I raise this issue periodically -- who is holding up Trump?

[Girard442]

In his daily briefings, we are clearly seeing a man deteriorating before our eyes. Malignant narcissism exacerbated by dementia. Yet he goes on and on. How can somebody who is so badly broken maintain his grip on the country? Who is the power behind the scenes that holds it all together? Barr? McConnell? Putin?

[CurtEastPoint]

1. All 3 plus dozens more.

[Texin]

35. Virtually the entirety of the rethuglican* party.

They are all experiencing a mass wet dream of the destruction of the United States federal system, a right-wing corporate-supporting SCOTUS, a pandemic that is cutting through huge swaths of black and brown people (as well as plenty of their own so-called base), the near collapse of the health system and the decimation of the financial markets -- and it's all of their own making. They have quite literally created the conditions in which they can actually "drown the government" in the bathtub, something they have been collectively dreaming of since the New Deal. I think they sensed in tRump the perfect vehicle with his chaotic mind and chaos-driven non-agenda to bring this all about. Their dream is all but realized. Why stop now? They've just about got 'er done!

[Blues Heron]

2. Cheney?

Mr. Pretzel?

[DFW]

3. I thought the answer was going to be a choice between Lego and Ikea n/t

[lagomorph777]

10. Bubblegum and baling wire

[California_Republic]

28. And duct tape

[The Blue Flower]

4. That explains the silence of the Rs

It takes a lot of energy to prop up a dying, bloated blimp that's leaking gas.

[empedocles]

5. Ever present hate groupings - ready to follow a 'leader'

Hitler's followings, were still repeating the heil hitler stuff, to a remarkable, [though lessened], degree in 1945 - amid their bombed out cities, devastating military losses felt at personal levels, - and obvious, endless lies from their 'leader'.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. Steven Miller and Jared

[gab13by13]

17. Totally agree,

Economically it's anyone who does a quid pro quo with him. Trump found a gold mine as president, now he has 500 billion dollars to dangle in front of corporate hogs.

He sounds a lot like Steve Bannon but I don't know if Bannon has his ear now. Putin is a no brainer.

[UpInArms]

7. Every one of the republicans

Are guilty of this unmitigated fiasco.

[Happy Hoosier]

24. This is the answer.

Some would like to see him fall, but they are too worried about losing their own seat on the Gravy Train to do anything about it. They sacrifice the nation to their own personal interests.

[hlthe2b]

8. His neurological symptoms are increasingly obvious, despite "cover" his inate narcissism provides

Link to tweet

[niyad]

16. FTD would explain so much.

[lagomorph777]

9. (1) Putin (2) McConnell

McConnell is also a Putin employee, but senior to Trump

[safeinOhio]

13. All roads lead to Putin...

your #1

[kacekwl]

25. Bingo.

McConnell should be hanged in the National Mall today. Traitor.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

50. Wish

[spike jones]

34. Putin has his arm up Trump's ass holding him up and moving his mouth. n/t

[GeorgeGist]

11. Adderall

[sop]

12. Trump looks more and more like his animatronic figure in Disney's Hall of Presidents.

Someone's pulling the strings behind the curtain. It's apparent Trump is merely a puppet, an all-too-obvious shiny object of ridicule, given to us by the Masters of the Universe crowd to divide and conquer. In recent weeks he's been a useful distraction from what's really going on behind the scenes while this pandemic rages.

[Jamastiene]

14. Think about how much Reagan kept saying, "Well, I don't know."

while he was still president. Then think about how fucking stupid Dubya was. It's the rest of the Republican Party and all of their supporters.

[Chainfire]

15. We may never know

who is the actual puppeteer.

I do believe that DJ is being propped up by psychotropic drugs. He resembles someone who addicted to ever increasing doses of Xanax. Xanax, at high levels, makes people stupid. With Trump it would have had a head start.

His outbursts at reporters shows that he has no self-discipline or emotional control. He is beyond the point of being able to conceal the fact that he is mentally and emotionally broken. It is a dangerous trait for someone who controls a nuclear arsenal.

What I find intriguing is why the people who could arrange his removal from office choose to retain him. Perhaps, they continue to support him because he is such a distraction that they are able to successfully pursue their real agenda behind the scenes with impunity. People like McConnell are not stupid, he knows that Trump is a fool, and he sees clearly what a basket case he is. McConnell and his phantom army pave the way to keep Trump in office simply because he serves their goals. Trump, lacking critical thinking skills, judgement, ethics and morals, is probably the easiest man on the face of the globe for people with the real power to manipulate. They can dangle the carrot of power and public adulation in front of him, with the fear of the stick of impeachment and abandonment, and he will do anything to keep his office.

I would bet my last dollar, that in private, McConnell and the rest of the criminal gang, has more jokes and insults about Trump than we do.

If the goal of the Republicans is to dismantle our Representative Democracy, and replace it with a Corporatocracy, then they are being very successful. In fact, they have probably already succeeded. Our last hope of preventing the consolidation and irreversible slide toward a Fascists society is the November election. I am afraid that the will of the people will not decide that election. Whether or not you choose to participate, or acknowledge the fact, we are in a class war, and the workers are losing.

[gab13by13]

20. Trump is not stupid, he is mentally ill.

[dhol82]

26. Could've fooled me.

I say he is both stupid and mentally ill.

[TNNurse]

44. I agree

[IADEMO2004]

32. That will be his defense in court

[Skittles]

49. no, he is very, VERY stupid

[c-rational]

48. Good post. One issue we both touch on is the Corporation - see my post 47.

[NellieStarbuck]

18. Deutsche Bank

[tiptonic]

19. Maybe

Maybe the Koch brothers. If not Putin.

[gab13by13]

21. Koch brother, didn't one die?

[CentralMass]

53. There are more billionaires then Koch in the cabal.

[cutroot]

22. His hidden tax returns hold the answer.

[malaise]

23. It's an excellent question

Sometimes I think Cheney from the crypt

[JGug1]

37. From the crypt?

Dick Cheney is still alive. Remember, he got a heart transplant some years ago. A walking zombie, perhaps.

[malaise]

39. I know that but lots of us see him as a fucking zombie

[no_hypocrisy]

27. Whoever it is, they are in a constant panic that Trump may go too far one day

and they won't be able to reel him back in.

[IADEMO2004]

29. Greed is the force that flows through all of them and together gives them strength.

No single person props up this cluster fuck administration. It's a group effort.

[California_Republic]

30. Weekend at Bernie's

[greatauntoftriplets]

31. Drugs.

[gab13by13]

33. Trump spends hours every day watching TV and social media.

If you think that Fox News is bad, try watching Infowars with Alex Jones and his guest Dr. Steve Pieczernik. I could only watch 2 minutes of it. If Trump believes half of what comes from right wing media our country is doomed.

Trump will one day be gone but right wing MSM and social media will keep the insanity growing.

[JGug1]

36. Holding Trump Up

There is exactly ONE comparison in modern history. Hitler. I don't think anyone is the power except Trump. It won't be over until it is over. In the case of Trump, it remains possible that he will be reelected. It is difficult to imagine what another four years of him in office will look like. Irrespective of whether he is reelected or not, he will leave the nation in in destruction and disarray. An extra four will make it vastly worse.

[Ford_Prefect]

42. It was rumored that both Reagan and Cheney were supported by an enormous medical team.

Although it was for different causes both men had at times needed medical intervention to continue to function in their roles, and in both cases the public was not informed.

[Historic NY]

38. Drugs

[Tommy_Carcetti]

40. Of the three you mentioned, maybe Putin.

Barr relishes being a fixer, while McConnell slabbers on his love for Trump to get his agenda pushed through and perks for his wife. Neither of them are the power behind the throne.

Putin manipulates Trump where necessary but it's not as though he has his hands on everything, especially domestic policy.

Honestly, Trump probably maintains more "control" over his own administration than what some people give him credit for. It's not control as in order, but rather he navigates his decisions on whoever he feels is flattering him the most. And that will vary from day to day.

But Trump is far less of a puppet to any domestic figure than, say, Dubya was to Cheney.

[duforsure]

52. Putin , drugs

And a few mega wealthy people here in the states who are involved with them. When he has his taxes exposed his criminal involvement with these people will be their downfall. If I were a Judge on the Supreme Court, I'd be very scared of trump and these people, and what they're capable of doing, and how desperate they're getting now.

[young_at_heart]

43. Sad to say....the Supreme Court

They have shown they will do whatever he wants!

[SayItLoud]

45. tRUMP is not smart or savvy or even crooked enough to

be doing the things he's done and will do.

I've convinced besides the "all three", Bannon is still a loud voice behind the curtain.

[jaxexpat]

46. Not so much 'who' as 'what'.

I think it's the current iteration of the US constitution as seen through the neoconservative prism.

[c-rational]

47. Good question. Is it inertia, or the idea that we must continue with the selected pResident just

because. His energy level is at times manic. He thrives on confrontation, and the corporate media has assisted in making us complacent as a society to the new (ab)normal. I read in the last day that South Korea has had only several hundred dead due to Covid and we are on our way to 15-2000 by weeks end, and yet this is not brought out on any major new station - only here on DU. Material mismanagement, helping only those who you like, dividing us into winners and losers. The answer may be the entity that is viewed as a person but is not a person - the Corporation.

[meadowlander]

51. Fox News, right wing radio, corrupt Evangelicals

He's not a demented narcissist to the 40% of the country who only get their news from Fox, Rush Limbaugh or their local church.

They don't hear or see what we hear or see. They don't watch daily briefings or listen to actual scientists or read newspapers.

They don't care what his does as long as they have a house, a job and a fat 401K.

Once those things start to be legitimately threatened, a few of them might wake up and realise they've been had.

[Baked Potato]

54. Ivanka mostly, and Jared just a wee bit