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I think pundits/commenters are missing something when it comes to why Donald Trump is beloved and has achieved cult leader status for about 30-33% of the populace 1/x
First, yes he has appeal for a lot of these people for his racism and xenophobic policies, but I don’t think that is the core of his appeal for these people. 2/x
What we have to understand is what right-wing media has created. For the last few decades the hard-right media, it used to be AM radio but now it’s also Fox News and the internet, has told people that they should feel aggrieved, and that the government is against them 3/x
After years of this constant drumbeat these people have internalized this message. They are constantly aggrieved, they are completely suspicious of any government activity (except the military) 4/x
It used to be that the people like this were on the fringes, we used to laugh at the crazy uncle ranting about the “other” at thanksgiving, telling us that the Illuminati was running the world and that Hillary was actually a satanist. 5/x
We rolled our eyes at every FW:FW:FW:FW:FW email we got from out kooky great aunt. But a funny thing happened, those types took over a political party, egged on by Fox News and crazy RW media like Breitbart. 6/x
Flash forward to 2016, along comes Donald Trump, a guy obviously steeped in Fox News, who watched and repeated the messages seen on that network as campaign slogans and sound bites 7/x
The rank and file republican voter ate it up because it was what they were used to hearing. They love Trump, but not for what he says to them. He hardly ever says anything aimed directly at his base. They love him because he personifies their aggrieved feelings 8/x
They love Trump because of how they imagine he makes liberals feel. They picture liberals crying themselves to sleep at night because they can’t stand the way Trump acts and talks. They love the feeling of superiority from the other side being “triggered” by him 9/x
They don’t care that Trump is incompetent at governing. For them it’s a feature, not a bug. If he destroys the federal government, so much the better! In their minds the government is out to get them. The government is full of “elites” and the “deep state” hates them. 10/x
I live in the deep red state of Oklahoma and I’ve seen and heard it many times. “Haha he makes the liberals crazy!” “I love Trump because he triggers the libs!” 11/x
So Trump is not an outlier, or a one-off, he’s the embodiment and logical end result of decades of the poisoning of the political discourse, the disparagement of government,and the dissemination of propaganda in America the last few decades, accelerated by social media. Finis
I forgot to add, a lot of this suspicion of government started with Reagan, “his 9 scariest words”: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help” is an insane message from a sitting president when you think about it.
