For the last four years, Lesley Stahl’s reaction to Trump has epitomized what we non-Trumpers have been thinking. We’re talking to the right and continually knocking down their arguments and we watch in disbelief as they get up again and stagger towards us even more determined to rip our intestines out. If only we had a magic ice pick…
The problem is that there are 14 reasons why a Trump supporter likes, no, LOVES Donald Trump. Some of these reasons are single issue, like they’re making money in the stock market or Trump will deliver on abortion. Some are synergistic, like people who think they understand politics better than they actually do and are easy to scare, are also easy to enrage.
Here’s an article that describes those 14 reasons and what Trump supporters have in common. As I read it, it appears that the Trumpish demogogue type finds a vulnerability and exploits that to the hilt.
For example, I’ve seen a lot of reason #4 lately:
- “Some Men Just Want to Watch the World Burn.”
I Some intelligent people who know better are supporting Trump simply to be rebellious or to introduce chaos into the political system. They may have such distaste for the establishment and Democrats like Hillary Clinton that their support for Trump is a symbolic middle finger directed at Washington. These people do not have their priorities straight, and perhaps have other issues, like an innate desire to troll others, or a deranged obsession with schadenfreude.
This was tweeted by some real politicians and their staffs on the night Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed:
Nice guys. They remembered Hillary’s birthday. Funny how she’s not running this year. But they just can’t help themselves. We have Rush Limbaugh to thank in part for that aggressive streak of wimmin hating.
I think karma is going to catch up with them. I’m just not sure how yet.
There are so many different vulnerabilities that it’s hard to see how they all gel together to form this united wall of supporters.
I have one more hypothesis about that. I think that it’s Trump’s rallies that smooshes these diverse groups together. It’s the way the media covers them with the backdrop of adoring fans, women for Trump (some women have no sense of dignity at all), and the one person in the background who nods affirmatively at every ridiculous pronouncement Trump makes.
It works because there is safety in numbers. If you don’t really understand how Trump is going to better your quality of life, then there must be something wrong with you. Look at his adoring fans and that lady who seems to agree with everything he says.
This is why Trump gets so bent out of shape whenever the media doesn’t cover his attention orgies. He can’t perform without his entourage in the same screen. He knows he’s a fat, ugly, lazy old man who doesn’t know what he’s doing so he needs a little sleight of hand with the rally visuals even if it kills his fan base. He needs those visuals in order to keep everyone together, agreeing with that lady in the background who seems to actually *like* it when he says hurtful, racist or inappropriate things. You know, stick it to the libtards and the snowflakes.
You don’t see Biden or Obama doing that. And the reason is competence, experience, confidence and substance. Trump has none of that or he’d be doing drive in rallies too.
Check this out, Trump’s helicopter comes dangerously close to beheading a few dozen supporters while Biden fearlessly descends a set of steps without a spotter to speak to his socially distanced audience at Warm Springs, GA.
Guess who’s leading in the polls?
Trump needs those clueless journalists asking the red capped Trumper why in God’s name they would support a guy who just said he was going to take the insulin away from their 60 year old mother, force their 30 year old daughters to have their loser boyfriend’s baby, and rip little children away from their parents.
Here’s an idea. For the next seven days, cut out Trump from his fan base. While he’s speaking, put him against an acid green background. Mute any applause. It’s his words that should matter to the Voter, right? So, take out all other distractions. If he complains about the media manipulating his rally coverage, just broadcast it without the adoring crowds after it’s over. It will be like Seth Myers and Stephen Colbert trying to play to an empty theater. The jokes are still funny but not quite as funny as they would be with a live studio audience.
I’d like to experiment with that with the time we have left. Let’s see what happens, as Trump is always saying.
Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
Another great post. I should really hate to upset you.
Nah, I’m really a lamb. 😉
I actually think Colbert has been doing better without the audience. He has substance. I have never cared for Myers. I like your idea, though. Lately, the broadcast news has been showing some of the most inane snippets of trump’s “speeches”. Unfortunately, the effect may be to just reinforce the inanity, rather than expose it in a way that would have any kind of therapeutic impact on the electorate.