Long opinion piece short (details to follow in subsequent posts). Before anyone jumps to conclusions: I voted for Hillary. But that doesn't mean I think Trump supporters are stupid, bad, and/or gullible.
First, I want to acknowledge that Trump supporters are not a monolithic group. They may stand by their man, but that doesn't mean they agree with everything he's doing. For instance: tariffs. As far as I can tell, what polling researcher Emily Ekins said about Trump voters way back in 2017 pretty much holds true for Trump supporters today:
“There is no such thing as ‘one kind of Trump voter’ who voted for him for one single reason. … “Trump voters hold very different views on a wide variety of issues including immigration, race, American identity, moral traditionalism, trade, and economics.”
That said, I'm thinking Trump supporters are held together by admiration for the man and an intense dislike of Democrats. Specifically and in general, Trump supporters:
- Like him, even though many appreciate he's a flawed individual.
- Trust him, even if they disagree with him on various issues.
- Resonate with his disdain for political correctness and identity politics
- Appreciate the contributions of capitalism and don't consider "corporate" a slur.
- Are willing to wait and see how Trump's policy decisions pan out, even if they have reservations about some of them.
- Detest the progressive wing of the Democrat Party.
- Consider a Democrat takeover of the federal branch of government a worse scenario than the possibility that Trump colluded with the Russians.
- Intuit that if Democrats took over, the country would go to hell: the economy would tank, households would be over-taxed, businesses would be over-regulated, and free speech would be stifled.
Trump supporters: do you agree? What would you take out? What would you add?