Thread by @astroehlein

In recent days, I've been in touch with some Trump supporters I know in the US. Not anyone you would have heard of, just regular middle class whites, mostly in the northeast.

I've tried to maintain contact & just listen over the years, so I understand their thinking. 1/

This was the first time all of them literally screamed at me.

They're not upset at last week's mob riot; they're hoping for more of it. 2/

Some even talked about killing specific politicians. I'm not worried these people will be on the news one day, because they have neither the means nor the physical ability to do it. Still, they're very keen to see it happen. 3/

For most of them, everything is corrupt in the US - elections officials, state politicians, state legislatures, state courts, federal courts, the Supreme Court - everything apart from Trump, the one source of truth, the "only source of light" as one put it. 4/

They have bought Trump's lies about the election (and everything else) 100%. They've adopted his mindset: the truth or falsehood about anything is not what matters; what matters is whether that thing hurts or helps Trump. 5/

And these are not Q crazies, by the way. Just "regular" Trump supporters. 6/

Of course, this is all anecdotal, not scientific. I don't pretend to have my finger on the pulse here.

But on the basis of what I've heard, I personally expect more violence in the US, incited by Trump, enabled by other Republican leaders, and cheered on by people like this. 7/

And I weep for the country of my birth. 8/8

Beyond the personal now...

US polling shows that, while most Americans reject the attack on the Capitol, millions empathize with the mob - perhaps a third or more of Trump voters...

washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…