# Why Republicans still support Trump **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 24, 2018, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653 "2018-06-24T05:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/1 "2018-06-24T05:13:06Z")
Over the last year or so, several people have started threads wondering why Republicans still support Trump. Well, this article does a pretty good job of explaining that. > [@](#): > > In interviews across the country over the last few days, dozens of Trump voters, as well as pollsters and strategists, described something like a bonding experience with the president that happens each time Republicans have to answer a now-familiar question: “How can you possibly still support this man?” Their resilience suggests a level of unity among Republicans that could help mitigate Mr. Trump’s low overall approval ratings and aid his party’s chances of keeping control of the House of Representatives in November. > > “He’s not a perfect guy; he does some stupid stuff,” said Tony Schrantz, 50, of Lino Lakes, Minn., the owner of a water systems leak detection business. “But when they’re hounding him all the time it just gets old. Give the guy a little.” [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/numb-to-outrage-republican-voters-feel-a-deepening-bond-to-trump/ar-AAz3ink?li](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/numb-to-outrage-republican-voters-feel-a-deepening-bond-to-trump/ar-AAz3ink?li) ---
**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:** [June 24, 2018, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/2 "2018-06-24T06:15:59Z")
So? Hitler still had millions of supporters even as Russian tanks were entering Berlin. I don’t know why people are curious as to why others “continue” to support Trump - it’s the same impulse that has gamblers double down on losing streaks. ---
**Author:** ![emetmessenger26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@emetmessenger26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emetmessenger26)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/3 "2018-06-24T06:44:07Z")
My upbringing included books, as diverse sources of knowledge, and I had read Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama. I recognized that these “dreams” were not the dreams of our Founding Fathers or even the dream of the honorable Martin Luthor King. I did not vote for him, either time. I recognized that I urgently needed to vote, acknowledging my dire ignorance of both the Democratic and Republican candidates. Confronted with this, I chose to embark on an esoteric (ToRaH code and Fixed star natal charts of candidates) and an exoteric research of the political candidates. The latter consisted of researching (spanning approximately thirty years), magazine/newspaper archives, listening to interviews, reading books, and watching documentaries/videos. Somewhere, in the midst of this researching, Julian Assange’s “leaked” emails were added, which proved to be exceptionally revealing and valuable. I had already determined the media to be untrustworthy, having long ago, abandoned investigative journalism, sacrificing their integrity on the altar of politically correct expediency. Contemplating history: A person that is considered undoubtedly the greatest statesmen of the 20th century was once regarded a “Naziphobe” by the intellectual elite of the West. “Humanity owes an inestimable debt of gratitude to Winston Churchill.” History has validated this artist, author, historian, orator’s perception of what would occur if the Nazis won WWII. Why am I mentioning Winston Churchill, also possessing an ill-considered zeal, arrogant, egocentric, inconsistent, and a kind of “perpetual adolescence” exacerbated by an immoderate use of alcohol? All these strong weaknesses could not prevent Churchill’s heroic valor of spirit from being the leader required to summon Europe and the United States to join in the fight against Nazism. Does any of this strike a familiar chord in your soul? I hope so. History is once more beckoning us to learn from its archives. “When the situation was manageable it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly out of hand we apply too late the remedies which then might have effected a cure. There is nothing new in the story. It is as old as the Sibylline books. It falls into that long, dismal catalog of the fruitlessness of experience and the confirmed unteachability of mankind. Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong–these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history.” — Winston Churchill at the House of Commons, 2 May 1935. This “vetting” involved a year of valuable time. Truth requires excavation from deceptive lies, misinformation, and propaganda, and it yielded a rich, rewarding experience. The astonishing synthesis, not anticipated, is all that I had discovered, in both the realm of the metaphysical and the physical, complemented one another, validating diverse variables from each field, creating a more complete and objective perception, simultaneously disagreeing with the media! “As above, so below.” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/4 "2018-06-24T06:56:36Z")
I’d imagine part of it comes from two things: 1)Belief (and trust) in what he, as well as what right wing media tells them. Most/many people don’t do any research on their own beyond believing what they’re told. It’s also common to believe, and defend, the first thing you hear about a subject. If you only consume right wing media, he can state that he didn’t do something or other, his opponents did and the public will run with it. 2)Most people, I think, have a very have hard time voting for the “other” party. I’d wager that R’s will vote R regardless of what’s said. I think they’d happily vote R even without hearing anything that’s said. I’d be willing to bet you could have a D running for office, make all the same promises as their R counterpart and then some, and most people still wouldn’t switch their vote. I don’t think it’s that they support Trump, it’s that they don’t support the opposition. Of all my facebook friends, I have exactly one that will ask for opinions, listen to them, discuss them and actually put thought into them when there’s any kind of upcoming vote. She’s leans very far right. I can’t think of any others that do anything but defend anything their side does and spends a lot of energy telling the world how awful the other side is. FWIW, this goes the other way as well. Most lefts will defend their side, many without even researching on their own or even hearing out what the other side has to say. People running for office spend a lot of money to not change other’s minds. Go tell a far right business owner that the democratic nominee will lower business taxes and see if they’ll vote that way. Hell, I’d be surprised if you could get their vote even if you told them the D nominee will waive all personal and business taxes for business owners, outlaw abortion and put anyone that uses drugs in jail while they’re in office. Just like you could tell a lefty that the R nominee will outlaw guns, legalize marijuana and throw money at planned parenthood and cover 50% of all healthcare costs. All with only a small bump in income tax. Do you think they would have voted for Trump if he’d said that while running? Do you think there’s anything at all Hillary could have said to get a 60 year old religious right to vote D for the first time in their life? Like John T alluded to, toeing that party line is nothing new. For the record, I’m not at all well versed in politics so I may very well be way off on this. It just seems to be what I see. It’s also late and I’m tired so ignore this if it doesn’t make sense. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2018, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/5 "2018-06-24T07:52:10Z")
> [@](#): > > “He’s not a perfect guy; he does some stupid stuff,” said Tony Schrantz, 50, of Lino Lakes, Minn., the owner of a water systems leak detection business. “But when they’re hounding him all the time it just gets old. Give the guy a little.” I would say three things to Tony Schrantz: 1. We could do better than Donald Trump. But only one person gets to be President. So by occupying the position, Trump is preventing a better President from holding it. 2. The Presidency is a job. Nobody forced Trump to take it. If he wants the job he has to meet the standards and duties of it. If he can’t or won’t do that, he should leave. 3. Donald Trump is a horrible person. He attacks other people constantly. He’s not entitled to receive better treatment than he gives. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/6 "2018-06-24T12:30:10Z")
I’d love to give the guy a little. What we shouldn’t have done was give him a lot. Like, say, the Presidency of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/7 "2018-06-24T12:57:07Z")
Why wouldn’t they support Trump? he’s exactly the racist asshole trying to keep America white that they wanted. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/8 "2018-06-24T14:29:43Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > So? > > Hitler still had millions of supporters even as Russian tanks were entering Berlin. I don’t know why people are curious as to why others “continue” to support Trump - it’s the same impulse that has gamblers double down on losing streaks. Wow. Godwin on the first reply. Anyway, it’s an established fact that people who feel that their political positions are being challenged tend to defend them even more strongly than otherwise. Those poll results shouldn’t be too surprising. Trump is governing pretty much the same way he campaigned. If you voted for him knowing all that, then none of this stuff is going to be partially surprising. And the more they get challenged by the so-called elites, the more they feel vindicated. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/9 "2018-06-24T14:48:51Z")
The man, and his party, set up concentration camps for children. Subsequently, it’s increasingly harder to “Godwinize” a disussion about Trump as Trump is “Godwinizing” himself and the GOP. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/10 "2018-06-24T14:58:01Z")
“Godwin’s Law” is an internet joke; invoking it isn’t actually a rebuttal. Mr. Godwin himself has said it doesn’t apply in this case anyway. > ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/11 "2018-06-24T15:59:57Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wow. Godwin on the first reply. > > Anyway, it’s an established fact that people who feel that their political positions are being challenged tend to defend them even more strongly than otherwise. Those poll results shouldn’t be too surprising. Trump is governing pretty much the same way he campaigned. If you voted for him knowing all that, then none of this stuff is going to be partially surprising. And the more they get challenged by the so-called elites, the more they feel vindicated. More [observations from god](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfGod): 🙂 > [@The Mike Godwin himself](#): > > In its original simple form, Godwin’s Law goes like this: “As an online discussion continues, the probability of a comparison to Hitler or to Nazis approaches one.” It’s deliberately pseudo-scientific — meant to evoke the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the inevitable decay of physical systems over time. My goal was to hint that those who escalate a debate into Adolf Hitler or Nazi comparisons may be thinking lazily, not adding clarity or wisdom, and contributing to the decay of an argument over time. > [@](#): > > So let me start another conversation here. Take the argument that our treatment of those seeking asylum at our border, including children, is not as monstrous as institutionalized genocide. That may be true, but it’s not what you’d call a compelling defense. Similarly, saying (disingenuously) that the administration is just doing what immigration law demands sounds suspiciously like “we were just following orders.” That argument isn’t a good look on anyone. > [@](#): > > By all means cite Godwin’s Law if you think some Nazi comparison is baseless, needlessly inflammatory or hyperbolic. **But Godwin’s Law was never meant to block us from challenging the institutionalization of cruelty or the callousness of officials who claim to be just following the law. It definitely wasn’t meant to shield our leaders from being slammed for the current fashion of pitching falsehoods as fact. These behaviors, distressing as they are, may not yet add up to a new Reich, but please forgive me for worrying that they’re the “embryonic form” of a horror we hoped we had put behind us.** ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/12 "2018-06-24T16:09:42Z")
Most people who still identify as Republican are either putting up with him realizing he is their best chance at instituting their agenda because he doesn’t give a shit what the agenda actually is, or (for the basket of deplorables) he is everything they’d hoped he would be. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/13 "2018-06-24T16:25:49Z")
Link to the words from Mike Godwin: > **[Op-Ed: Do we need to update Godwin's Law about the probability of comparison...](https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-godwin-godwins-law-20180624-story.html)** > > Does Godwin’s Law need to be updated? Suspended? Repealed? I have to add that indeed: using the “we were just following orders” is not conducive to give the executive powers a pass against not pointing out that Nazis liked to do that too. [http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article212128019.html](http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article212128019.html) > [@](#): > > The following is text from the U.S. military tribunal verdict in Case No. 47 of what came to be known as the “Subsequent Nuremberg Trials,” a series of trials of lesser known Nazis in the years following the main Nuremberg cases immediately after World War II. > > Case No. 47 is known as “The Hostages Trial,” against Wilhelm List and other Nazi officers accused of taking, and punishing, hostages as reprisals for attacks on Germans and German infrastructure. It was tried from July 8, 1947, through Feb. 19, 1948, and reiterated the precedent that simply saying “I was only following orders” was no defense against charges of carrying out clearly immoral actions. > [@](#): > > Last week Trump said that desperate young kids trying to cross the border are “not innocent.” His administration, which has long made it a policy to separate husband from wife at the border, has now begun incarcerating asylum seekers en masse – the poor and huddled masses of our troubled age, people with nothing, who walk hundreds of miles, braving rape, robbery and kidnapping in order to reach a land they have been told is generous and kind and empathetic and law-abiding, only to find that that land’s officers now seize their young children as if they were ill-begotten property forfeit in a drug raid. > > As numerous journalists and immigration rights attorneys have pointed out, this is absolutely unprecedented, uncharted territory. When Elián González was returned to his father in Cuba, at the end of a gun, in 2000, the image catalyzed outrage around the world; it was used to powerful effect by the GOP in Florida as a mobilizing tool against the Clinton administration and against Gore’s presidential candidacy later that year. Now, a far worse version of the Gonzalez case is occurring on a daily basis, many times a day, across the borderlands; and instead of the kids being sent back to family members, they are being kidnapped by agents of the U.S. government and placed with strangers. > > Last month, The New York Times reported that more than 700 children have been taken in this way, and the roundup is intensifying. Immigrant-rights attorneys I spoke with believe another 658 children were taken in this way in one thirteen day period in May alone. This hideous administration has even mused about opening up disused military facilities to warehouse these unfortunate children. > > These acts are taking America into the darkest, most anti-democratic, and cruelest moment in its modern history. > > We must document these outrages, again and again and again, so that the victims will one day be able to seek justice and legal redress; and our political representatives must make absolutely clear that the men and women who are creating this nightmare will ultimately be held to account for their actions. Of course, what to make of a party that is Supporting the policies of the ones making mincemeat of international relations, ordering trade wars and making inhumane orders? Either depress yourself or realize that while there are many, they are not omnipotent; and they are just about 42% of Americans. With about 10% of that number as willing to change opinions. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/14 "2018-06-24T17:06:35Z")
Well, **John Mace** , I, for one, am glad we got that settled. Comparing the GOP to Nazis, and modern conservatism to Nazi political theory, does not Godwinize a discussion. Whew! For a second, I worried you had me in the crushing grip of reason! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/15 "2018-06-24T19:35:03Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Why wouldn’t they support Trump? he’s exactly the racist asshole trying to keep America white that they wanted. Yup, this. We can dance around it all we want. But this will not go away. To Trumps base, tribalism is more important than anything. To them America is a republican, white, christian patriarchy for native born people. As long as Trump supports this too (by treating out-groups like democrats, liberals, non-whites, muslims, feminists and immigrants like shit) his base will support him. If you want Trump’s base to turn on him, have him start supporting feminism and immigration from Muslim nations, then have him come out in favor of BLM and the NFL protests. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/16 "2018-06-24T19:53:51Z")
My uncle, who is an outright Communist - I mean a full-on Communist who actually believes that Josef Stalin was a good leader - had this to say about Trump when I asked him his take on the political situation: “Republicans have never been happier than they are right now. It’s never been more fun to be a Republican at any time in history than it is right now. Trump is delivering on most of the stuff he said he was going to do; he made an emotional connection with Republicans that no other politician could do; he’s basically killing it.” ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/17 "2018-06-24T20:09:30Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > My uncle, who is an outright Communist - I mean a full-on Communist who actually believes that Josef Stalin was a good leader - had this to say about Trump when I asked him his take on the political situation: > > “Republicans have never been happier than they are right now. It’s never been more fun to be a Republican at any time in history than it is right now. Trump is delivering on most of the stuff he said he was going to do; he made an emotional connection with Republicans that no other politician could do; he’s basically killing it.” How is he delivering though? I don’t get it. The border wall isn’t built Illegals weren’t rounded up and deported Muslims are still allowed to immigrate Blacks are still allowed to protest being mistreated Women occupy as many positions of power as they did before Granted, Trump did make life harder for immigrants and foreigners (especially foreigners from muslim nations. A lot of them are scared to go home for fear they won’t be able to come back). He also yells a lot about black people standing up for themselves, but he doesn’t actually do anything about it. He is also using MS-13 as a way to demonize all latino immigrants, so I guess his base loves that. Plus being openly racist is far more socially acceptable now (or at least people have less fear of doing it). Either way, Trump did fulfill some of his promises to declare war on multiculturalism (using MS-13 to portray all latino immigrants poorly. Yelling about blacks protesting police brutality. Making life hell for people caught crossing the border, trying to do a travel ban). But he failed in a lot of other ways too. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/18 "2018-06-24T20:14:32Z")
Some of you might benefit from reading this: [http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/393049-the-strategic-blunder-of-trump-as-hitler](http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/393049-the-strategic-blunder-of-trump-as-hitler) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/19 "2018-06-24T20:15:12Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > How is he delivering though? I don’t get it. > > The border wall isn’t built > Illegals weren’t rounded up and deported > Muslims are still allowed to immigrate > Blacks are still allowed to protest being mistreated > Women occupy as many positions of power as they did before > Granted, Trump did make life harder for immigrants and foreigners (especially foreigners from muslim nations. A lot of them are scared to go home for fear they won’t be able to come back). He also yells a lot about black people standing up for themselves, but he doesn’t actually do anything about it. > > He is also using MS-13 as a way to demonize all latino immigrants, so I guess his base loves that. Plus being openly racist is far more socially acceptable now (or at least people have less fear of doing it). > > Either way, Trump did fulfill some of his promises to declare war on multiculturalism (using MS-13 to portray all latino immigrants poorly. Yelling about blacks protesting police brutality. Making life hell for people caught crossing the border, trying to do a travel ban). But he failed in a lot of other ways too. I think at least part of it is because the driving motivation behind many or most of his supporters is pissing off liberals, in whatever way is possible, and Trump is about the best liberal-pisser-offer the Republicans have ever had. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653/20 "2018-06-24T20:15:12Z")
“It’s the racism, stupid.” (Not a dig of WC.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-republicans-still-support-trump/816653.md?page=2)