# Trump and his rallies **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 21, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188 "2022-01-21T19:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StraightTalk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straighttalk/32/9982_2.png) [@StraightTalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StraightTalk)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/1 "2022-01-21T19:26:44Z")
Why in the world does Trump think that 30,000 people showing up to his rallies (where probably at least 1/3 of them are the same people showing up to them over and over) means that he had to have won the election? There are 160,000,000 voters. 30,000 is merely .0002% of them. He really is a dimwit. ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/2 "2022-01-21T19:34:46Z")
His followers can’t do math. He needs to maintain the narrative that he and his base were victims and that the election was stolen. Truth and objectivity are gone. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/3 "2022-01-21T21:21:21Z")
I’m sure the OP is a rhetorical question, but the answer still is: because the louder and oftener you repeat a lie, the more people will believe it. Trump may be a dimwit, but he has street smarts and he sees his lies are working. Why should he stop them? ---
**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:** [January 21, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/4 "2022-01-21T21:26:32Z")
Plus he’s making money so long as he’s stirring the pot. After a hiatus of several months my email address suckmydickdonnie (Name: Nunya Bizness) has started getting two or three requests a day for donations, stating how disappointed he was not seeing my name in the list of contributors or promising me… something – I’m not sure what – if I get on his bestest supporters list. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/5 "2022-01-21T21:36:03Z")
> [@StraightTalk](#): > > Why in the world does Trump think that 30,000 people showing up to his rallies (where probably at least 1/3 of them are the same people showing up to them over and over) means that he had to have won the election? Trump has the mental capacity to bankrupt casinos (that he owns, not casinos where he plays blackjack), that’s why. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/6 "2022-01-21T22:27:32Z")
Tom the Dancing Bug mentions that idiotic notion in the second strip [here](https://boingboing.net/2022/01/19/a-calvinesque-and-hobbesian-look-at-being-a-loser.html?fbclid=IwAR08d_bDzyC1jft3U51GvC3K7OyHFmZvKem9ln3SXlFQ77W8aNnlwbosklI). All of Rubin Bollings’ Donald and John strips are excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/7 "2022-01-22T01:58:58Z")
> [@StraightTalk](#): > > Why in the world does Trump think that 30,000 people showing up to his rallies (where probably at least 1/3 of them are the same people showing up to them over and over) means that he had to have won the election? > [@StraightTalk](#): > > He really is a dimwit. Hey, hey, hey! No fair answering your own question in the OP yet. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/8 "2022-01-22T06:00:34Z")
> [@StraightTalk](#): > > There are 160,000,000 voters. 30,000 is merely .0002% of them. > > He really is a dimwit. > [@Critical\_Mass](#): > > His followers can’t do math. He needs to maintain the narrative that he and his base were victims and that the election was stolen. It never fails that a critique of math or grammar on the internet never fails to backfire. 30,000/160,000,000 is ~0.02%. Regarding Trump’s thinking? He’s just in campaign mode is all. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/9 "2022-01-22T06:24:31Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Regarding Trump’s thinking? He’s just in campaign mode is all. Is there any claim he could make that would be too freakin’ inane for you to handwave it off with “He’s just in campaign mode is all”, or has he got a totally free pass in your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/10 "2022-01-22T07:22:34Z")
No politician gets a pass from me. That said I recognize rhetoric for what it is. In classical oratory you had what the three pillars ethos, pathos, and logos. I think all three are important and I’ve come to believe that, and it’s truly unfortunate, of the three pathos or emotion is the most influential. So in my minds the rhetoric is a means of manipulation of the masses in a democracy in order to achieve power. Concerning Trump? I don’t believe a word he says until it’s been verified in some other fashion. However, it is effective. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/11 "2022-01-22T07:23:17Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Regarding Trump’s thinking? He’s just in campaign mode is all. And yet, he has not announced that he is running in 2024. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, has he filed any paperwork to do so, as he did in early 2017 for the 2020 election. If he’s in “campaign mode,” it is not very apparent. My own guess is that he only wants to collect money from his supporters, who hope, pray, and believe that he will run, even though he’s said nothing about running. Funny thing about Trump supporters: they believe rallies are the only way to campaign. “Biden didn’t hold rallies, and look how many turned out to Trump rallies! Biden _couldn’t_ have won!” But there are other ways to campaign, and Biden took the quiet way–in fact, as it seems to me, Biden let Trump do a lot of Biden’s campaigning for him. Trump’s blowhard speeches at his rallies, often ad-libbed and off-script, touting things that would come to pass “in two weeks” and never did. Things like this, and “Look how Sleepy Joe is campaigning–from his basement! He’s not holding rallies because he can’t fill stadiums and arenas like I can!” caused sane American voters to want to drop Trump like a hot potato. And so they voted for quiet Biden, who had a decent (not perfect, but reasonable) platform, a low-key campaigning style, and a history of a life in politics. Biden knew how Washington DC worked. You give something to get something. Unlike Trump, who thought everything was an “I win you lose” deal. Well, politics is not like that, which is why Trump lost the election. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/12 "2022-01-22T14:04:22Z")
> [@StraightTalk](#): > > Why in the world does Trump think that 30,000 people showing up to his rallies (where probably at least 1/3 of them are the same people showing up to them over and over) means that he had to have won the election? This is assuming that trump does actually believe he won the election. It’s actually hard to know whether he does or not. He’s a modern day P.T. Barnum, except that he’s so gullible he often convinces himself of his own lies. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/13 "2022-01-22T14:40:24Z")
One of the enduring beliefs of the Big Lie proponents is that attendance at the rallies and the preponderance of yard sign clearly demonstrate popular support for Trump. Therefore he could not have lost the election if the votes were fairly counted. “Everyone we know voted for Trump.” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/14 "2022-01-22T14:44:13Z")
It worked for Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/15 "2022-01-22T14:49:47Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Regarding Trump’s thinking? He’s just in campaign mode is all. He’s been in campaign mode since 2015. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/16 "2022-01-22T14:58:46Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Plus he’s making money so long as he’s stirring the pot. After a hiatus of several months my email address suckmydickdonnie (Name: Nunya Bizness) has started getting two or three requests a day for donations, stating how disappointed he was not seeing my name in the list of contributors or promising me… something – I’m not sure what – if I get on his bestest supporters list. If this list of his bestest supporters is published somewhere, we might want to chip in to get you to the top of the it… ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/17 "2022-01-22T15:07:24Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > “Everyone we know voted for Trump.” Yep, all of this is just another effect of the bubble they’re living in. No one they know voted for Biden, and everyone they know would never vote for Biden, so it’s impossible for Biden to have gotten any votes. They never once stop to think about there being people who exist outside their bubble. Certainly they never think that there are enough people outside their bubble to win elections. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/18 "2022-01-22T15:53:48Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > If this list of his bestest supporters is published somewhere, we might want to chip in to get you to the top of the it… I would imagine this list might be published in book form somewhere and you can buy it for the low, low price of $49.95 plus $15 shipping and handling. Buy two and impress your friends. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/19 "2022-01-22T15:55:45Z")
It has an eagle on the cover! The best most beautiful eagle, a perfect eagle. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188/20 "2022-01-22T17:53:08Z")
As the OP noted, Trump is a dimwit. He’s also a liar. It’s a bad combination because Trump is so dumb he believes his own lies. Trump doesn’t have some secret plan. He failed in business. He failed in entertainment. He failed in his personal life. And he failed in politics. What we are seeing are the consequences of his failure as a politician playing out. Trump is taking money from people even dumber than he is. He’ll then turn around and lose most of the money he took. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-his-rallies/958188.md?page=2)