Out of All the Irresponsible Actions...

[Dill]

(11-09-2020, 12:49 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: I think here is where you go of the rails a bit.  People don't support Trump because they're credulous.  This comes off as incredibly condescending.  They support him because they oppose what he opposes (in theory) and they both repudiate the worst excesses of the Democrats.  Couple that with him having an odd sort of charisma (at least in 2016) and a desire to move outside the current system of power and you have a recipe for some rather staunch loyalty.  Trump supporters aren't middle of the road types, they're going to find much of the Dem platform utterly unpalatable.  If they see Trump as the best bulwark against that agenda they will stick with him.  If he ceases to be that they will move on.

On this MB I have frequently contested monolithic constructions of Trump support. I don't think I am guilty of that here.  

Some understood that a Trump win means lower taxes, and that trumped any ethical problem they might otherwise have with banning Muslims or calling Mexicans "rapists" or admiring and defending murderous dictators or obstructing justice or separating parents and children at the border to "send a message." 

Trump got some 80% of the Evangelical vote--comprising millions who believe he was chosen by God to play a role in the Endtime. Their fabulously wealthy leaders may care about taxes, but many of the rank and file do not. Ending abortion was more important--and securing Israel. The norms of democracy are "man's law" not God's. God's purpose trumps man's, etc. Hindering Trump was hindering God's will--not a view which favored impeachment.

Trump also had the support of Alt-Righters, and of people who followed politics very little but who understood that their livelihoods depended upon coal or fracking and Trump was their best shot to keep that going. Among all of these groups were people who felt that white identity was under threat by immigration. Trump was certainly their "bulwark" against that.

Recognizing that people supported Trump for diverse reasons does not rule out, however, that his campaign and its media arm worked to create an alternative reality in which the Russia investigation and impeachment and pandemic were "hoaxes"--though they were not.  An environment in which more reputable news sources and military, scientific and medical authorities were all suspect, while Trump-endorsed crackpots like Dr. Atlas or Rudy Giuliani were not.  

I dispute any claim of symmetry between the MSM and the network of right wing media which includes Fox and Christian Broadcasting etc. as if "both sides" were somehow equally disinforming and constructing audiences open to manipulation.

The clash of alternative realities was abundantly clear in the final debate as Trump spewed baseless accusations that Biden had received "millions from Russia" and the like. All mystifying to "middle-of-the-road-types," but gospel truth those feasting on Hannity and Rush.

So of course Trump supporters oppose what Trump opposes--the "deep state" and Democratic "worst excesses" like "socialism" and "the Biden crime family."  He is a "bulwark" against the fears that he and his right wing backers have worked decades to generate. And as Max Weber reminds us, "Charisma" is not IN politicians and prophets, but is projected onto them by followers. That's why his odious and vulgar behavior has no traction outside the right wing bubble, but produces adulation inside it.

Every single Trump supporter might not be credulous. But millions certainly were/are, and continue to be--played now by fears of new "Dem excesses," Trump endorsed rumors of myriad instances of voter fraud in swing states which criss-cross their blogs and Facebook and Twitter accounts faster than they can be refuted.