# How is trump still a viable candidate for president? Really, how? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 12, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949 "2023-05-12T14:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/504 "2023-08-23T22:57:18Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > How many people does he have to throw under the bus before everyone realizes that he doesn’t give two shits about anyone but himself? This goes for his supporters, too. If Trump is re-elected, he is going to destroy America because America was mean to him. He doesn’t care if he is king of the ashes. His supporters will be thrown under the bus to suffer with the rest of us. And they are too stupid to realize it. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2023, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/505 "2023-08-23T23:01:43Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > The problem is, Trump fundamentally doesn’t understand what’s happening to him. > > Firstly, he fundamentally doesn’t understand that loyalty is a reciprocal arrangement. He thinks everyone is loyal to him, and doesn’t get that he should be loyal to them. He doesn’t have to pay their bills to get their loyalty, their loyalty is just an inherent feature in the Universe of Trump. That’s what makes it so fun to watch! ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/506 "2023-08-24T09:10:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@slicedalone](#): > > > > Your restraint in not mentioning “face-eating leopards” here is admirable. > > I find most SDMB in-group idioms quickly go from witty to yeah-so to tired cliché far beyond their sell-by date. > > That particular idiom is deeply into Door #3. Well, sure. That’s why I admired your restraint in not using it. Of course, “Door #3” is a bit of a cliche as well. Also, “out over his skis,” “Come-to-Jesus moment,” “Presidential timber,” “end of the day,” “stay in your lane,” and a load of other cliches of political discourse. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/507 "2023-08-24T09:16:46Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > Of course, “Door #3” is a bit of a cliche as well. And, as we all know, _Door #3_ is a witty to yeah-so to tired cliché that started as a SDMB in-group idiom! 😜 ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/508 "2023-08-24T13:22:25Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > Also, “out over his skis,” “Come-to-Jesus moment,” “Presidential timber,” “end of the day,” “stay in your lane,” and a load of other cliches of political discourse The one I hate is “out of step.” “Such-and-such is out of step with the citizens of Shlorpsburg.” Has that phrase ever really made someone change their mind? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/509 "2023-08-24T16:04:41Z")
Moderating: Let’s please drop the “idioms” discussion. It’s a hijack to the topic of this thread. We can agree that it’s either idioms all the way down or Schroedinger’s idioms. Let’s leave it at that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/510 "2023-09-01T21:52:51Z")
I’m going to try to get this thread back on track…with a semi-hijack. 😬 There’s a lot of speculation right now that trump is broke. The save America PAC was down to its last few million at the start of the month, there’s the fact that he used a bondsman to pay his bail, how aggressively he’s monetized the mugshot, and so on. But it’s unfathomable to me. Yes lawyers are crazy expensive. But he has tens of millions of rubes showering him with gold every day. He’s achieved his wish of being able to sell any old Chinese-made tat with his face on it. If he’s not a billionaire, he has a son in law who is. And he still has wealthy supporters. How on earth could he be broke? ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/511 "2023-09-02T01:22:06Z")
The same way he went bankrupt with a casino? It is puzzling. He claims to have raised 7 million plus on the mug shot stuff. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/512 "2023-09-02T01:57:49Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > How on earth could he be broke? Every penny you take in you spend. And the rest you shovel down a one-way money laundering system into Swiss accounts. Then claim poverty tomorrow and get another round of donations. Same method the most successful TV preachers use. Just keep claiming more money is necessary for the lord’s work and by golly, more money will keep coming in. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/513 "2023-09-08T17:24:32Z")
This popped up on my news feed today. > **[A former Trump fan explained why he stopped supporting him, and people are...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/former-trump-fan-explained-why-134849017.html)** > > Danny Collins shared his thoughts on TikTok, where he said being a Trump supporter made him realize "how horrible of a person" he was. > Danny Collins said he used to agree with Trump’s words, then realized they reflected the “worst” of himself. > > Collins responded to another creator who was asking Trump’s critics why they “hate him so much.” > > “It’s simple for me,” Collins said in his video, which has been [viewed over a million times](https://www.tiktok.com/@dannyfcollins/video/7275777680883092779?_r=1&_t=8fVq7zJ6xw8). “Because he made me realize how horrible of a person I really was.” > > [snip] > > “All of those internalized beliefs, the worst of me that I used to keep suppressed, he brought to the surface,” he said. “He showed me how much of a racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, woman-hating, Christian white nationalist I truly was.” > > [snip] > > Collins said he was an inmate in the Florida Department of Corrections for 10 years and was never tempted to join a gang until he was convinced that “the white man was under attack.” Trump is still viable because not enough people have the self-awareness of this former prisoner. But Mr. Collins saw the light, so others are waking up too. I hope they hurry up about it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/514 "2023-09-08T18:43:34Z")
Oh, darn: > **[Trump allies urge a wake-up call for his lagging Iowa campaign operation](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-allies-urge-wake-call-lagging-iowa-campaign-operation-rcna103556)** > > As the stretch run to the Iowa caucuses begins, Trump’s polling lead belies a small campaign organization getting outstripped by rivals. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/515 "2023-09-11T21:29:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Damn good thing you had three activities in that list or I’d have had to invoke St. Opal on you. 😁 … Og smash! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/516 "2023-09-12T15:40:26Z")
**[A neuroscientist explains why MAGA supporters refuse to accept Trump’s 91 felony charges](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/a-neuroscientist-explains-why-maga-supporters-refuse-to-accept-trump-s-91-felony-charges/ar-AA1gB4jH)** > Researchers placed participants into the confines of an fMRI scanner and presented them with a mixture of factual and abstract statements. The results were illuminating. Disbelief, it turns out, is cognitively demanding. It requires more mental effort than simply accepting a statement as true… > > What does all this have to do with Trump supporters? Well, it’s far less cognitively demanding for them to believe anything their leader tells them. Any challenge to what Trump tells them is true takes mental work. This means there is a psychological incentive for Trump loyalists to maintain their loyalty. … > > In conclusion, the unwavering belief in Trump, despite the felony charges against him, is not solely a political matter but, for some, a manifestation of our brain’s intrinsic tendencies. Understanding this cognitive dynamic is pivotal in addressing the challenges posed by misinformation and fostering a more critical and discerning society. tl;dr: Thinking is hard. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/517 "2023-09-12T16:12:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > tl;dr: Thinking is hard. alternatively, Trump supporters are lazy thinkers who don’t want to make any effort to improve. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/518 "2023-09-12T16:37:13Z")
I’ve also wondered if it’s an 'in too deep" effect with trump supporters, at least maybe some of them. If a trump supporter pulls at those truth threads at all, they risk unraveling the whole sweater of lies. There’s no in-between, really: either you accept wholeheartedly the synthetic fabric of BS that trump and friends have woven, or you see the naked truth, and have to accept the fact that you’ve been supporting a traitorous criminal. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/519 "2023-09-12T16:43:45Z")
> [@solost](#): > > have to accept the fact that you’ve been supporting a traitorous criminal. And this is a very, very hard admission to make. People will do anything to avoid having to face the fact they were duped. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/520 "2023-09-12T16:45:15Z")
Frankly, it’s probably no more complicated than the Sunk Cost Fallacy. > **[How Susceptible Are You to the Sunk Cost Fallacy?](https://hbr.org/2021/07/how-susceptible-are-you-to-the-sunk-cost-fallacy)** > > Many managers are susceptible to the famous sunk cost effect, whereby they persist investing in a money-losing project even when it makes sense to invest the new money in alternative new projects. The research-based tool presented in this article... ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/521 "2023-09-12T17:37:17Z")
It is easier to justify antisocial beliefs if wealthy or influential people also espouse them. This doesn’t apply to every Trump supporter, some of whom simply like his policies in specific areas, some of whom just enjoy being contrarian, and some of whom gain social capital from being in a community of dittoheads, and some who see the alternatives as worse. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/522 "2023-09-12T19:01:34Z")
Racists, racists-adjacent, and racists-adjacents-friendly, that’s how. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/523 "2023-09-12T21:08:02Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > And this is a very, very hard admission to make. People will do anything to avoid having to face the fact they were duped. Coned by a moron. Hey, that sort of rhymes. They could write a country song! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949.md?page=27)