No. of Recommendations: 8
What I wish the message could get to these deluded people would be "WHAT HAS HE EVER DONE FOR YOU?!"
Why these people have latched on to this lying corrupt sexist racist disgusting phony narcissistic delusional fascist bootlicking charlatan partially-brilliant tariff-worshipping knuckledragging moron pig ... is beyond me.
Do you really not know the source of his appeal? They believe he brought them a good economy and a set of federal policies more in line with their values.
The U.S. economy was doing quite well prior to the pandemic, and most Trump supporters think that's attributable to him. Unemployment and inflation were low, interest rates were low, gas prices were low(ish), mortgage rates were low, GDP growth was solid (though not spectacular). They give him a lot of credit for that. Now, they believe things are worse. Unemployment and inflation rates are still low, but interest and mortgage rates and most prices are significantly higher. They give Biden most of the blame for that.
A lot of them like his positions on tariffs and immigration. And crime, though that's dropping in saliency a little bit. Trump offered the answer to What's the Matter with Kansas? - someone who advocated socially conservative views on culture an abortion, without centering cuts to the most popular entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. They love that Roe was finally overturned, and give Trump (not McConnell) the credit for that.
And finally, in terms of the persona of the candidate, Donald Trump is Al Czervik. Rodney Dangerfield's character from Caddyshack. That movie is structured as a stereotypical "slobs vs. the snobs" comedy, with a huge subtext of class struggle. We're meant to root for the little guy....and yet Dangerfield's character is on the "little guy" team. Despite the fact that he's clearly the wealthiest character in the movie, is coarse and gross and callous and debauched and rude, and is portrayed as being a near criminal, the audience is expected to (and does) root for him. Because he punctures the prissy and self-important "snobs" that are the real antagonists of the movie - the real "elites," despite being less wealthy.
Trump's supporters believe that Democrats think they're also low-class sexist racist disgusting knuckle-dragging pigs. So they delight in seeing one of their own being elevated to a position to stand up for them by pushing back on that characterization. They're the people that Democrats talk about when they say, "This isn't who we are as America" - and they want to elevate Trump as a counterstatement that, "Yes, this is who America is, and it's good."
