People ask all the time, "why would a person of otherwise sound mind support Donald Trump?" They phrase it differently, and sometimes the question is asked rhetorically, but let's examine the question honestly.
What motivates a Trump supporter? Especially a diehard one?
Lots and lots of theories on this--economic or cultural disenfranchisement, nationalism, fascism, racism, ignorance...the list is long and tedious. I'm sure a Trump supporter would say something like, "he tells it like it is," or "he's making America great again!" or "we've got to drain the swamp!" or some other slogan. Perhaps the supporter might say, "We're finally taking our country back!" or "getting terrorists and haters out of America!" or even, "he's not a liberal snowflake/cuck/traitor!"
And it's that last imaginary response I think might be the key to this.
See, it's not just hard to believe a person would support Trump despite all the many, many, many things he's done that are not in dispute: the vile comments he said on the bus with Billy Bush, the order that placed immigrant children in detention camps, the mocking of a disabled news reporter and of an alleged sexual assault victim--it's impossible to believe that. I'm sure there is a tiny fraction of Trump supporters who honestly believe EVERYTHING that's come out about him is "fake news" and he is a secular savior. I'm going to declare that group of people unreachable. People who, at this point, deny each and every fact about him that might make him seem less than perfect are, by definition, delusional and thus beyond argument.
No, I mean the people who know, or at least allow for the possibility that he is just as vile as he appears. The people who understand that he's bragged about personal sexual assault of women, that he's put kids in concentration camps, that he mocks the handicapped. People who see that not as a flaw but as a virtue.
What's the one thing all those actions have in common?
It angers "the left." It "owns the libs!"
I think, more than any other single driving factor, it is this that drives the average Trump supporter.
Mind you, I am not dismissing the effects of nationalism, fascism, sexism, racism, bigotry, and ignorance. Not at all. I'm sure those are mixed in in no small measure. But even a bigot, even a nationalist neo-Nazi, even an uneducated racist can see that he is not operating in America's interests. The driving factor here is that what Trump does angers the left. It "gets" them. He tweaks the noses of the compassionate and kindhearted, plucks the beard of the wise and informed, and gives the finger to the tolerant and accepting.
Go read the comments section of CNN or Fox News. See how quickly a Trump supporter brags about getting under the skin of the "libtards." See how long it takes for a comment thread to devolve into not just name calling, but a schoolyard "neener-neener! Am I bugging you?" taunt.
Those who support Trump are a lot of things. But more than anything else, I think they are the worst kind of tribal. Happy to burn down your house, even while that means their own house catches fire, as long as you burned too. Willing to sacrifice their own economic well-being if it means a liberal gasps in shock.
Ah, but the unasked question is--what to do with these people? What can you do with someone who is perfectly willing to line up with a bigot, a sexual predator, an ignoramus JUST BECAUSE it makes you mad when they do?
What to do with someone who will ruin his own life just to "pwn" you? Who will happily sweep aside all the chess pieces when he is losing just because it annoys you? Who get a tattoo on her face--one she doesn't want--because she knows it will piss her dad off?
That's a topic for another day. In the meantime...
Be seeing you!
What motivates a Trump supporter? Especially a diehard one?
Lots and lots of theories on this--economic or cultural disenfranchisement, nationalism, fascism, racism, ignorance...the list is long and tedious. I'm sure a Trump supporter would say something like, "he tells it like it is," or "he's making America great again!" or "we've got to drain the swamp!" or some other slogan. Perhaps the supporter might say, "We're finally taking our country back!" or "getting terrorists and haters out of America!" or even, "he's not a liberal snowflake/cuck/traitor!"
And it's that last imaginary response I think might be the key to this.
See, it's not just hard to believe a person would support Trump despite all the many, many, many things he's done that are not in dispute: the vile comments he said on the bus with Billy Bush, the order that placed immigrant children in detention camps, the mocking of a disabled news reporter and of an alleged sexual assault victim--it's impossible to believe that. I'm sure there is a tiny fraction of Trump supporters who honestly believe EVERYTHING that's come out about him is "fake news" and he is a secular savior. I'm going to declare that group of people unreachable. People who, at this point, deny each and every fact about him that might make him seem less than perfect are, by definition, delusional and thus beyond argument.
No, I mean the people who know, or at least allow for the possibility that he is just as vile as he appears. The people who understand that he's bragged about personal sexual assault of women, that he's put kids in concentration camps, that he mocks the handicapped. People who see that not as a flaw but as a virtue.
What's the one thing all those actions have in common?
It angers "the left." It "owns the libs!"
I think, more than any other single driving factor, it is this that drives the average Trump supporter.
Mind you, I am not dismissing the effects of nationalism, fascism, sexism, racism, bigotry, and ignorance. Not at all. I'm sure those are mixed in in no small measure. But even a bigot, even a nationalist neo-Nazi, even an uneducated racist can see that he is not operating in America's interests. The driving factor here is that what Trump does angers the left. It "gets" them. He tweaks the noses of the compassionate and kindhearted, plucks the beard of the wise and informed, and gives the finger to the tolerant and accepting.
Go read the comments section of CNN or Fox News. See how quickly a Trump supporter brags about getting under the skin of the "libtards." See how long it takes for a comment thread to devolve into not just name calling, but a schoolyard "neener-neener! Am I bugging you?" taunt.
Those who support Trump are a lot of things. But more than anything else, I think they are the worst kind of tribal. Happy to burn down your house, even while that means their own house catches fire, as long as you burned too. Willing to sacrifice their own economic well-being if it means a liberal gasps in shock.
Ah, but the unasked question is--what to do with these people? What can you do with someone who is perfectly willing to line up with a bigot, a sexual predator, an ignoramus JUST BECAUSE it makes you mad when they do?
What to do with someone who will ruin his own life just to "pwn" you? Who will happily sweep aside all the chess pieces when he is losing just because it annoys you? Who get a tattoo on her face--one she doesn't want--because she knows it will piss her dad off?
That's a topic for another day. In the meantime...
Be seeing you!
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