Legalectric

I’ve had too many really uncomfortable conversations trying to elicit reasons people I know support tRump, something to understand, something to explain… The responses are not coherent, but in each one, I’ve felt what I’ve interpreted as a sense of entitlement and that they’re not getting theirs, and strong unacknowledged racism and fear and hatred of immigrants (with no knowledge of how our immigration and refugee system works in this country). I’ve also been reading, reading, reading, trying to make some sense of it.

Recently, I saw an article about a study with some thoughts, and many questions posed to groups of tRump supporters, concluding with some specific beliefs held by tRump supporters and rationales for their support. This feels like it identifies the factors precisely:

From the study, the short version bottom line:

We see here that five attitudes distinguish enthusiastic Trump voters from others. Four of the eight attitudes that distinguish Trump from non-Trump voters also distinguish strong from mild Trump voters: pessimism about the economy, support for domineering leaders, Christian fundamentalism, and anti-immigrant sentiment. And the difference makes a difference: the higher the score, the greater the chance of a pro-Trump vote. But it is also striking that conservative identification and negativity toward women do not differentiate strong from mild Trump voters.
It is also striking to note that ordinary racial resentment does not appear to divide enthusiastic from milder Trump supporters. Rather, a new anti-minority scale, which we constructed from items about perceived discrimination against whites, emerges as a pivotal dividing line. Strong Trump partisans are significantly more likely than others to allege anti-white discrimination. This reflects a heightened and, in tone, embittered complaint about what they see as line-cutting. The defiant wish for a domineering and impolitic leader, which is strongest among Trump’s most fervent supporters, coalesces here with the wish for a reversal of what his base perceives as an inverted moral and racial order.

Do take a few minutes to read this. Watching these tRump supported “demonstrations” against Governors’ STAY HOME Orders has many dumbfounded, scratching heads. This study setting out the fundamental beliefs of the strongest tRump supporters will help make sense of it.

And remember this photo, Jason Lewis, inviting COVID spread. He’s running for Senate this time, having been trounced in the 2016 Minnesota 2CD elected, handed his ass on a plate, by our now Representative Angie Craig.