Why Do They Support Him?

I read an article recently, examining why Trump supporters continue to support him, despite his bizarre, and even illegal behavior and utterances. While the articles provide explanations, none of the explanations seem especially convincing. Or at the least, the explanations often themselves seem so bizarre that another explanation of the explanations seems required. 

For example, one explanation is associated with something called the Dunning-Kruger Effect.  The Dunning-Kruger effect explains that often when people seem misinformed, the problem isn’t just that they are misinformed; it’s that they are completely unaware that they are misinformed. This creates a double burden. In effect, they do not know that they are ignorant of reality. Thus, explanations to correct their biases may not work, since they believe they already know the facts.

Another explanation is that some people seem to react more viscerally to terror, i.e., the kind of thing Donald Trump spews daily. And when such people are faced with terror, or some assessment thereof, they tend to side with those whom they believe already hold beliefs they also hold.  In Trump’s case, he associates terror with people of a different color, or with people who are trying to cross our Southern borders, and he paints pictures in which he is the protector of the folks being terrorized (by him).

And then there is a group of religious believers, e.g., Evangelicals, who feel that their entire belief structure is threatened, especially by government of a Left-Wing orientation. The fact that he IS Government, seems irrelevant, since he again paints a portrait of himself as their savior.  These are threatened people, and only Trump understands them and will save them and their way of life.

And then finally, there is Trump the Entertainer. It would seem that many folks out in the Neverlands of America all watch reality TV, and Trump is their entertainer. They have short attention spans, and the Hillary’s and Joe Biden’s of the world cannot capture their attention for long. But Trump laughs and guffaws and yells, and threatens people they already hate, and behaves like the clown he is, but they love every minute of it.

Now all of these explanations have a ring of truth associated with them. But, in my mind, they seem conveniently oversimplified.  They also lack any obvious solution. Some of the authors simply punt on the question of how these behaviors and views can be overcome.  In the short run, i.e., between now and the election, they cannot be overcome.

And I also begin wondering, why did these strange views and behaviors not manifest themselves during, say, World War II? Or even, why did we never observe such behavior when Ike was running against Adlai Stevenson, or when JFK faced Nixon in 1960.  Then economic issues seem to hold sway more than racism or invasions from Mexico or other “shithole” countries.  One assumes that FDR held onto his leadership because of the war and his management of the economy after the disaster created in part by Hoover.

It does seem clear that American elections seem susceptible to economic issues, or to outright threats from a war, or the perception of a war threat (see Bush and the Iraq war).  Vietnam served to divide the country as perhaps never before with those favoring and opposing that war demonstrating as never before.  But at least, one could understand what was driving those opposing views. And despite the highly questionable nature of the Iraq invasion, including its dubious claims about Iraq weapons of mass destruction, Bush managed to win a second term, perhaps illustrating that wars provide an actual advantage to the presidency.

Now something different may have entered the landscape when Barack Obama entered the presidency.  Seemingly because he is a person of color, claims began almost immediately about his legitimacy. He was born in Hawaii, but his father was Kenyan. Now it turns out that Trump was behind many of the dubious claims about Obama and his citizenship.  So, maybe the fact that we had a black president, coupled with the fact that we then had a racist, Donald Trump, running for president can be viewed not unreasonably as the starting point of the current psychodrama called the US Presidential elections.

It may be that, just as Ronald Reagan was said to be the president who made it OK again to be a racist, Trump may be the first president who capitalized on that fact.  Maybe racism (and Nazi-ism is just another form of racism) really is the driving force of this election and the primary explanation for why Americans support Donald Trump, despite his abundant inadequacies. If you hate government that somehow seems to support anti-racist sentiments, and a government leader comes along and promises to eliminate such bizarre tendencies, then you will be drawn to support that leader, even if he is a demonstrable fraud.  Racists, it seems to me are often people who are enraged that life has treated them badly, or at least less well than other people.  And such folks seem to need someone to look down upon. People of color satisfy that need. I mean, such people of color come from ancestors who were slaves, so they must be inferior, right? Or even if they don’t come from a slave history, it can be assumed that all people of color are inferior . . . right? And should things go wrong in the country, economically for example, it is far easier to blame those you look down upon than the bankers, or stockbrokers who might actually be the root cause of problems.  It’s so hard to look down upon your bankers.

But wait, what about all those Evangelical believers. They’re Christian right? Surely they’re not racists. Well, they have other issues. It would seem that Christianity is not a major actor in the anti-racist camp.  And Evangelicals often feel as though the country has been moving away from them. And so, they too need someone to voice their grievances. And who better than a Con Man, who never attends church, cheats on his wives, neglects his children, and is corrupt to the core.  But, he is also willing to promise you the moon in exchange for your support.  So, why not? Oh, and he also isn’t running with a VP who is a woman of color. Heaven forfend!

And finally, there is this issue of paying attention. Trump is the ultimate Reality TV star, and who doesn’t watch reality TV. He is “entertaining” right?  I mean, in everything he does, he plays "The Apprentice”.  “You’re fired” he keeps yelling, and his base gets all orgiastic.  He fires them up, whereas the opposition is boring. They keep talking about reality, whereas he yells REALITY-TV. They’re different don’t you know.  So he keeps getting their attention. I mean can you even imagine Joe Biden suggesting that he could take a gun and go out on Fifth Avenue and shoot someone, and his supporters would applaud?  See, they really love that Bullshit. Love it.  Can’t get enough of it.  Government is boring, and he keeps entertaining them. And they need to be entertained, because they are otherwise so miserable, and so angry about their lives.

I know I said “finally”, but there seems one other thing that keeps his supporters close by his heels. And that is, the armed supporter thing. He is not just rallying political supporters. He is raising an actual armed camp that he plans to use should he not win the election. And they, his supporters, are that armed camp. He is willing to wage another Civil War to regain his seat, should he lose the vote. And his supporters seem to understand that and love it.  He is the leader of the American Taliban, and they are willing to go to war for him. See, that’s really different from “I like Ike”.

And so, we will see. Mostly, I am curious as to whose side the United States Armed Forces will be on. They seem quiet, but somehow, I doubt they will support Old Commander Bonespurs. We’ll see.