According to every recent survey I've read, Trump supporters are well aware of the President's character defects and many don't agree with all his policies, yet they continue to support this vile man because they trust his overall policy instincts, don't mind or even enjoy the show he puts on, and/or really, really hate the Democrats. Close to 10% were former Obama voters and about 18% leaned Democrat before 2016 (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/upshot/the-obama-trump-voters-are-real-heres-what-they-think.html). Many now see the Democratic party as a worse threat to the US and the world than a womanizing, vindictive, mean-spirited, petty, and childish bully.
So why do so many Americans dislike the Democrats? And why might they think the triumph of the Democratic Party would be the greater tragedy than a Trump presidency?
One person I posed these questions to responded: "The Republican Party has allowed politics to dictate reality, as communicated to their members." In other words, Trump supporters are simply deluded, manipulated by the Republican Party. That is a typical narrative of the left: Republican movers and shakers are amoral Machiavellians and the Republican masses are unthinking idiots. The beginning of an answer to my questions. More later.