# Why Is/Was Trump So Popular **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 8, 2021, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987 "2021-01-08T01:36:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/161 "2021-01-11T18:41:23Z")
I think it’s the “Fox News Phenomenon.” Conservatives like that Fox News exists because it opposes what they view as a left dominated media. But this does not mean they agree with all or most of the content on Fox News. In the same way, conservatives liked Trump opposing the left even though they saw him as corrupt and disagreed with much of what he did & said. It’s like if you were in elementary school and bullied every day. Then one day a new bully moved to your town and started beating up the kid who used to bully you and you are left alone. You don’t like the new bully at all but you’re glad the situation has changed. ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/162 "2021-01-11T18:47:02Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#): > > It’s like if you were in elementary school and bullied every day. Then one day a new bully moved to your town and started beating up the kid who used to bully you and you are left alone. You don’t like the new bully at all but you’re glad the situation has changed. Except that the Left doesn’t bully. Unless pointing out facts is bullying. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/163 "2021-01-11T18:56:20Z")
The vast majority of Republicans, due to RW media have a lot of trouble thinking, and in general believe tons of misinformation. Because of that, Trump seems totally credible and honest. I have a GOP-voter friend who just today, in an otherwise reasonable conversation said as utter, incontrovertible fact that a busload of Antifa was at the Jan 6 riot. He got that info from a meme. It’s not true, as far as anyone knows. But the random meme is more credible to him than the NYT which debunked it. When pressed, he changes the topic. The RW beliefs are so strong in him that they protect themselves, by diverting when he knows he’s wrong, and fixating on something else. It’s reflexive, and it’s a real detriment to his ability to reason, because it’s probably been years since he’s gotten red in the face and said, “Shit, I’m wrong. Sorry.” Look above, @songsearch just ignored a poll, because it wasn’t what he preferred to believe. I’m not saying he’s a version of this, but that behavior is beyond common on the right. Not all conservatives are stupid, but because they accept a skewed version of reality, they can come to the same conclusions as a stupid person. Only a fool wouldn’t wear a mask in a pandemic, but RW media has made it so that non-fools are refusing to wear them. To the point of attacking those that do. Only a party suffering with this sort of mental defect could elect Trump. And we happen to have one. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/164 "2021-01-11T19:02:16Z")
It cannot be overstated, that the influence of Q and other crackpot conspiracies has definitely set the Trump movement aside from old fashioned conservatism of the type represented by more parochial figures like Ronald Reagan or Barry Goldwater. I think this is definitely uncharted territory for this country. There’s now a bizarre coalition of factions with truly whackjob beliefs, mixed in with the “God, Guns, and Freedom” people. That’s what you get when a whole generation grew up on 4Chan and Reddit. It’s only going to get worse, as the childhoods of impressionable minds become less about riding bikes, fishing, and playing basketball and video games with your friends, and more about jumping down online rabbit holes. The old “Hustler hidden in the sock drawer” is being replaced by dives down the dark-web. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/165 "2021-01-11T19:04:27Z")
> [@Drsunflower1](#): > > Except that the Left doesn’t bully. Unless pointing out facts is bullying. Ah yes, of course. I forgot about the Left always taking the high road. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/166 "2021-01-11T19:07:56Z")
songsearch: NPR is a faintly left-leaning moderate media voice, according to dispassionate data, statistics, etc. They are in the top rank in terms of accuracy and lack of bias. That you think they are a ‘liberal tool’ says everything about you, nothing about them. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/167 "2021-01-11T19:12:01Z")
> [@songsearch](#): > > Almost nobody I know approves of Trump disputing the election results, and I think you’d find that most republicans also do not. Most Republican members of Congress certainly do. They actually _voted_ to dispute the results. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/168 "2021-01-11T21:13:43Z")
> [@songsearch](#): > > Obama assumed all Republicans love guns and bibles. Hillary assumed that ‘half’ of Trump supporters were racist, sexist, etc. You assume that coal miners chose Trump. Lots of assumptions, all wrong. Obama didn’t assume that about “all Republicans”. [His remarks](https://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0408/Obama_on_smalltown_PA_Clinging_religion_guns_xenophobia_Page3.html) were specifically about the corrosive effects of prolonged economic decay in working-class communities: > [@](#): > > You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. > > And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. As for coal miners, yes, Gyrate is quite right that [that particular demographic overwhelmingly voted for Trump](https://www.npr.org/2017/01/01/507693919/coal-country-picked-trump-now-they-want-him-to-keep-his-promises). As for Clinton’s assumption that about half of Trump supporters are, [as she put it,](https://time.com/4486502/hillary-clinton-basket-of-deplorables-transcript/) “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it”, ISTM from the behavior and polled opinions of Trump supporters that the jury’s still out. > [@songsearch](#): > > Almost nobody I know approves of Trump disputing the election results, and I think you’d find that most republicans also do not. Good, that’s reassuring about the general level of factual awareness among most rank-and-file Republicans. However, conservative media and many Republican officials, including the President himself and his spokespeople, have been peddling the “stolen election” myth for all they’re worth. For example, [a group of Republican Attorneys General was actually making robocalls to encourage marchers to “stop the steal”](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/republican-ags-group-sent-robocalls-urging-march-capitol-n1253581). If Republicans in general didn’t in fact believe Trump’s bullshit about “stolen election” and disputing the results, then: either 1. a whole bunch of them were lying when they actively promoted that bullshit throughout Republican media and activism organizations, or else 2. Republicans in general are letting their media and activism be controlled by a bunch of delusional Trumpist loonies. Either way, it sounds to me as though you Republicans have quite a bit of housecleaning to do in your party. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/169 "2021-01-11T21:18:10Z")
I see a lot of this with all the conservative prophets who claimed it had been revealed to them, pre-Election Day, that Trump would win reelection. When Biden won, many of them either doubled down, adjusted their wording ex post facto, or just resorted to “wait and see, Inauguration Day hasn’t arrived yet.” And they have hardly lost any followers. Their followers would rather hear a good-sounding false prophecy than a bad-sounding true one. Just like how many QAnon followers remain loyal despite numerous incorrect Q predictions. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/170 "2021-01-11T21:36:11Z")
> [@songsearch](#): > > Almost nobody I know approves of Trump disputing the election results, and I think you’d find that most republicans also do not. Almost nobody I know voted for Trump in 2016, but he still won the election. If “How my friends feel about politics,” were an accurate gauge of national sentiment, January 20th would mark the beginning of Bernie Sanders’ second term. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/171 "2021-01-11T22:45:23Z")
> [@songsearch](#): > > Obama assumed all Republicans love guns and bibles. Hillary assumed that ‘half’ of Trump supporters were racist, sexist, etc. You assume that coal miners chose Trump. Lots of assumptions, all wrong. They were talking about fringe elements and you are assuming you know how coal miners voted. The people who broke into the capitol building were fringe radicals. If you believe the bulk of republicans all wanted to see that happen, you’re delusional. The liberal fringe have been rioting in Portland for months. Should we assume that all liberals approve? Lumping people into categories because of the actions of a few is ridiculous. Almost nobody I know approves of Trump disputing the election results, and I think you’d find that most republicans also do not. Pretty much everything you’ve said here is incorrect, both in the characterization of what Obama, Clinton and I were talking about and what Republicans openly believe. And I note that, when presented with evidence of this, you simply handwaved it away. Clinton was more than proven right about the extent of bigotry amongst Trump supporters. Obama was talking about right-wingers in central Pennsylvania and he was certainly right about them (speaking as someone who grew up there). Neither are “fringes”. And tell me how West Virginia votes? The Republican establishment are currently running multiple narratives side-by-side right now. One is that the people who attacked the Capitol were patriots fighting for America against the evil Democrats that stole the election from them (a view which Rush Limbaugh is promoting). One is that the people who attacked the Capitol _were_ the evil Democrats and Antifa and BLM, engaging in a false flag operation (which the Washington Times was promoting). One is that nothing of note happened and the Left are making a big fuss over nothing and hey, what about BLM (which Sean Hannity is promoting). And one is that the terrorist attack had nothing to do with what the GOP currently stand for (which you appear to be promoting). But it’s not “nothing”, it wasn’t a “false flag”, they weren’t “patriots” and it’s not remotely a “fringe” of the GOP. For the last four years - and for the last year in particular - Donald Trump, many senior politicians within the party and the vast majority of the right-wing media have been openly stoking hatred, fear and doubt to their followers. He has praised and encouraged those that committed violence, he has encouraging law enforcement officers to take extreme measures against those he views as his enemies, and on Wednesday after expressing a clear desire to “top the count” he exhorted his supporters to march on the Capitol. And there are _millions_ of his followers, who have taken those messages to heart and responded with attacks on the entire electoral system, from death threats in Georgia to kidnap attempts in Michigan. We are constantly reminded that 71 million voters chose Donald Trump after watching him preach hatred and divisiveness for his entire administration and loving him for it. They are not the fringe. They are the party now. But please keep telling us not to believe the evidence of our own eyes - or the actual data - and that it’s all fake news. As I said: > [@](#): > > …the willingness to embrace comforting lies over uncomfortable truths is one of the big reasons Trump is so popular. I look forward to your response on how _mean_ I’m being to you. > [@Velocity](#): > > 99% of people don’t like being told unpleasant truths about themselves. If you walked up to one of the arsonists in the rioting in Minneapolis last year and said, “You’re an arsonist,” you’d probably get punched in the face, even though your statement would be totally correct. Do you think comparing a majority of Republicans with all…what? One? Two?..arsonists in Minneapolis last year is a reasonable analogy? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/172 "2021-01-11T22:46:49Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > When Biden won, many of them either doubled down, adjusted their wording ex post facto, or just resorted to “wait and see, Inauguration Day hasn’t arrived yet.” Evokes the Evangelists who keep announcing the Second Coming what seems like three times per decade. > [@Velocity](#): > > Their followers would rather hear a good-sounding false prophecy than a bad-sounding true one. Right; and they will keep going at it. And that is one of the biggest factors of “Why Is/Was Trump so popular” – he provided a good-sounding, _simple_ sounding (140 charas!) false narrative that made those followers feel much better than the complicated, bad-sounding true one. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/173 "2021-01-11T22:51:00Z")
> [@songsearch](#): > > She said half of his supporters were deplorables, and then apologized for it later, saying she didn’t mean all. Regardless, it played a big part in her losing the election. Look up ‘basket of deplorables’ on Wikipedia if you want to look into it further. This is only an accurate portrayal if by “later”, you mean one sentence later in the same speech. Despite the right wing media uproar about broad brush painting Trump supporters as irremediably bad people here actual comments were the exact opposite. > I know there are only 60 days left to make our case – and don’t get complacent, don’t see the latest outrageous, offensive, inappropriate comment and think, well, he’s done this time. We are living in a volatile political environment. You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic – you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people – now 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks – they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America." > > “But the other basket – and I know this because I see friends from all over America here – I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas – as well as, you know, New York and California – but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just desperate for change. It doesn’t really even matter where it comes from. They don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won’t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they’re in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.” Now I hope you would agree that the the Neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, and the people who stormed the Capitol assaulted and killed police and chanted “Hang Mike Pence” were indeed deplorable. And it sounds like you also agree that not everyone who supported him is like that, so it sounds like you agree with that. The only possible quibble with her words is that she used the word “half” when describing the number in each basket. But that is just standard rhetoric, when you divide people into two groups it is common to say half go in group one and half go into group two. It wasn’t as if it was a meticulous analysis , and she even admitted it was a gross generalization. Meanwhile on the other side you have the insulter in chief saying that all people crossing over from Mexico are rapists and Murderers except some who he supposes might be good people. ---
**Author:** ![songsearch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@songsearch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/songsearch)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/174 "2021-01-12T18:16:46Z")
> “But the other basket – and I know this because I see friends from all over America here – I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas – as well as, you know, New York and California – but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just desperate for change. It doesn’t really even matter where it comes from. They don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won’t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they’re in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.” > [/quote] If you ignore the ‘deplorables’ part, what she said is a reasonable description of the problem. Lack of faith in the government is the root cause of Trumpism, and Trump played on that theme. Problem is, we headed right back where we started from. Biden, IMHO, is about responsive as a rock. He didn’t campaign for shit, is refusing to hold regular press conferences, doesn’t Tweet, and tends to lose track of where he’s at when speaking. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. I think we’ve all had enough of Trump, but I fear we’re going to feel the same before the end of Biden’s four years, and especially since the Senate is going to be a deadlocked tie. Welcome to the Great Malaise. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/175 "2021-01-12T18:21:44Z")
Cultists gonna cult. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/176 "2021-01-12T18:41:02Z")
> [@songsearch](#): > > Out of the frying pan and into the fire. I think we’ve all had enough of Trump, but I fear we’re going to feel the same before the end of Biden’s four years, and especially since the Senate is going to be a deadlocked tie. Welcome to the Great Malaise. 🙄 Biden has been more Presidential without being President in the last 2 months than Trump has in 4 years, or could ever do in his lifetime. Feel the same? Are you kidding? Every day in that last 4 years has been “What embarrassing or criminal thing has Trump done today” The Senate will not be 50/50. - Democrats claimed control of the Senate after flipping four seats, including [two in Georgia that were decided in January runoffs](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/05/us/elections/results-georgia-runoffs.html). Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be able to break 50-50 ties. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/177 "2021-01-12T19:02:00Z")
> [@songsearch](#): > > Problem is, we headed right back where we started from. Biden, IMHO, is about responsive as a rock. He didn’t campaign for shit, is refusing to hold regular press conferences, doesn’t Tweet, and tends to lose track of where he’s at when speaking. I disagree with all of this. Except the “doesn’t Tweet” part, which is a good thing. A very good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/178 "2021-01-12T19:20:11Z")
> [@songsearch](#): > > is refusing to hold regular press conferences You do realize he’s not yet our President, right? My quick Google search revealed that he’s had at least 3 press conferences since the election, which is 3 more than the current President has held. ---
**Author:** ![songsearch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@songsearch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/songsearch)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/179 "2021-01-13T16:46:18Z")
I disagree with all of this. Except the “doesn’t Tweet” part, which is a good thing. A very good thing. [/quote] Quite the opposite. The tweets were a direct line from the president to the people. I know his tweets pissed off liberals to no end, but there was no doubt of where he stood. Now we’ll get information filtered through the media, which will read one way on CNN, another way on FOX. Letting the media influence us in the last four years has not been healthy for democracy. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987/180 "2021-01-13T16:59:10Z")
> [@songsearch](#): > > The tweets were a direct line from the president to the people. I know his tweets pissed off liberals to no end, but there was no doubt of where he stood. Now we’ll get information filtered through the media, which will read one way on CNN, another way on FOX. Letting the media influence us in the last four years has not been healthy for democracy. Press Conferences are also a direct line to the people. Tweets are a stupid way of communicating in general, and beneath the dignity of the office. Trump liked twitter because he could lie without consequences and create drama and chaos. We’re going to return to normalcy soon. President Biden will be a capable administrator. He can issue a press release or speak to reporters if he has something to say. If he wants to fire a cabinet officer, he can do it the old fashioned way, not through a tweet. One more week… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-was-trump-so-popular/929987.md?page=10)