Explain how Trump has so much support (3 Viewers)

[Bayouboy]

I would like some layman answers to the question "How does Trump have so much support, right now"? The final two word are important context.

I somewhat understand how he became a "force" prior to the 2016 election. There were many factors that allowed him to gain steam. Anti-establishment and not being a true politician was a big turn on to some voters on the right at the time. He talked a good game and somehow found a way to the Presidency despite acting "unpresidential". Trump's time in office had some victories for the Republicans and the economy was humming prior to COVID.....but the shirt show that happened on a daily basis with him firing executive staff (that didn't agree with him) and the overall chaos that was the White House certainly should've had an effect on his supporters. This was all BEFORE losing the 2020 election and what ensued. What happened after the 2020 election is well documented and, in my opinion, should have buried him as a candidate for office for eternity.

With ALL of what happened since the 2020 election, how can he still have half of the country (give or take) as supporters? Had all the election denying, countless gaffs, and the attempt to circumvent the Constitution had not occurred and had he regrouped and formed a strategy to compete in 2024, I could see a lot of his supporters continuing to follow him and his message. But I can't get how so many Americans can overlook what happened in front of their own eyes. I am truly bewildered.

I realize this is a mostly left leaning community, so maybe you folks do not have a clue either but would like to hear opinions. Especially, if you still support Trump through all of the mess.

 

[itsclaireburks]

The problem is that more moderate folks who support him will say... his policies are what is important... and turn a blind eye to his mannerisms, hate speach, and the overall way he handles himself.

The problem is, as we have seen in the years since he took office, this is giving permission for people to act this way to their fellow man. The world has become a meaner, harsher place to live. The filter of kindness has been thrown out, and many are living off of their base instints. This does not make a society function, but no one seems to see the impact that his behavier has promoted.

What you permit, you permote. As an American people, we permitted the leader of the free world to behave like a spoiled toddler, say mean things about other people publically, and promote racism and sexism behaviers that we have not held him accountable to. And now many largely think that is okay.

It is not okay.

At least Biden is presedential in the way he carries himself.

 

[Heathen]

Trump's cult of personality dies with him. Another defeat at the federal level and the establishment right is going to realize it doesn't win elections and 2016 was a fluke.

From what perspective do you see 2016 as a 'fluke'? To me there are several valid reasons why he won and could win again in 2024.

Maybe I need to understand what you mean in more context.

 

[CoolBrees]

I mean - there is a small, and decreasing population that agrees with this ethos.

If this method isn't successful, that would be four straight national cycles they would lose. You would have 16 out of 20 years without the WH.

The four years? Won by 40,000 votes across five states, with heavy outside influence, and a unlikeable female as the opponent.

As Patton Oswald so eloquently stated the day after Trump won- "we learned today that America is more misogynistic than it is racist. And America is really fu****g racist."

In other words, I mean MAGA isn't going to survive on a national scale past Donald Trump if he loses.

 

[SystemShock]

The four years? Won by 40,000 votes across five states, with heavy outside influence, and a unlikeable female as the opponent.

And this is why it is so important this time to go out and vote, no matter where you live, and vote for the Democrat.

 

[zztop]

ugh

 

[fooferdoggie]

ugh

surmised he did not burst into flames.

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[LA - L.A.]

The enemy of my enemy and so on...

 

[Optimus Prime]

A new Pew Research poll shows that 63% of former President Donald Trump supporters would rather have their candidate push for GOP interests than compromise and find common ground with Democrats.

The answers available in the survey asked if voters would rather see their candidate find "common ground with Democrats on policies, even if it means giving up some things Republicans want" or push "hard for policies Republicans want, even if it makes it much harder to get some things done."

Roughly six-in-ten Trump supporters chose the latter.

When it comes to supporters of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 47% agreed with that last response, while 52% would rather see him compromise. Similarly, 72% of Nikki Haley supporters would rather have their candidate find common ground with Democrats.

When it comes to the total of GOP voters, with no breaking down of specific candidates, answers are evenly split — 50% would rather push hard on Republican policies, while 49% would like to compromise...........

MSN

 

[Optimus Prime]

Interesting article
============

Many explanations are proposed for the continued rise of Donald Trump, and the steadfastness of his support, even as the outrages and criminal charges pile up. Some of these explanations are powerful. But there is one I have seen mentioned nowhere, which could, I believe, be the most important: Trump is king of the extrinsics.

Some psychologists believe our values tend to cluster around certain poles, described as “intrinsic” and “extrinsic”. People with a strong set of intrinsic values are inclined towards empathy, intimacy and self-acceptance. They tend to be open to challenge and change, interested in universal rights and equality, and protective of other people and the living world.

People at the extrinsic end of the spectrum are more attracted to prestige, status, image, fame, power and wealth. They are strongly motivated by the prospect of individual reward and praise.

They are more likely to objectify and exploit other people, to behave rudely and aggressively and to dismiss social and environmental impacts. They have little interest in cooperation or community.

People with a strong set of extrinsic values are more likely to suffer from frustration, dissatisfaction, stress, anxiety, anger and compulsive behaviour.

Trump exemplifies extrinsic values. From the tower bearing his name in gold letters to his gross overstatements of his wealth; from his endless ranting about “winners” and “losers” to his reported habit of cheating at golf; from his extreme objectification of women, including his own daughter, to his obsession with the size of his hands; from his rejection of public service, human rights and environmental protection to his extreme dissatisfaction and fury, undiminishedeven when he was president of the United States, Trump, perhaps more than any other public figure in recent history, is a walking, talking monument to extrinsic values…….

Ever since Ronald Reagan came to power, on a platform that ensured society became sharply divided into “winners” and “losers”, and ever more people, lacking public provision, were allowed to fall through the cracks, US politics has become fertile soil for extrinsic values.

As Democratic presidents, following Reagan, embraced most of the principles of neoliberalism, the ratchet was scarcely reversed. The appeal to extrinsic values by the Democrats, Labour and other once-progressive parties is always self-defeating.

Research shows that the further towards the extrinsic end of the spectrum people travel, the more likely they are to vote for a rightwing party.

But the shift goes deeper than politics. For well over a century, the US, more than most nations, has worshipped extrinsic values: the American dream is a dream of acquiring wealth, spending it conspicuously and escaping the constraints of other people’s needs and demands.

It is accompanied, in politics and in popular culture, by toxic myths about failure and success: wealth is the goal, regardless of how it is acquired. The ubiquity of advertising, the commercialisation of society and the rise of consumerism, alongside the media’s obsession with fame and fashion, reinforce this story.

The marketing of insecurity, especially about physical appearance, and the manufacture of unfulfilled wants, dig holes in our psyches that we might try to fill with money, fame or power.

For decades, the dominant cultural themes in the US – and in many other nations – have functioned as an almost perfect incubator of extrinsic values……

To beat Trump, we need to know why Americans keep voting for him. Psychologists may have the answer | George Monbiot

US culture is an incubator of ‘extrinsic values’. Nobody embodies them like the Republican front runner, writes Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

 

[Taurus]

Interesting article
============

Many explanations are proposed for the continued rise of Donald Trump, and the steadfastness of his support, even as the outrages and criminal charges pile up. Some of these explanations are powerful. But there is one I have seen mentioned nowhere, which could, I believe, be the most important: Trump is king of the extrinsics.

Some psychologists believe our values tend to cluster around certain poles, described as “intrinsic” and “extrinsic”. People with a strong set of intrinsic values are inclined towards empathy, intimacy and self-acceptance. They tend to be open to challenge and change, interested in universal rights and equality, and protective of other people and the living world.

People at the extrinsic end of the spectrum are more attracted to prestige, status, image, fame, power and wealth. They are strongly motivated by the prospect of individual reward and praise.

They are more likely to objectify and exploit other people, to behave rudely and aggressively and to dismiss social and environmental impacts. They have little interest in cooperation or community.

People with a strong set of extrinsic values are more likely to suffer from frustration, dissatisfaction, stress, anxiety, anger and compulsive behaviour.

Trump exemplifies extrinsic values. From the tower bearing his name in gold letters to his gross overstatements of his wealth; from his endless ranting about “winners” and “losers” to his reported habit of cheating at golf; from his extreme objectification of women, including his own daughter, to his obsession with the size of his hands; from his rejection of public service, human rights and environmental protection to his extreme dissatisfaction and fury, undiminishedeven when he was president of the United States, Trump, perhaps more than any other public figure in recent history, is a walking, talking monument to extrinsic values…….

Ever since Ronald Reagan came to power, on a platform that ensured society became sharply divided into “winners” and “losers”, and ever more people, lacking public provision, were allowed to fall through the cracks, US politics has become fertile soil for extrinsic values.

As Democratic presidents, following Reagan, embraced most of the principles of neoliberalism, the ratchet was scarcely reversed. The appeal to extrinsic values by the Democrats, Labour and other once-progressive parties is always self-defeating.

Research shows that the further towards the extrinsic end of the spectrum people travel, the more likely they are to vote for a rightwing party.

But the shift goes deeper than politics. For well over a century, the US, more than most nations, has worshipped extrinsic values: the American dream is a dream of acquiring wealth, spending it conspicuously and escaping the constraints of other people’s needs and demands.

It is accompanied, in politics and in popular culture, by toxic myths about failure and success: wealth is the goal, regardless of how it is acquired. The ubiquity of advertising, the commercialisation of society and the rise of consumerism, alongside the media’s obsession with fame and fashion, reinforce this story.

The marketing of insecurity, especially about physical appearance, and the manufacture of unfulfilled wants, dig holes in our psyches that we might try to fill with money, fame or power.

For decades, the dominant cultural themes in the US – and in many other nations – have functioned as an almost perfect incubator of extrinsic values……

To beat Trump, we need to know why Americans keep voting for him. Psychologists may have the answer | George Monbiot

US culture is an incubator of ‘extrinsic values’. Nobody embodies them like the Republican front runner, writes Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

He's overlooking the power of spite.

 

[MT15]

He's overlooking the power of spite.

Women are about to harness that power to vote all of MAGA out. Women know a thing or two about spite and they never forget.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Women are about to harness that power to vote all of MAGA out. Women know a thing or two about spite and they never forget.

Something about “hell hath no fury…..”?

 

[Taurus]

Something about “hell hath no fury…..”?

"...like a woman forced to watch her daughter come apart at the seams because she's being forced to carry her abusive, scumbag father's baby to term at twelve and the mother**** has the unmitigated gall to insist on parental rights."

 

[Optimus Prime]

Women are about to harness that power to vote all of MAGA out. Women know a thing or two about spite and they never forget.

"...like a woman forced to watch her daughter come apart at the seams because she's being forced to carry her abusive, scumbag father's baby to term at twelve and the mother**** has the unmitigated gall to insist on parental rights."

Don't think it's just going to be women either

These women have fathers, brothers, boyfriends and husbands seeing what this is doing to the women they care about

 

[LA - L.A.]

Don't think it's just going to be women either

These women have fathers, brothers, boyfriends and husbands seeing what this is doing to the women they care about

A lot of us men aren't even any of those to any women and we still care about all women. Not arguing, just saying. True empathy extends to all people, even strangers.

 

[Bayouboy]

I have to tell the truth.....even with all of the discourse in this thread, I'm still not satisfied with any particular answer or set of answers. I listen to sound bites of Trump and truly ask myself "how can any sane, rational individual support this clown." Again, if a small percentage of the population are enamored with Trump, I can rationalize that. I'll even throw out numbers like 10 million. Yea, that many people are under his spell. I just can't understand this guy leading the Republican field. It makes my mind hurt. It almost seems like a bad dream.

I am truly concerned that Trump can win re-election. Biden is not a great candidate and this thing will be much closer than it should be.

 

[FullMonte]

I have to tell the truth.....even with all of the discourse in this thread, I'm still not satisfied with any particular answer or set of answers. I listen to sound bites of Trump and truly ask myself "how can any sane, rational individual support this clown." Again, if a small percentage of the population are enamored with Trump, I can rationalize that. I'll even throw out numbers like 10 million. Yea, that many people are under his spell. I just can't understand this guy leading the Republican field. It makes my mind hurt. It almost seems like a bad dream.

I am truly concerned that Trump can win re-election. Biden is not a great candidate and this thing will be much closer than it should be.

My bigger concern are the politicians that are bending over backwards to kiss Trump's butt. People who have been in Congress long enough to understand the long game and the reality. Their BEST POSSIBLE outcome right now is Trump gets elected and is president for 4 years, then he's gone...forever, and they will be stuck with whatever happens. Why they would lay down for him, instead of all banding together to get behind a legitimate republican candidate who could be president for 8 years is beyond me.