it doesn’t matter. I would encourage liberals to not care about his behavior either. He’s an example of someone who can exacerbate people’s underlying issues

Stockholm syndrome. A lack of scope. A man of authority giving simple answers to complicated questions. Mac and cheese for the mind. People deep down are stupid and easily led.

In my Necky area people drive these enormous trucks. Many drivers don't even bother to stay on their side of the road. When in the sharper turns they just drift into the oncoming lane and force the little car into the margin on their lane. This my friend is a true orange idiot voter phenomenon. It is a form of little Hitlerism. They for some reason think trump is going to install them in their own little Hitler regime.

R56 "Trump is liked by Republicans because he won the election in 2016. And he likely would have won again (it was very close) if not for mail-in balloting."

Trump lost the popular vote by 7 million. How the fuck is that close? Mail-in balloting and absentee ballots historically favored Republicans. Stop repeating bullshit narrative.

2016 was the year of the stolen election, not 2020.

[quote] Republicans like him bc he appointed three conservative Supreme Court judges. That is all he had to do. He tried to get through some initiatives (like building a wall to reduce immigration, and fighting useless green energy spending programs) but it’s going to take longer than 4 years to get that stuff done.

Bullshit, it is so much more irrational what happens around Trump. This is clearly cultish and predated any actual Supreme Court appointments or any other actual policies. This is not some people sitting around weighing options and choosing Option A. So much more emotional than that, and yes, clearly swirling around white fears of nonwhites gaining power and changing demographics.

To all the idiots who are willing to vote for this jackass again: what do you think he will do different this time than the last time. Other than a tax break for his billionaire golfing buddy friends, he didn't do jack shit for 4 fucking years, other than watch Faux News on TV and tweet bullshit (at least until he got banned).

Trump is already on record as saying that if he is reelected, he will be an even more petty, vindictive bitch than he was before, seeking retribution and revenge for being "persecuted" for the last three years. At no time has he discussed policy or goals he's set for his 2nd administration, other than the aforementioned revenge. Why does anyone think it will be any different the second time around?

Trump is so unpopular that in poll after poll he leads Biden in head to head match up. Not so uncommon Biden also trails Scott and Haley . Too bad they don’t restrict those polls to DL.

Yes I realize it’s early I realize the numbers may likely change they will get better or worse. Lots of things could get worse. Any dem that is not worried is an absolute dunce.

Trump doesn't have to worry about being hated. Just like in 2016, he only needs an opponent whom voters want even less than him. It looks like he will have that in 2024.

National polls are meaningless. State by state polls reflecting Republican gerrymandering are the true indicator.

[quote] Dump has 30-35% of the Republican voters locked down. The rest are open to other Republican candidates and many would prefer someone else.

Have you looked at any of the recent polls of Republicans? Trump is at 55%, more than all the other candidates combined. DeSantis is in second place at 13%, and Ramaswamy third at 7%. Trump's numbers have only increased in the past few months. Doesn't exactly support your claim that they are "open to other Republican candidates and many would prefer someone else."

As a country, I find it very disconcerting that someone who has 91 criminal indictments is “leading” in the polls. It means we are truly in the shitter and a global embarrassment. Trump and his sycophants can do so much damage in four years, and they must be stopped.

Yes, it's only one poll, and it's more than a year until the election. Things can change.

But what's alarming about the ABC News/Washington Post poll at R53 is how poorly Biden is performing among the groups of voters that Democrats absolutely need to win.

From the link:

[quote] Among 18- to 35-year-olds, Trump has a slight 53-38% advantage (marginally significant at this sample size). Still, that essentially matches what it was in May, and Trump also was numerically ahead in this group (albeit not significantly) by 50-43% in February.

[quote] Biden has just 50% support from members of racial and ethnic minority groups (the same as in May), while Trump has inched up from 32 to 39 to 43% support in this group in this year's ABC/Post polls. Among Hispanics, it's a surprising 50-44%, Trump-Biden, albeit with a small sample.

If Biden can't win among young voters, and can't do better than 50% among minorities, there is no path to victory because older voters and white voters will always lean Republican.

Yes of course nobody should ever get complacent and polls are disturbing, but when I see NBC has Biden/Trump in a dead heat and ABC has Trump 9 points ahead, what do you do with that? Obviously both can't be right, so what's happening? And the other thing I know is that everybody who says Jobs are their number one issue is lying. Unemployment has not been this low in 50 years and 13 million jobs have been created and pretty much nobody gives a shit. It's a pavlovian response, everyone knows that "Jobs and the economy" is the correct answer when you are asked about your primary concerns. "Inflation" is a bullshit answer too, or we would see a real change as inflation goes from 9 percent to 3 percent. We don't see shit changing from that. On the other side, what you never say is "white supremacy" or "abortion access when my daughter gets knocked up" even though under the surface both of those are probably much more important to the 2024 race.

R69

Polls are an indication of how the country feels. There are lots of polls. Look for trends. There is no one “correct” poll.

He has proved that you can do or say anything and get away with it. Millions and millions of people envy him, and admire him, for that.

What scares me most is that Trump--somehow--is LUCKY. Which is terrifying.

[quote] It's a pavlovian response, everyone knows that "Jobs and the economy" is the correct answer when you are asked about your primary concerns. "Inflation" is a bullshit answer too, or we would see a real change as inflation goes from 9 percent to 3 percent.

You're right that inflation has eased, but gas prices have risen again, and food prices are still high. Admittedly, Biden doesn't have much control over either one, but gas prices and food prices seem to be the two things that are making people rate Biden poorly on the economy. From R53's link:

[quote] Candidate-preference results also are differentiated by ratings of the national economy -- which 74% overall rate negatively, with sharp partisan differences. The poll probed for details on that sentiment, finding two major irritants: food prices, rated negatively (as not so good or poor) by 91%; and gas and energy prices, rated negatively by 87%.

[quote] Not that other ratings are rosy: Seventy-five percent rate the incomes of average Americans negatively. It's much lower for the unemployment rate, 57% -- but still negative, given the dark public mood.

Always remember that Obama got attacked for being too educated, as if intelligence in our leaders was a bad thing. They sold they idea that it made him out of touch with the so-called "real Americans".

Trump is "in-touch" with them because he's obviously a moron asshole. Of course, he's (sort of) rich and doesn't give a shit about the working class, but never mind that.

Many great responses here.

I would add this - that his supporters are not smart. They conflate entertainment with politics because the media has encouraged that conflation for decades now. Stupid people fall for it and don't see the manipulation.

If you're this stupid, you can admire a person like this as an 'evil superstar', the likes of which we've not yet seen in our lifetimes, only heard about from the past. To feel like you're living through a dramatic time in history, with a machiavel in charge, is just too exciting for idiots to pass up.

R68, but the older and the white are slowly dying off, per capita.

I side-eye all polling results because I can't get a satisfactory answer to how these market research firms are getting a true cross-section of the voting public. Landlines are few (mostly old and therefore conservative leaning) and voluntary opt in on a cell phone survey doesn't cut it. You can't only speak people eager to give their opinion. I don't think the methodology they use is a true sampling, but of course market research firms will never admit it.

Even the poll showing Trump way ahead admitted they are an outlier. Let’s see how Trump is doing after a conviction.

R71

Trump does not need lucky he just needs to hold his very sizable lead. And the trump lead 9%-10% now based on the latest . This is a trend not a weekly blip. This has been an ongoing trend across lots of different polls.

Only a gop operative would suggest that is not a problem for the Dems.. And they will talk bout how polls this early don’t count and how Obama or Clinton was behind, and then landlines and cell phones and bla bla bla bla. Don’t trust them this is a problem..

And Biden, at least based on the media coverage, gets more confused and more lost each week.

And if trump does win he will never go to jail, none of his Jan coup supporters will remain in jail . And the gop will sweep house and senate . And the courts will get more and more conservative,

Then payback will start.

[quote] And the trump lead 9%-10% now based on the latest . This is a trend not a weekly blip.

Trump leading by a lot is definitely not a trend. It really does seem to be a blip, even this week when another poll has them neck and neck.

[quote] And Biden, at least based on the media coverage, gets more confused and more lost each week.

hmmm, based on the media coverage. So is that real, or is that this year's "but her emails"? Is this a thing people actually started caring about, or have they been ordered to care about it and are now dutifully telling pollsters, OMG, I just realized Biden isn't 50 years old? OMG, he's dying y'all, dying I tells ya!!! Also, the nonexistent unemployment problem, cause, um, reasons!

R79

A lead that large is indeed a blip. But the trend in polls has been Trump over Biden by a few. Then Haley and Scott over Biden but close. So the overall trend is not good even if that 9%-10% is a blip.

Larry Sabato, hardly a Democratic partisan, pours cold water on the latest ABC/WaPo poll:

"Ignore the Washington Post - ABC poll. It’s a ridiculous outlier (Trump up 10 over Biden—laughable). My question: How could you even publish a poll so absurd on its face? Will be a lingering embarrassment for you."

Nate Cohn is no fan, either:

"If it happens twice in a row in the same race, it's clear that this is the result of some element of your approach, and either you either need to decide you're good with it and defend it or you need to go home"

R80

I have absolutely no idea how bad that issue is with Biden. It appears based on coverage , he blabbers more than usual, he looks lost, he tells a story then moments later repeats the exact same story, he walks into flags on stage, he forgets to shake hands with a world leader and walks off stage, etc.

I understand I am almost joes age. Shit starts to happen. We could tell quickly I would guess how bad this is if the Dems had debates.

I hope this does not turn out as bad as Clinton’s emails.

He’s around because he’s a demagogue. They have a way of persisting.

They do a combination of two things: they tell low-information people exactly what they want to hear, and they play on the fears of those people.

This is a powerful combination.

1) Telling low-information people what they want to hear: you don’t have to do anything that’s hard or requires sacrifice. Your fears are all true! You’re amazing and better than everyone else.

Examples:

Pandemic? No. It’s a hoax. Wearing masks doesn’t help, what a waste of time. We don’t have to make hard choices about the country’s future economy, and climate change is a hoax, so no changes or sacrifices are needed! White people are the greatest people in the world, and Americans are the greatest white people of them all.

People EAT THAT SHIT UP. They worship him for talking up the fact that they’re amazing and no sacrifices or difficult choices are needed.

2) playing on the fears of low-info people: many of these are related to 1) above — people who are uninformed are often fearful, and usually full of resentment. If you tell them they’re right to be afraid, but you'll defend and protect them, they will literally worship you.

Examples:

It’s immigrants that are the cause of your economic problems. Educated liberal “elites” (Jews, etc) look down on you and think they’re better than you. They’re out to harm you and promote perverts and inferiors like gays, blacks and immigrants. Vaccines and masks and social distancing are forms of enslavement.

You have to be completely without shame or conscience to fully pull this off. Which describes Trump to a T.

Trump wants General Miley executed. Are you fucking kidding me? An ex-President making terroristic against a military officer? WTF? This shit didn't even happen after the Civil War.

And this is the stupid clown "everyone" allegedly wants to be president again?

What the fuck is wrong with the American people? Can someone please explain to me how an overgrown baby/manchild, a petty, vindictive coward, a liar, a thief, a con artist/grifter, a sexual pervert can serve one term as president, fuck it up royally, incites a riot and an insurrection because he thinks he's being screwed out of a electoral victory (despite mountains and mountains of evidence to the contrary), is indicted 4 different times and charged with 91 charges against him and is as popular as ever? Are Americans that truly deranged?

I want to share a story that is of course only a personal anecdote but brightened my outlook a little bit. I'm a longtime New England democrat and we were visited this past week by an older relative from Florida. He has been heavily active in local politics on the Republican side. He is NOT one of those assholes who constantly brings up politics which is nice, but I also never really knew for sure how he felt about Trump. Well this past visit I was thrilled when he volunteered that he will NEVER vote for Trump and believes Trump absolutely is guilty of inciting the insurrection. He also told me he was a big DeSantis fan years ago but is no longer, thinks he's doing a terrible job as governor and is also responsible for a lot of Covid deaths, is ruining the schools. Again, this is a personal anecdote but it's always nice to know they're not ALL insane.

On the bad news side, he also said he won't volunteer at the polls anymore because the proud boys were scary and disruptive, the religious kook wing of the party will not negotiate on anything, the Moms of Liberty are a handful of very effective loudmouths that are successfully destroying school boards ,etc etc.

But her emaaaaaaaaaiiiiils! OMG! OMG!

Fuck off, r84.

That poll with him suddenly and magically ten points ahead is dogshit, just total dogshit.

As ever, I support the "Stroke Out" theory of Fuckface von Clownstick's sooner rather than later demise. He's old, he's fat, he takes no exercise besides turning on a golf cart or the tv, his diet is fatty fast food and diet Cokes. He's a prime candidate for a stroke.

If he manages to steal this election, it's a fascist coup. We'll take him out by any means necessary but I'm really hoping that the Flying Spaghetti Monster calls him home before it comes to that.

Here's a gift from the Lincoln Project (bless their blackened, patriotic hearts).

I genuinely don’t know why the fucker hasn’t been taken out yet. It’s all but certain he’s a treasonous cunt who sold his country out to Putin. When will he finally get his karma?

R88

You better hope Biden wins because you are taking no one out . This “by any means necessary” is a fucking joke.

If you can’t stop him now when he is not in office and the Dems hold the WH, you stand no chance after. By any means necessary my ass.

Yet I was channel surfing the other night and Dan Abrams, Anthony Scaramucci, Cenk Ughyer and some redhead chick were all saying Nie Biden is too old and he needs to step away and let someone else run. Scaramucci was ecstatic because he hates Kamala Harris and GOP had reams of strategy against her.

Have you wondered why you’re always seeing SF and Oakland being portrayed as criminal hellholes? Where is Kamala Harris from? Oakland. Where was she a DA? SF.

That’s what’s behind all this “crime” shit. Kamala Harrisnhas dark skin, she lived in Oakland where dark skinned people live. Crime! She was DA in SF. Crime!

GOP swears cities were burned to the ground by blacks in 2020. Fox, NY Post, WSJ, Newsmax, OAN, etc we’re so relentless at pushing the narrative that NYC is so crime-filled that they got within 4 points of beating Kathy Hochul who had an 11 point lead. And…the best part? She was running against Lee Zeldin WHO HAD A SHOOTING OCCUR ON HIS OWN FRONT LAWN IN HIS CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT!

That’s how fucked up things are. Rightwing media barely mentioned the actual shooting that took place on Lee Zeldin’s front lawn WHILE HUS 2 TEENAGED DAUGHTERS WERE ALONE IN THE HOUSE because Zeldin and his wife were grifting for votes upstate.

GOP is desperate to flip California as well as to skewer Kamala Harris. All those electoral votes. CA has had Republican governors in the past.

And NY state had a GOP governor in the early 2000s.

Think of how easy it would be to flip electoral votes if the governor of a state is in cahoots with a national fascist movement to overturn voting results. Look at all the rules that governors have overturned in their own favor, and rules they put in place to hamper incoming Democratic governors.

The newest “crime hellhole” target? Louisville, I couldn’t understand why crime in Louisville was suddenly getting all this attention. Then I realized - the Governor of KY is a democrat.

“The cities with the highest crime rate are run by democrats!” I saw plastered all over X. What city did they declare No 1 in crime? NYC, one of the safest cities on the planet.

But that’s the big “soft on crime” push they’ve rolled out to scare people into voting in favor of imprisoning women for reproductive freedom.

“Blacks are crime!”

“Crime is black!”

“CA is a failed state!”

“Everybody is moving out of CA and into red states because taxes and crime! They’re making real estate unaffordable in your state!!!”

R88, honey, I'm so sorry that I have struck a sensitive spot with your tender fee-fees.

I'm not trying to take Dump down now, he's totally free to participate in all of his trials and I'm here for it.

He lost even more support from Republicans after Jan Sixth. How many will he lose with each trial, each conviction, each sentence. Not to mention the shitrain from Hell of evidence that is going to pour down all over his big fat empty head to humiliate him. He's drowning and it's only going to get worse.

If he steals the election in 2024, we will remove him by any means necessary. Just watch, we're not allowing him to sit in the White House again. At least 81 million of us are already in and many others who'd be thrilled to see Democrats finally DO something about these batshit crazy motherfuckers will join us. The answer to Dump and the Dumptards is no.

He's going to end soon, one way or another. This is his last hurrah, his last multi-million dollar fundraising grift. (He'll still do it but on a much smaller scale.) So dig deep and pay off Dump one more time, dumbass Rethugs. Daddy needs a new pair of golf shoes.

It's true that pollsters can and do put the thumb on the scale to get the results they want. (Remember the 2020 Senate polls absurdly showing Graham, Collins, Ernst, and McConnell in trouble?) I'm wondering if the ABC poll with Trump having a double digit lead is to influence the primaries to get GOP voters to pick Trump. If the polls were showing other candidates beating Biden and Trump not, it could influence things the other way.

[quote] Trump wants General Miley executed.

Oh NO! I didn’t even know Miley was a general but he should keep his paws off of her!!!

[quote]Trump wants General Miley executed.

In the U.S., a president cannot order the execution of an American. Milley would have to be tried and convicted of a capital offense and it would be the court that sentences him.

Okay, R95, that's for Gen. Milley, we're more interested in Miley Cyrus. Can Dump have her executed? She called him a ton of nasty names. You know how that hurted his widdle fee-fees.

I love r4. No, really. I love you.

I think all the repetitive media coverage of negative polls about Biden’s age & performance are actually influencing public opinion. All people hear is that the consensus in the country is that Biden is too old and the economic recovery isn’t convincing, so they think that must be true. In the next poll, even more respondents agree with those opinions. It would be nice if there were more robust defense of him on the air to counter that narrative.

On the other hand, the media reports are constantly saying how popular Trump is in spite of his indictments (and everything else), so people believe that’s true and his numbers get even better in the next poll. In that respect, it IS like Hillary’s emails. The truth is not as important as what people believe.

It is good that the election is over a year away, but I hope something happens to disrupt these media driven popular themes before they become locked in.

Putin and Xi along with Dump's Saudi, Turkish, North Korean and Hungarian dictator-buddies are feeding this "Biden's too old" bullshit and drowning out the good news on the economy. We have to work harder to bring it out.

THE LOWEST UNEMPLOYMENT IN 50 FUCKING YEARS. That's President Joe Biden's record.

Hello, Trump is 77. Biden is 80. They could be brothers so the focus on Biden’s age is weird.

Can't understand why people like Asa Hutchinson, Chris Christie or even *gag* Mike Prance aren't taking the lead. They would be better Presidential material.

At some point isn't Trump going to look like a wuss for evading the debates? What is he afraid of? I thought he loved the spotlight?

They should put a mannequin of Trump onstage in his place, and the candidates can address him.

Rick Wilson explains why donors keep funding him:

"Men and women worth billions of dollars who gave to Trump in 2016 did so reluctantly at first, then joined the amen chorus welcoming the Red Hat Mafia to the White House.

They still thought he was a crude, japing buffoon, but now he was a crude, japing buffoon who could deregulate their industries, slash their taxes, and name them to an ambassadorship in one of the Good Countries.

For a moment, the donors will grumble and complain from the sidelines, but one by one, step by step, humiliation by humiliation, they’ll go back to Trump, funding his campaign machine (and by that, of course, I mean “paying his legal bills,” but I digress) and pretending Joe Biden is the second coming of Vladimir Lenin.

They won’t ever love Trump, but they will bend the knee and cut the checks the second it’s clear the others have no path to victory (e.g., right after South Carolina), no matter what it costs either their own bottom lines or the nation."

[quote] They want to be a white monolith like Russia

At least 10% of Russia is Muslim. Some are Turkic, some are East Asian. Then there are millions of guest workers from Central Asia. Crimea was a Muslim country before Tatars were expelled and deported.

Putin gives govt money to build new mosques and madrassahs

Rick Wilson knows his shit, especially about what "normal" Republicans will do, even though they loathe and despise Dump.

Thanks R102. (Note to self: send more money to the president's campaign)

I hope that Lincoln group of anti Trump former Repubs wil run ads again this time. They’re very good at that.

So, do the idiots that read the Epoch Times realize that buying that newspaper finances a large pagan religion?

I mean, they wouldn't be caught dead flipping a five dollar bill into a box for some Church of Satan charity drive, but in their worldview, supporting Falun Gong is the same thing.

Or is there some kind of disconnect that they are willing finance anything that rails against what they hate?

I can answer your question OP.

Trump plays on the fears of blue collar workers of immigrants “taking their jobs”.

In the 90s, there was a mass exodus of factory jobs going overseas or Mexico. Instead of blaming the corporations who want cheap labor, working class whites blamed foreign brown people.

Working class people worship the wealthy because they think that wealthy people possess some sort of special magic that they don’t have. Trump is their messiah because he’s a rich white guy who hates the same people they do.

They believe that by being in close proximity to Trump, that his magic will rub off on them and they will be wealthy like him someday.

I believe it was John Steinbeck who once said “socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

I also think that Americans in general have a distrust of our government ever since JFK, Nixon, 9/11, etc.

We no longer have trust in our systems and Trump has made a reputation of not being a part of that system so conservatives/religious zealots/conspiracy theorists all flock to him.

The dumbing down of America continues daily… in ALL of our backyards! ☹️

The only emotion American men are taught to be comfortable with is anger. There's anger and not-anger but very little else.

Because he's the Great White Hope. His FOLLOWERS are fed up with the unfair treatment of white people and feel that Herr Trump is their savior.

[quote] At least 10% of Russia is Muslim. Some are Turkic, some are East Asian. Then there are millions of guest workers from Central Asia. Crimea was a Muslim country before Tatars were expelled and deported.

Yes but what you don’t understand is that Russia is nakedly an empire. There’s Russia and then there’s the Russian Federation. The Federation includes so-called “republics” and territories, in the east and south, made up of subjects. Then there is Russia — the white Slavs of the western oblasts and the colonists in the “republics.” Everyone is equal under the law, but that’s a farce.

The ethnics are second class citizens at best and are ruled by the Russians. So yes there are mosques and so on, but there were mosques in Iraq too when the US occupied that country.

By the way, some of the CIS states are de facto colonies or at least satellite states. Russia is still very much an empire.

Trump is the fin on the shark, not the shark itself.

[quote]Trump is the fin on the shark, not the shark itself.

More like the shark's asshole.

R56, His "behavior"? How about his TREASON and attempted COUP?! How about his CRIMES and 4 indictments comprising 91 of them?!

Good God. And you pretend TFFG somehow was an accomplished President! You think "Green" projects are boondoggles, yet think a cockamamie and unfeasible Eminent Domain mess, grazing animals disaster, barbed-wire-topped sadistic billion-dollar "wall" project is a good idea?!

A psychologist who taught at Yale for a decade or more, Bandy Lee, has studied Trumpism for the past 8 years, and has written a number of brilliant articles and books about it. The gist of her argument is that Trump is mentally ill - but his kind of out-of-control narcissism is able to draw in and "infect" people who have any sort of borderline mental illness and/or grievances that they feel should be blamed on other people. She is not optimistic, because she says Trump has now brought out the mental illness potential of 60 million or so people, and our country doesn't have nearly the mental health resources to deal with them or bring them to a state of reality.

Being his “Lady” is complete fulfillment.

R113

Trump is the guy who learned to ride the shark.

R116 Yeah...he's misogynistic, racist, megalomanic with father issues aka a Republican

I think we have an antisocial culture in the USA and some of the worst public education in the world. I find Americans are generally cruel and self obsessed. I would love to leave

A New York judge has madea summary judgement that Dump, his company, and his crotch droppings are all FRAUDS!

R102 The authoritarian personality is specifically enraged by the idea of someone getting something that they don't "deserve" - these people would rather see the world on fire than the average family living in peace, that concept to them is the ultimate horror

R85 Chomsky predicted the Trump presidency in 2010

"The United States is extremely lucky that no honest, charismatic figure has arisen. Every charismatic figure is such an obvious crook that he destroys himself, like McCarthy or Nixon or the evangelist preachers. If somebody comes along who is charismatic and honest this country is in real trouble because of the frustration, disillusionment, the justified anger and the absence of any coherent response. What are people supposed to think if someone says ‘I have got an answer, we have an enemy’? There it was the Jews. Here it will be the illegal immigrants and the blacks. We will be told that white males are a persecuted minority. We will be told we have to defend ourselves and the honor of the nation. Military force will be exalted. People will be beaten up. This could become an overwhelming force. And if it happens it will be more dangerous than Germany. The United States is the world power. Germany was powerful but had more powerful antagonists. I don’t think all this is very far away. If the polls are accurate it is not the Republicans but the right-wing Republicans, the crazed Republicans, who will sweep the next election.

I listen to talk radio. I don’t want to hear Rush Limbaugh. I want to hear the people calling in. They are like [suicide pilot] Joe Stack. What is happening to me? I have done all the right things. I am a God-fearing Christian. I work hard for my family. I have a gun. I believe in the values of the country and my life is collapsing.

I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime. I am old enough to remember the 1930s. My whole family was unemployed. There were far more desperate conditions than today. But it was hopeful. People had hope. The [Congress of Industrial Organizations] was organizing. No one wants to say it anymore but the Communist Party was the spearhead for labor and civil rights organizing. Even things like giving my unemployed seamstress aunt a week in the country. It was a life. There is nothing like that now. The mood of the country is frightening. The level of anger, frustration and hatred of institutions is not organized in a constructive way. It is going off into self-destructive fantasies."

R121

Maybe over time the dam will break. But right now the majority of republicans (based on surveys) , even those that do not support trump , think that all this court stuff and civil charges are just politics.

Dems going after Trump because they fear him or hate him

Maybe as the court cases unfold as the evidence is presented in court this will change. But so far after every charge Trumps numbers within the gop go up.

Oh, yeah, they are always screeching about cities burned to the ground despite those cities still being present and functioning.

They also can't, or won't, see the difference between drag queens and transsexuals.

R123

There was a lot of absolute desperation in the 1930s. And lots of Americans turned toward the communists or the Nazis because of that desperation.

Drag Queens, Transexuals, Transgenders, Gays, Bi's, Lesbians, it's all the same to them. They've never differentiated between us and they never will. We're all in this and we may as well hang together or we will surely hang separately.

He's a media-created monster. Anybody think he would have gotten as far as he did without the Apprentice reality TV show? That image of him as a a charismatic brilliant billionaire businessman who can do no wrong is cemented in the MAGA mind. He's been playing it ever since. Mark Burnett created Trump and will surely burn in hell for it. I'm fascinated by the amount of fantasy in the MAGA mind: all those paintings and images of him as a muscular, heroic superman. He's pure fantasy wish fulfillment for these people and no amount of reality in front of them will displace it. Trump was also smart enough to constantly talk about "fake news" from the beginning. That gave the MAGAs permission to dismiss anything negative they see about him as fake.

The other villain/victim here is the cable news media. They all knew what Trump was right from the start and despised him, even Rupert Murdoch loathed him. They could have treated him a joke from the start but he was a charismatic TV star who generated ratings on the news shows. Because of that he got tons of free news coverage no other minor candidate would have. And still does. People hate-watch him and news about him the same way they hate-watch a reality TV villain.

Ironically, the biggest Trump hater I know is a racist tax cheat whose husband spent all their family money on whores. (No, not Hunter Biden.).

So, I don’t think the Biden supporters are all that stable either

R129 That can apply to any political party supporter. But Trump has a truly significant number of despicable people who support him. And that is because he is a immoral person, and they feel that validates them.

R129, Even a "racist tax cheat" can detest Fascists.