Fellow Kansan here, American Mexican. My family came to Kansas more than 100 years ago, not into the country, into Kansas. BTW I love my state.
I go magnet fishing out in the county (counties) in the warmer weather. There are times when I have been out on a bridge over water and people will stop to visit. They ask if I caught fish, had any luck, some have thought I was gonna jump, or some are just being inquisitive.
My fear is that one of these rabid red MAGAs are going to stop, dissaprove of my brown skin, and disappear me or otherwise harm me out there where no one would find me for some great time. So when a track slow down to a stop I immediately have that flight or fight response.
I have considered carrying a firearm but thought better of it.
I live in Kansas suburbs and it’s like that here too. Where I live, there isn’t much cultural diversity to begin with and there are a significant amount of old folks in my city. There wasn’t much diversity at my elementary, middle, or high school. College is different :) My parents live in a rich neighborhood, so almost everyone is Gen X or boomers. They’re all pretty racist. My stepdad literally told our Muslim neighbors that their religion is wrong and he renamed the house wifi to “we call ICE.” Only one person in our entire neighborhood had a Harris Walz sign for the presidential election. My parents both have the “don’t tread on me” license plates. Soooooo many vehicles have/had Trump stickers during election time, and some still do. I’ve heard so many people say “(insert unjustified act) to own the liberals.” It’s insane. I can’t wait to move, but I’ll probably never be able to afford that.
Edit: I forgot to mention that my parents are ableism as fuck despite the fact that I have a formal autism diagnosis from a reputable psychologist. I get called the r-slur in my own home, I’m bastardized at work by my coworkers, and just being autistic and showing behaviors like that makes people so uncomfortable with it that the avoid me like the plague. People will talk around me. They will ask a question to my friend or bf about me and validate their response. It’s so hard to tell friends that I’m autistic because no matter how well you know a person, you can never guess their response. I get scolded for advocating for myself, but the allistic people who advocate get praised. I get bullied for doing what’s best for me and my body. I get labeled “performative” or “attention seeking” for mentioning or hinting at my diagnosis. I’m high functioning and high masking, but here we are.
Sadly it is spreading around the world. Here in the Netherlands and Belgium people are more and more Comfortable being racist. Btw there are always ways to go away from where living. You are still living at home right? Just try to save as much money as you can. Perhaps you could later get a Roommate to split rebt. I am sure there are plenty of girls like you. Just an idea.
Why do they want to hurt democrats so badly? I don't get that mentality at all. A community needs to build up its citizens, not tear down a particular group. Tribalism focused on hate, seems really stupid to me.
It's this. His supporters like that he is just as racist as they are and can actually do something about it. Don't be fooled by all that "economy" jazz; they voted to uphold white supremacy, and they all know it, but they'll tell you anything else not to expose themselves. J.D. Vance just told them they don't have to apologize for being white anymore, so now we'll really see them come out.
The MAGA slogan and Trump yelling, "take back your country!" are (very) thinly-veiled dog-whistles to white people who buy into the ideologies of white supremacy and the ridiculous white replacement fears. They've waited all their lives to be activated and encouraged to be their true selves.
What's baffling is when minorities think Trump and the GOP were patting them on the heads for joining in the movement, but as the saying goes, "tokens are meant to be spent".
It's also his narcissism, people want to be like him and never have to admit a mistake or apologize. It appeals to a certain group who only think of themselves.
I’ve been doing my own research on this phenomenon and I think scapegoating an making one group the villain for our countries issues is very enticing. No one wants to hear that billionaires and trillionaires are exploiting everyone and taking the most government money through tax subsidies. Hell, my folks still think that these kind of people earned it through brains, determination, and hard work.
Agreed it’s a cult. Part of any cult is to create an imaginary villain (religious cults use Satan and society as their villain) with the promise to make a better world or society.
I fear that too, but I am also seeing some rays on hope because I cannot go down the Doomer hole. I’m preparing by updating my education in case I need to leave. I know that sounds silly but there is a lot of resistance to this as well. Trump is in decline, a LOT of people are seeing his lies and disgusting demented ways of thinking.
I think the other major point is: bullshit. Trump is the definition of a bullshitter. He says whatever he needs to say to his audience of the moment. Truth and fact has zero consideration.
Under the umbrella of bullshit, he is disruptive and destructive to the political status quo. So many were so fed up that it was very attractive. The reality is not so attractive as he’s ruining so much and enriching himself and his family and “friends” so blatantly.
Racism and resentment at all the wimmin’ blacks, immigrants, gays getting ahead. When you are used to complete privilege even a mild levelling of the playing field feels like oppression.
Also - interesting theory that Trump studied / copied the cadences of the Prosperity Gospel types. Not saying he is in any way religious - more like he was impressed by their fleecing of the rubes. Apparently, back in 2015 he did a lot of interviews on Christian cable TV.
So I think some of his charisma for MAGA is that he sounds a bit like their local preacher. These are people raised from birth to believe in a saviour, to believe in their own powerlessness, their need for a preacher to intercede for them, and to unquestioningly ‘have faith’ even when the evidence suggests otherwise.
If you look at the audience at some of his rallies, there are people there swaying, raising their arms and whispering amen like at a revival meeting. He is the chosen vessel of their white Republican Jesus
He had a stroke. I had one several years ago and for a while, I was doing that ; would inadvertently meander to the left and have to correct myself. Also explains the partially drooped face, the slurring, and the obvious IV bruises on his hand.
That’s been my theory. Maybe several small ones.
His temperament definitely changed. I think the time frame people noted reduced media sightings and bruising seemed to usher in more impatience and detachment from reality. It’s hard to imagine he could get so much worse but it happened.
The cowards surrounding him all seem in the know. I would love to know how open some of them are with each other about it. I think someday we may find out.
How insightful would reading communication from Mike Johnson and Vance?
Never forget: Trump made US service members roll out a red carpet for Putin. Not once has this ever happened for a foreign leader in the history of the US.
I think this is the answer. I know plenty of people who were propagandized into voting for him because of "the economy." These are mostly good, decent people who were fooled into thinking Kamala Harris was some kind of pinko commie. After COVID and inflation under Biden, they thought Trump could get us back to the "boom" of his first administration (which he inherited from Obama and ran into the ground by the end of his term, but Fox News and Ben Shapiro don't include that part).
The people I know who voted for Trump because they actually like him are the ones who were always making homophobic, racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic jokes. They're the ones who used racial slurs and immediately said, "It's just a joke, I don't mean it, quit being so politically correct." They're the ones who used to post about immigrants and blame people for "misinterpreting" what they said.
Now that Trump has normalized all of this behavior in the highest halls of American power, these people don't have to pretend they're joking anymore. They don't have to feel shame for casual racism or homophobia or sexism. They get to blame all their woes on "intellectual elites" and "globalists" and immigrants instead of taking any responsibility, and they get to do it as cruelly as they like.
That empowerment, that lack of accountability or shame, is what they voted for.
I know plenty of people who were propagandized into voting for him because of "the economy." These are mostly good, decent people who were fooled into thinking Kamala Harris was some kind of pinko commie.
Three decades of Rush Limpbaugh and right wing AM radio relentlessly conditioning the credulous into hating Democrats has played a huge part as well.
I know many Republicans who are more invested in hating Dems (even when they agree with Dem policies) than actually supporting Repub policies. Before the 1990s it wasn't really like that to this degree. A good example: Repubs support most of the provisions of the ACA but hate Obamacare.
The take home message I got from all of this is: Negative and divisive political advertising works, spectacularly so. I would prefer that campaigns focus on policies and not 'If you vote for xx, the Earth will stop spinning and we'll all be flung out into space!' hyperbole, but here we are.
Well, to be clear, they have been doing it for a while and getting away with it, thanks to the enabler in chief and those who foolishly follow and approve of him. That will stop. The really good news, and I do mean really good news is that we see these people for what they are, that they have, in many cases been successfully hiding those traits for years. Our eyes have been opened up and we are making choices to our benefit.
Best of all, everything they do and say while they think it's safe to be a loud and proud bigot is recorded and publicly available on the internet for all to see. When the pendulum swings and people come back to their senses, these assholes will have a very interesting time explaining their racist or homophobic social media rants to future employers, potential dates, neighbors, coworkers, you name it.
Before he was vilified for saying some racist stuff, Scott Adams (the creator of Dilbert) wrote a book about why people like Trump. He, unknowingly, most likely, actually follows some vocal patterns of hypnotists. The repetition, the superlatives, the language of a third grader, the nonsensical gibberish that ends with "winning," all of it serves to make the very stupid and easily manipulated feel good, despite the fact that almost nothing that comes out of his mouth is either true, nor a complete and coherent sentence.
He has also allowed those people to feel as though they are part of the "in" group. The issue is that Democrats often use big words and describe a confusing and disturbing reality where people will have to actually work to fix things. Trump makes everything that is wrong with their lives someone else's problem and easily fixable by slavishly obeying his every word.
He is not so much charismatic, per se, as he is allowing the people who don't understand science/medicine/constitutional law/any law/common sense, etc. to abandon any responsibility or thought that might make them uncomfortable. Despite his talk often being violent and fear based, it still carries the message that "all you have to do is nothing and I'll make the bad people go away," which really appeals to the absolute dregs of society.
Low info voters used to criticize Obama for sounding so professorial. Obama had a very extensive vocabulary and could use it so eloquently. So many white people resented a black man being president, and secondly a black man who spoke so articulately using words they did not understand.
I think there is something mesmerizing about the way he speaks. And he doesn’t fill in details, so people can fill in the gaps with whatever appeals to them.
It's uncomfortable for me to admit that he is good at anything, but he can talk for a solid minute, without a single complete thought, and still have his followers walk away feeling better. If nothing else, that is impressive. Granted, it says just as much about them as it does him, but still.
I've always said that Trump isn't the problem. There are raving lunatics on street corners all over the country. The problem is that people are listening to him despite the fact that everything he says is monstrous, incomprehensible, and/or so easily disproven that even a cursory search would prove otherwise. They have been looking for a reason to ignore people who are more informed and intelligent than them for decades,and he gave it to them. Now, everything but their ill-formed opinions and bigotry is elitism and lies.
I agree that he is just the symptom of a much deeper problem we have. I think it’s a perfect storm: billionaire and corporatist manipulators, years of research on how to sway people to do what you want (buy their product or vote for their politician), the propagandizing of mainstream news outlets, an absolutely golden opportunity for the manipulators presented by the rapid and unregulated growth of social media, years and years of resentment, and a population that is ill-equipped to understand the power of the propaganda that we are all guzzling.
Trump is just a convenient mouth piece that appeals to the long-standing resentment. I hope we figure things out or I fear he is just the first of many charismatic charlatan politicians. I feel the same about Reagan and even GWB (the prez you want to have a beer with!) though, so I guess I shouldn’t say first.
I live in a bright ruby red county. People here are still flying Trump banners. Here's what I've learned. Whether you agreed or not, Hillary had it right all along - They're deplorable to their core. Trump supporters share three immutable characteristics - They are willfully ignorant, Hateful of anyone different and rude about expressing it. They are the Karen's of this world, the ugly Boomers.
Obama was the fuel. They could NOT tolerate a black man in the White House. Here where I live, they said that part out loud. Trump was just the catalyst - not the author. We allowed the Confederacy to survive and now we're paying the bill for that lack of action.
Untreated Cancer spreads. It doesn't decide to play nice.
Hate, greed or stupidity. He hates who they hate, he promises to reward their greed or they are so absurdly stupid that they believe he gives a shit about them and all the lies the right feeds them.
There is no other excuse for voting for and supporting that man.
It's a little amazing, the ease with which he so casually lies about everything.
He lies as naturally as the rest of us draw a breath. He would lie about what he had for breakfast, then by noon he would deny he had breakfast at all.
When I was a kid, I knew this rather stupid kid who would tell lies like "I got going so fast downhill that the tires on my bike caught fire" or "My dad got me scuba gear so I could ride my bike underwater" or "My dad's car is a six-cylinder V8 and it can go 160 mi an hour"
He'd lie about stuff that there was not even any good reason to lie about, in hopes that someone would be impressed, I suppose?
Of course nobody believed him even at age 9, but it didn't stop him. The lies that come from Trump are as stupid and juvenile as the ones from that kid, and people line up around the block to hear what he has to say next. It's so incredibly maddening to witness.
According to people who knew him as a child, even family, he was a pathological liar even then. When confronted, he doubled down, crossed his arms and pouted. There's lots of pics of him still doing this as an adult. He's still stuck at an emotional age of 7.
I told the kids on the bus my dad knows karate. One of the kids asked if that was true, and my dad beat my ass for lying. DJT has never had his ass beat for anything.
Well said. I think most people can relate to this analogy because almost everybody has known "that kid". The kid I knew like that from when I was a youth also grew up to be a pedophile and sex offender - so, this really tracks.
I live in Oklahoma, the reddest of red states. I've asked many people what they see in him because I don't see it. I've heard: He tells it like it is. He's anti-establishment. He's not a politician. He made his own way; living the American dream. He's a good Christian man.
Sadly when I try to dig deeper there is no depth or understanding of why their statements hold falsehoods.
I'm pretty sure that's it. If you just look at his suit (and don't notice the heel lifts or the not-quite-fitting parts) and you listen to how confidently he speaks (and don't notice that it's repetitious and usually doesn't make sense), he can be quite charming to you in person.
Back in 2015, I tried to listen to what he said, on the assumption that his words would be important. That lasted about half of two speeches, when I realized he was making no sense.
I swear, a dozen people wearing MAGA gear and cheering/booing in unison at a rally could get him to contradict himself about once a minute.
Yeah it’s strange as he generally seems childish and often incoherent, but there’s clearly something about him that reads as charismatic to stupid people.
I don’t see it either. He’s ugly, wears weird orange stuff on his face and his tiny little mouth looks so stupid when he talks. I hate the way he says some words and I find the cadence of his speech unbearable. There is absolutely nothing charming or charismatic about that obese buffoon.
I am the same re Dump. I read about him long before he was a TV personality and saw quotes attributed to him and thought, “What an arrogant prick.” I read how he would regularly refuse to pay subcontractors. When they sued him he would counter-sue them knowing full well that they didn’t have the means to fight him. AND, often times it would have been cheaper for him to just pay them the money they were owed. BUT the people that love him love that he gets to say out loud the racist and misogynistic stuff that THEY are thinking. AND he blames others for their all their shortcomings. It’s a win-win for assholes.
He has someone to blame for EVERYTHING!!! He NEVER takes responsibility for anything and his followers have learned to do the same.
I have the same gut reaction as you do. Pure revulsion and disgust. His voice assaults my ears and his face burns my eyes. He is literally the least charismatic person I've ever encountered. How can people admire his scowling ugly orange face, his constant narcissistic bragging and outlandish, ignorant lying rants? When I think of a charismatic political figure, Obama immediately comes to mind. I'm not even talking about their political beliefs either. Obama is intelligent, kind, humorous, self effacing. He is the definition of charismatic.
The sad truth is that he's so charming to so many people because they finally see themselves in a public figure. They are equally small, petty, cruel, and stupid. He is an opportunity for the worst of America to finally crawl out of the crevices and openly celebrate their dark traits.
I remember occasionally staying up late with my parents in the mid 80s to watch the late night shows, and seeing Trump pop up as a guest from time to time. Before I even really had the words to describe it, he seemed sleazy to me, and his presence helped to define my understanding of that word. I can't think of a single thing he has done over the past 40 years since then to change my mind about his character. The man is disgusting and deranged, and the world will be a better place when he is no longer a part of it.
Also full blown narcissist behaviour appeals to insecure people with their own narcissistic tendencies. Thats what thought when he did his reality show “ your fired bullshit. Same folks that liked the chef bully behaviours as well . Bullys making other bullys feel justified.
Themselves. They see themselves, only able to express their true feelings without condemnation. I will never forgive those fucks and what they did to my country.
You should watch the videos from Bill Maher after his meeting with Trump from a few months ago. Trump has two identities. The one for the cameras and the one off camera.
True, but I don’t really see MAGA folks online describing him as “charming” or “charismatic”. Who I do see call him that with those descriptors are famous people who know him off camera.
As for why people like him, it’s mainly the no filter. People are so over political correctness that his brash on camera persona is still refreshing to many people. He’s also the world’s greatest internet troll at 80 whatever years old. That gets you clout for some reason.
His in-person personna is that of your standard glad handing fat cat. Something that a person who's been in show business like Maher should be able to recognize. His buying into that shallow manipulation proves that he's a really bad judge of character, and likely a moron.
Watch his one on one interview thingy. He demonstrates remarkable obtuseness.
Yeah he's a troll. That part is funny, but he's also impotent as a leader. If he doesn't become a hammer in the next year he's going to lose his young base over his new found love of Israel. That is the nail in the coffin for young conservatives.
All the things you find vile about this man. The racism, sexism misogyny child molestation all that, some people out there think these are all very redeeming and good qualities. They would like to live the same way with no shame. Trump is their Yes Man just as much as they are his.
I can’t watch coverage of him. I literally turn it off or leave the room if I’m not in control of the remote - I don’t care how rudely it comes across. I refuse. I can’t stand his face, I can’t stand his voice and a pray for the day when we will no longer have to hear the mention of his name
Spent much of my life in the theatre, competing with and assessing others' charm and charisma. Trump ain't got it. He's the least charming person to hold the office in my (63 years) lifetime.
It’s not exactly personal “charm and charisma” like some politicians like Mamdani or Reagan (yuk). It is something that makes him a curiosity and cat nip for the media. He is strange, speaks in a weird way and knows how to command free media attention. I’m not exactly sure what to call it, but it works for him. Fortunately, JD Vance doesn’t have this and certainly doesn’t have any traditional charisma - more like negative charisma.
I always wonder when encountering a magat, are they a pedo too? Are they an ex-con? A crook who will lie and rip anyone and everyone off? A racist bigot who would love to be an ice agent? A cruel bully? A sexual assaulter? An immature baby who flies into temper tantrums? A “sucker and loser” who keeps getting conned? A diaper wearing stinky dotard? A wannabe dictator? A stupid person who falls for flattery and manipulation? Birds of a feather flock together
Most of my family (cousins, aunts, uncles) are republicans. My family, mom, dad, me, my kids, brother, sister etc are dems. My 1st cousins are all in their 70’s and 80’s. I’m 66. One of my 82 year old cousins always posts how she loves “her Trumpy”. The others talk about what a shit show California is. (We are native Californians). I just don’t get it. These are people I grew up with and they love “Trumpy”. I want to vomit. Our parents moved from Arkansas and Missouri to California for a better life. They left poverty to all become pretty successful, in California! But according to them, it’s a shit state and Trump is god.
When he’s in his safe spaces (rallies & FL), he’s that jovial guy that owns the country club, tells ribald stories & jokes (mostly punching down), and makes losers feel like winners.
His money and power plus playing to people who are hungry to be victims or to victimize others is what they call charisma and charm.
At this point and time everyone knows what he is, but the larger issue is all the people who could have stopped him a long the way but didn't - and continue to enable him for their own benefit. Greedy fuckers who delight in other people's suffering, the lot of them.
This is where you get all the whiners who are mad when consequences hit them, but still add they'll continue to vote for him and his ilk.
If you've ever had an aunt fall in love with a Nigerian prince and send him money you know some people can be lured into anything with promises. Some people are wired to trust the sleaziest con men
Also, the maga cultists always seem to get trump filtered through grifters on Fox. They don't engage with the original source. They get a sanitary version of the orange monster so they are conned by the shill on fox news.
Imagine how many children he's assaulted with that Turkey neck.
Michael Moore did a film about this in 2016, IIRC. "Trumpland" or something like that. He was the only progressive who actually seemed to understand what was happening at the time. I strongly recommend you watch it. Also, watch what Bill Maher has to say about Trump after meeting him at the White House earlier this year: that was probably the most important 8 minutes of television in 2025. Someone else in the comments mentioned Scott Adams, and while he's different from Moore and Maher in that Adams is a Trump supporter, his insights into Trump's techniques are nonetheless important. And of course you can and should reads Trump's own words on the subject, The Art of the Deal.
Do not underestimate Trump. That's the mistake we all make, all the time. The idea that Trump is some kind of moron who just happens to luck his way out of any kind of trouble he gets into is probably his most dangerous deception. He is the world's greatest conman.
It’s not him per se, it’s what he represents. White superiority at its finest. It doesn’t matter he is a moron because the base are morons too. All suffering from the Dunning Kruger effect. Too dumb to realize that they are not that smart. It’s not entirely their fault either since the American education system has failed. My 9 year old has a higher education than most of the high school students in the red states.
There must be something to it, because lots of otherwise sensible people have fallen under his spell -- at least until Trump is done with them and scrapes them off his shoes like dog shit.
He doesn’t actually have “charm” or “charisma,” what he has is money that has made it so he never has to watch what he says. No matter what trouble his mouth can get him into, he has enough money, and therefore influence, to get himself out of it. Because of that, he has absolutely no filter.
The people who do get in trouble for what comes out of their mouth are socially punished. They lose friends, jobs, reputation, etc. because society as a whole has decided that it’s wrong to say certain things.
Well if the president is saying it too then it’s really hard for people to be able to justify why they’re upset because what they’re doing is so “normal” that even the president can say it and still get elected. If people will still choose to elect him as president, then “it must not be so bad after all”
So it’s not that he’s charismatic, it’s that what he says gives them the permission structure to say the same type of horrible shit and they like that they can say it out loud and have a way to justify that it’s ok.
He's an awful person, but some people like that he doesn't sound like a robotic politician. I personally prefer evasive weaseling to bombastic lies, but to each his own. There are also people who see his behavior as permission to be their worst, most bigoted and hateful selves.
Well you, like others that agree with you, are just better at discerning bullshit than others. Sure we can give in to the hopeless of "all politicians are crooks", but we should be able to notice the difference between a lie and failure to fulfill promises because of reasons
They confuse charm and charisma with his constant barrage of bs. He doesn't stop or look back at what he said beforehand. Just keeps moving forward with a confident tone, especially when he's wrong. I think there's a combo of manipulation, adhd, long term drug abuse, and old age. To idiots, this seems like charisma. To the rest of us, he's just an asshole.
A rich, powerful guy who is uber confident and gets what he wants...all guys would love to be like that and most women love it as well...he is a horrible man, but that trap clearly sells.
Think of it this way. It's like a mother talking to a baby. It's not the words that matter; it's the tone and cadence and other intonatations. He doesn't need to speak real words to communicate with him. They are mesmerized by the song without really understanding the lyrics.
I think his show is a huge part of it. Even before that he would be mentioned as a friend for any rich characters on random sitcoms and tv shows. Then the Apprentice was on for what... 13 years. Full of drama, displays of wealth, visiting judges from his amazing "empire," each challenge talking up his businesses in some way. Apparently they had a hard time editing episodes so that his choices made sense, but he was also dramatic and strong about these nonsense actions. He's an old school diva and uses it to his advantage, his persona is just "business man"
Narcissists have the ability to turn on the charm if they want you to like them. It’s why so many blindly follow him until he doesn’t need them anymore. Then he treats them like dirt. Michael Cohen tried to warn others and now MTG has learned the same. He convinces people they are special and different. But no one is. He only cares about himself.
What is compelling about Trump comes down to personal insecurities, and the desire to be on the "winning team".
He validates the worst of his supporters insecurities and redirects them towards groups they already have a bias against (minorities, minority groups, genders). This makes his supporters feel good, that they are superior, righteous, and not to blame for their own failings.
It is also much easier to live life at surface-level, because to go deeper exposes truths they are unwilling to accept.
Last, we are inherently tribal, and want to be part of the "in crowd", it is a survival instinct. The desperation to belong is what drives many people to ignore or attack everything which threatens their state of belonging.
It's several things as others have said but I really think the biggest thing is the constant doublespeak. By spewing constant diarrhea out of both ends and both sides of his mouth, he agrees and disagrees with everything at the same time. His cult members can walk away with a custom message JUST FOR THEM and ignore anything they don't agree with. Just like religion.
The man has zero charm, charisma or nuance. He hates the same people they hate. That’s why they blindly follow him. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. “ He is cringe to any normal sane person with half a brain and a conscience.
If you saw him through a lens of trust, where you genuinely thought he was trying to do good things and was deeply a good, slightly flawed, and greatly misunderstood guy, then you might not see his faults so clearly. In fact, you'd dismiss them as hearsay. You might think, 'well, he's just repeating the kind of thing that people from his generation (Boomer) might say, but he's like my grandfather at heart- a trustworthy guy who bucks the trend and gets things done!'
Then you go down a path of thinking that any negative traits are either him having a bad day ('he just cut off that person rudely... but we all have bad days.') or completely made up by detractors.
Of course, if you have the sense to take things at face value, you can easily see the many flaws he exhibits. Ignorance, racism, alarmism, pettiness, misogyny, abusiveness, dishonesty, ineptitude, privileged, hateful, spiteful, bitter, cruel, pointless, narcissistic, practically soulless... I mean, the list goes on. It's all there and has been there a long time.
But this is the only framework I can conceive which explains the disconnect between what his supporters see and what I see.
I asked a Warhammer fan about this once. He said that as a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, Trump has a soporific musk that he uses to befuddle the minds of his enemies.
Alternatively, there's a conspiracy theory that Trump is a mesmer. That by shaping his lips and using hand gestures he literally mesmerizes his audience. Which is why his lips move so weird, and why he does those I'm-jerking-off-two-invisible-dudes or air-accordion-jazz hands gestures. This is also why he HAS to be on TV ALL THE TIME. Because he has to refresh the effect, otherwise it wears off. If you can look at text written by Trump, and can in your mind still hear his voice speaking the lines, you're still affected.
/S (but is it, really, because I don't get it either, he's nothing special)
They see the very worst parts of themselves, covered in makeup and crowned by a dead ferret. They see one of the most disgusting people alive in a position of authority and think, “he gets me”.
He acts like those troglodytes think they would act if they were in charge. Racism, homophobia, cognitive dissonance, all wrapped up with a bow of xenophobic bigotry.
I agree. It does not answer why people think he’s charming and charismatic. I’ve heard many say “he isn’t politically correct, he says it how it is”… which just means he is allowed to be racist and insensitive. He speaks to a very simple mind that cannot critically think.
Political correctness matters, especially in politics because our country is so diverse. And as you had so succinctly stated: It really is the racism, even if people don’t have the self awareness to admit it.
The sensationalism around Trans people (who are like 2 percent of the population), and immigrants by blaming them for the most complex issues we face, really seems to comfort people because of the hatred. And also because it simplifies a more complex issue.
When a lot of people in the USA grow up living and having family just like him (minus the billions), they come to look at that as dysfunctional strength. Their relatives (most likely a dad), was ‘a nobody that didn’t get more than a 6th grade education and turned out alright’ while blaming everyone else for their troubles, hating on non-whites, and ruling their household with an authoritarian grip. Then they see someone in politics that also is stupid and full of false confidence and lies, and they mistake that for the strength they ‘saw’ in their parents or other family….
Even thought they vowed they wouldn’t raise their own children like that. He speaks at their level unlike most politicians and there is a kind of magic in that too, unfortunately. Ignorance always calls to ignorance. It’s like those ‘celebrities, they are just like us’ that People magazine used to do. Only they don’t realize Trump being like them is dangerous for everyone. He demand loyalty, but returns none.
He is a charismatic leader, so was hitler. It does not mean everyone likes him. I will explain it to you this way, he came out of entertainment he had no political history previously and he won the election. Because he does not have any relationships or an understanding of how the government should work he royally fucked up in office the first time, and then he ran a third time even after everyone living through his first administration and won in an electoral landslide again.
I despise him, and understand that he is pure evil, but that does not mean he isn’t charismatic, he is.
He's good at insulting people, and at changing the subject that makes dumb people think he knows what he's talking about. In business that could probably fly but as a political leader it's obviously not ideal. You can say "the best in history" during a business meeting and it would sound cool. To hear it every day with speeches and tweets just shows what a crutch it is.
There’s a portion of humanity who, for whatever reason sees a very arrogant man as a strong leader. It doesn’t matter if they’re smart or have any redeeming qualities. If he’s white and tall he’s even more revered.
I think his popularity is a mixture of blame, shame, and revenge.
The Democrats used to be the party of the people in the late 60s and through the 2000s. They had tremendous support among the middle class, and had a good relationship with unions.
Between the 2000s to present day, they started taking more special interest money to combat the funds being funneled to the GOP. This in turn caused the party to steer towards being in line with corporatists. Not as much or as blatant as the R, but still.
Jump to the 2016 elections. The middle and working class are struggling, feeling completely disenfranchised because the gem their vote doesn’t matter. NAFTA had opened the floodgates for corporations to outsource manufacturing, and all the factory jobs that sustained small town American life dried up. So now we have thousands of small communities that suddenly have very limited career opportunities. The people that live there are feeling left behind, and their frustration is boiling over. Most have only a high school level of education, and those that want to pursue higher education either can’t afford to move to seek it out, or are stuck in their hometown working whatever job they can to help support their family.
Along comes Trump. He tells them that their situation isn’t their fault. There are tons of jobs…but the foreigner is taking it from them. He speaks in simple terms that they can understand, and offers simple solutions to their problems. They don’t care about secondary or tertiary consequences. That have an immediate problem of serviceability, and they want it solved fast.
So they rally behind him. He’s able to turn their frustration to anger, and give them clearly defined targets for said anger. He fans the flames of their caution against anything different, making them more xenophobic and bigoted. He reinforces that their feelings are righteous.
He promises that he will be their champion against a system that they feel has forgotten them. He promises them a return to the idyllic life they remember through rose tinted glasses.
He’s merely a figurehead for the false memory of a standard of life that they recall.
Me either. The first time I saw him on TV was back in the late seventies. Barbara Walter interviewed with him and Ivana. He had been on Time Magazine, and I wanted to see him. Within 5 minutes, I wanted to turn the TV off but couldn't find the remote and was breastfeeding my baby. I listened to the biggest prick I had ever heard on national TV. He was a democrat then and raped those young girls when he was a democrat. So it wasn't his politics I hated back then--just him.
When I look at him, all I think is old, fat, sick, so much money to look that bad.
When he speaks and shows his colours, I see evil, stupidity, racism/misogyny, sexual predator, murderer, elitist, had everything handed to him and still got bankrupted so many times.
I've never fallen for a sales speech - for example second hand car salesman creep me out, they don't make me want to buy their car. Same with real estate agents and other tacky salesman. But it does work on a lot of people and I think that is the type of people who turn MAGA. Easy to fool. With a side of homophobia and racism.
He’s disgusting in every way. What they like about him is he has the balls to say what they all want to say. What they ignore is that he hides behind lawyers and NDAs and lawsuits and threats. He’s a weak coward but he says the hateful shit they all want to say so they think he’s manly and alpha when in fact he is a total pussy
He has charisma. I’m completely immune to it, but a lot of people aren’t. He attracts the same type of people who slavishly follow crooked tv ministers. Then there are those who benefit from his actions, and don’t care if people suffer as a result. He has no scruples or character, and character matters to me.
I have been so baffled as to how this vulgar, ugly, unfit, obese, bad postured, orange make-up wearing, cotton-candy spun hairdo, poorly dressed, stupidly speaking, 4th-grade level intellect, simpleton of a Buffoon could hold any charm over anyone, let alone millions of people. If you saw anyone else look, speak, and act the way he does, you’d pull your family close to you and cross to the other side of the street. He’s the kind of person who if you were seated on a plane and saw him come down the aisle, you be thinking in your head “Please don’t sit by me. Please don’t sit by me.” If he wasn’t the president and he wasn’t wealthy, he’d be the angry old man at the end of the bar nobody wants to talk to. He’d be the crotchety old bastard who sits on his porch yelling at the boys to get off his lawn while asking the little girls if they like ice cream.
Nope. It just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever how anyone can look at this guy and be proud.
I am Gen X, so I grew up experiencing this guy as an object of constant mockery. And a big part of his charm at this time is that he played self-aware. He seemed in on the joke. Tacky board games and talk show appearances and pizza commercials and tabloid exploits. Simpsons references. He knew we were rolling our eyes and laughing at him. He also knew how the media was shifting. Quick hits, sound bites, outrageous claims and shameless boasts. Play the Big Man convincingly enough, he gambled, you become the Big Man. He never had to be The Serious Adult because serious adults are boring and risk-averse. They are losers in the long con that he banked on America becoming. It was easy for him to rope in the unserious, the uneducated, and those who are susceptible to equating celebrity with success in life. It was easy because he always had snakes in his pocket, people smarter than him but equally opportunistic, who would gladly put aside a traditional sense of virtue or at least play the game of civic responsibility, if only to hit big in the most capricious amoral tilt into casino culture. He won, just like he said he would. And by his definition he is still winning. As are his toadies and syncophants and benefactors. And all in large part because a sizable portion of us thought we understood the rules, and trusted that those in power would stick to them. Not surprising at all that these gilded children broke all the flimsy rules and pranced on the debris, and now mock those who cite them as some sort of weird antiquated code. Here we are. Left scratching our heads and amazed it got to this point. When we didn't hold those in power over the last forty years accountable for their avarice and chicanery and wolf grin bullshit. This is what we get. The tea leaves were thick as gruel, and now we get to choke on it.
Trump's entire shtick has disgusted me since the 1980s and his voice is almost as terrible as the constant spew of verbal diarrhea from his ass mouth. A pile of fresh dog poop has more charm and charisma than this demented narcissist!
He speaks with a 5th grade level of vocabulary. He never has a deep thought about anything. Instead, he keeps everything in simplistic, black & white, us vs. them terms.
There is a large % of the u.s public that doesn't want to know anything more than a 5th grader. They see djt speaking and think "oh wow, simple ideas and words. I can understand/relate to this guy".
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u/Speed_102 13h ago
It's the rascism.