Explain how Trump has so much support (1 Viewer)

[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.

 

[superchuck500]

This is significant

 

[efil4]

This is significant

That would give some explanation to Trump trying to wrangle the GOP under his control, force Haley out the race and take control of its campaign funds.

 

[MT15]

That would give some explanation to Trump trying to wrangle the GOP under his control, force Haley out the race and take control of its campaign funds.

And the gawdawful shoes, don’t forget the shoes…..

 

[SFIDC3]

That would give some explanation to Trump trying to wrangle the GOP under his control, force Haley out the race and take control of its campaign funds.

Yup, as we all learned in 2016, never say never......But I honestly don't see how Biden loses to Trump this election.....we will see...

 

[Optimus Prime]

Yup, as we all learned in 2016, never say never......But I honestly don't see how Biden loses to Trump this election.....we will see...

god I hope so

I spent most of 2020 election day watching the coverage all day, a lot more nervous than I would have thought

and i thought that 2016 would be a clinton landslide

 

[SFIDC3]

and i thought that 2016 would be a clinton landslide

I was just as wrong as you were back then....

 

[Taurus]

I was just as wrong as you were back then....

Same here. I thought there was no way anyone would A: Believe Trump was a serious candidate...dude didn't even know what the Nuclear Triad was and B: Not want to continue the successful policies from the Obama Administration.

Turns out, the desire of regular Joes to shove something down the throat of The Man was stronger than their sense of self-preservation.

 

[Maxp]

Same here. I thought there was no way anyone would A: Believe Trump was a serious candidate...dude didn't even know what the Nuclear Triad was and B: Not want to continue the successful policies from the Obama Administration.

Turns out, the desire of regular Joes to shove something down the throat of The Man was stronger than their sense of self-preservation.

That's not really what happened though. Trump very narrowly won three swing states due to direct targeted ads thanks to Cambridge Analytica. Clinton, the worst democratic candidate possible, still beat Trump by 3 million votes.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Same here. I thought there was no way anyone would A: Believe Trump was a serious candidate...dude didn't even know what the Nuclear Triad was and B: Not want to continue the successful policies from the Obama Administration.

Turns out, the desire of regular Joes to shove something down the throat of The Man was stronger than their sense of self-preservation.

I've posted several times on PDB that on Day 1 when he rode down that escalator and said his bit about Mexicans being drug dealers and rapists and maybe a few are okay people, I said to myself "well, this won't last long"

How wrong I was

 

[Optimus Prime]

Very interesting article on Trump’s appeal
===================
There is no such thing as a universal leader.

Leaders always represent a specific social group: a political party, a religion or a social movement.

The more they are loved by insiders, the more such adulation seems bizarre and inexplicable to outsiders – to the extent that we often dismiss adoring followers as deluded or deplorable in some way. Think Margaret Thatcher, or Jeremy Corbyn, or Boris Johnson.

But perhaps the greatest enigma of contemporary politics concerns Donald Trump – a man who elicits messianic fever and revulsion in equal measure.

A liar and serial philanderer championed by evangelists; a felon supported by “law and order” enthusiasts; a man who boasts of groping women and yet was elected with a majority of white women voters; a billionaire who likes posing in the golden lift of his New York skyscraper while also posing as the champion of the working class.

How on earth does any of this make sense? Yet, at the same time, how can Kamala Harris – if, as is near-certain, she is crowned the Democratic nominee – hope to win in November unless she is able to make sense of it?

The problem is that this is the perspective of outsiders. They presuppose the groups and identities (religion, gender, class) through which people view Trump.

They assume, for instance, that women vote as women on the basis of women’s interests rather than explore the perspectives and identities through which Trump’s followers and Trump himself define their interests. That is, how they divide the world into “us” and “them”.

For skilled leaders don’t just represent groups. They play a key part in defining the groups they seek to lead and then in representing themselves as being “of” the group, working for the group and delivering to the group.

Or rather, as I argue with my co-authors in our book The New Psychology of Leadership, effective leaders have to be skilled “entrepreneurs of identity”. And, love him or loathe him, Donald Trump is on the brink of power (again) because he is one hell of an entrepreneur of identity.

Trump’s view of “us” and “them” is at its clearest in his Argument for America, the ad with which he concluded his successful 2016 presidential campaign. It is quite compelling in the way of something that you know is bad for you but you can’t tear yourself away from.

It is entirely repetitive, like a drumbeat, organised around an antagonism between “the establishment” and “the American people” culminating in the assertion: “I am doing this for the people and for the movement, and we will take back this country for you and we will make America great again.”

This contrast between “the establishment” and “the people” is, of course, a classic populist trope. Trump’s version is distinctive in three ways. The first is the elasticity of “the establishment”, which includes outsiders (Chinese, immigrants, globalists), conventional politicians (the Washington “swamp”) and anyone who opposes him (the media, judges, scientists).

The second is his autocratic assertion of agency. Unlike Obama’s empowering “yes we can”, Trump implies that people themselves can’t buck the establishment alone. They need him as their saviour. Trump is more “yes I can”. The third is that “the people” are defined in national/cultural (and implicitly racial) rather than class terms.

This last is critical because it allows Trump to use his great wealth to connect himself to the people rather than it serving to distance him. He and his family are portrayed as rough and ready “ordinary guys” whose success exemplifies the American dream.

And it’s not just that he uses his wealth to make himself “one of us”. It also allows him to claim that he works “for the people” while his opponents can be bought and are “controlled fully by the lobbyists, by the donors and by the special interests”.

In his 2015 presidential announcement speech Trump claims that he, by contrast, turned down a $4bn loan from a big bank, signalling his supposed independence from corporate interests. His wealth ensures he will both work for the people and that he will deliver the people from their foes.

He is the one they have been waiting for to make them great again: a messiah complex only strengthened by the recent assassination attempt and Trump’s defiant response to it.

Trump’s success is not just a matter of what he says, but also of what he does. And this takes us to a key aspect of the Trump enigma.

How come his endless gaffes, his crude speech, his glowering presence, his rambling rants and his endless misdemeanours do not destroy him, as they have other candidates?

The answer is that if you define yourself in contrast to the political establishment, the breaking of the rules of politics affirms your identity. It shows that “I am not one of them – I am one of us.” A bit crude, perhaps. A bit rough around the edges. But self-evidently one of the people.

In sum, Trump thrives because of, not despite, his violations. Each time he is upbraided for them, he simply doubles down by rejecting his critics (whether journalists, lawyers or judges) as part of the establishment – an ever-radicalising politics of transgression.

Moreover, rather than be ashamed by the ensuing criticisms and sanctions, he and many of his supporters parade them as proof that they are willing to suffer establishment attacks on behalf of the people. “Felon” becomes a badge of honour, and “I support the felon” becomes a popular meme…….

Donald Trump is a misogynistic, billionaire felon. Here’s why Americans can’t stop voting for him | Stephen Reicher

Outsiders can’t fathom his success. But Trump’s supporters believe his gaffes and misdemeanours prove he’s ‘one of them’, says academic and author Stephen Reicher

www.theguardian.com

 

[Infoman]

I think the simplest explanation is... As the middle ground is continually removed from the policy platforms of each party... The further away they have to get from each other to farm votes on division... Essentially - One extreme fosters the opposite extreme...

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”

- Some Newton guy

 

[Saint Jack]

I think it’s just as simple as rural Americans feeling like they don’t matter in the country.
And I say that because I’ve heard the term flyover state my life.
And rural Americans feeling jealousy towards the big cities nearby.
And I say that because I’ve sensed a resentment to NOLA from everyone else in Louisiana. Just as an example.

So, here comes this billionaire from New York, saying that Rural Americans matter.
That’s probably the first time anyone in those areas has said that about Rural America.
It’s the perfect combination for a cult of personality.

 

[MT15]

I think the simplest explanation is... As middle ground is continually removed from the policy platforms of each party... The further away they have to get from each other to farm votes on division... Essentially - One extreme fosters the opposite extreme...

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”

- Some Newton guy

Except I have seen some actual data indicating that the Democratic platform is not moving further left to any appreciable extent, while the GOP has been really moving right. It was a while ago, maybe a few years back. I’m not sure I could ever find it.

 

[Infoman]

Neither side of the dug in voters seems capable of looking in the mirror objectively and seeing how far they are moving away from the other - just for the sake of separating themselves from the other, thereby exacerbating the divide... No matter how much evidence there is to the contrary... It's always the other sides' fault... Which also contributes to the team sport mentality... and keeps us on the turd roller coaster of POTUS choices we keep getting saddled with. It's like one side says - "we want abc policy" and the other immediately says - "what's the complete opposite of that? - Yeah, we want xyz policy" This mentality is what's creating the parties and candidates we have. Keep up the good work.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Except I have seen some actual data indicating that the Democratic platform is not moving further left to any appreciable extent, while the GOP has been really moving right. It was a while ago, maybe a few years back. I’m not sure I could ever find it.

The Republicans have actually dragged the Democrats to "just left of center."

 

[LA - L.A.]

Neither side of the dug in voters seems capable of looking in the mirror objectively...

Then you fit right in with them.

 

[Optimus Prime]

They are the Maga masses – ordinary people for whom Donald Trump represents hope, not fear, and whose lives have been changed by the Trump era.

Some drive thousands of miles, seeing parts of the US they might never otherwise see, to attend the former US president’s campaign rallies, often camping outside for days to ensure they get a front-row seat. The rallies provide music, politics and a sense of belonging unlike anything else that society offers them.

Others sell “Make America great again” merchandise. An entire cottage industry has grown up around quirky, witty or insulting bobbleheads, hats, mugs, T-shirts and other paraphernalia. Within hours of Trump surviving an attempted assassination at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the indelible image of him standing defiant, face bloodied and fist raised, was available on T-shirts.


For these fans, Trump transcends politics: they are in love with his brand of television-induced celebrity, charismatic leadership and willingness to take on perceived elites. That Trump could survive a shooting now elevates him to a near divine status – a figure of destiny to whom their devotion is complete.

He resents the same things they do. He is their hammer.

Here are six of them in their own words. These interviews contain unfounded claims about voter fraud, the 6 January 2021 insurrection, immigration and the criminal cases against Trump.……

Inside the Maga mind: Trump’s most dedicated fans explain their fervor

From camaraderie to a shared political vision, these campaign rally regulars explain why they are all-in for Trump

www.theguardian.com

 

[SteveSBrickNJ]

@Optimus Prime
Trump has his dedicated base as you clearly know, but do you agree with me that this is all the support he will get? That's his ceiling? (Reflecting back...) With Biden as the other candidate Trump had a chance of picking up some additional people who might have voted for him in November. Yet with Harris as his opponent I think he is doomed.
Agree?