Trump is one of the most unlikable people imaginable. Why do millions love him?

[Cyrano]

About 100 years ago, a then-famous vaudeville performer named Will Rogers, said, "I never met a man I didn't like." Many here on DU know the response to that. -- He never met Donald Trump.

It's not Trump's political philosophy that I hate, because he doesn't have one. What I find totally abhorrent is the man himself. There's no need to go though the list of his faults from his greed, to his intentional cruelty, to his need to be loved. Yet, he loves no one but himself and doesn't give a damn who lives or dies. I can't think of one positive characteristic he possesses.

Yet, millions of MAGAs still love him. Why? I guess the same question could be applied to Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, and many other monsters of the past.

I just don't get it.

[Tree-Hugger]

1. Because

He hates the same people they do.

[Dave in VA]

3. Yep!

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Plus he's all thing I can never be, but I think he is wonderful because he is "rich, famous, a TV star, etc."

[BeerBarrelPolka]

4. Exactly

And to add, he's an old, fat, ugly man that surrounds himself with young and attractive women. It's a fantasy for lots of guys to be in his place. Also, he talks crudely, poorly, and without a filter most times. These male fans of his can relate to that.

[2naSalit]

13. +1

[Bernardo de La Paz]

37. I find Melania has an ugly pinched face, as if permanently bitter. Waiting out terms of pre-nup?

Betting the orange blob will die soon and she inherit?

Bitter that he is not as rich as he said?

[Farmer-Rick]

62. She always looks angry at someone

I think that's her go to face ...mad at the world.

She's made some really bad decisions in her life. Trump was one of her worst.

[GoCubsGo]

84. Too tight a face lift? Potential prison time for tax evasion?

Look at some of her old photos. She has spent a lot of time in a plastic surgeon's office, and not just for her crooked "kidneys." She probably uses the same guy who did all the work on Ivanka and Jared, both of whom look far worse after their surgeries than they did beforehand.

Also, she filed her taxes jointly with her con-artist husband, as I understand it. There's a good chance that if he gets convicted of tax evasion, she will, as well. No doubt she has long realized that married that orange blob of a crook was by fart the worst mistake she ever made in her life.

[Cyrano]

102. To some extent, I pity her.

She married him in 2005. Imagine living with him. Whatever your criticisms or complaints about her, she's spent 22 plus years having to be near the orange beast. She's done her time in hell.

[GoCubsGo]

103. Meh. Her "time in hell" is self-inflicted.

If she hates it that much, she could have left a long time ago. Just like his previous wives did. She loves all the trappings, and can still have her boyfriends on the side, allegedly. So, she's sticking around. I pity her, too, for allowing herself to become such a godawful human being. But, I don't feel sorry for her.

[Mr. Evil]

85. Every time I see her I'm reminded of this scene in The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

A great older movie with Ron Howard, Glenn Ford and Shirley Jones. This scene (skip to the 2:14 mark if you want) sums it up about Melania.

&list=PLA9dyopf8noOum67hv8yRRSLynvULT3CP&index=14

[CentralMass]

115. +1 Sound advice. 😀

.

[happy feet]

33. This!

White supremacy.

[nightwing1240]

55. Nailed it!

Well done

[uponit7771]

97. YEP !!

[kentuck]

2. He validates their hatred.

He owns the liberals.

[Septua]

21. "He validates their hatred."

Something like that. As has been said, he didn't create the radical fringe segment of the Republican party; he simply revealed it.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

106. Yep

When they say they like when Trump speaks his mind it means, "He says all the racist, sexist and homophobic shit I've always wanted to say."

[perfessor]

5. Why do people love him? Because ..

“A person is smart; but people are dumb stupid animals.” (Men In Black)

[mopinko]

6. cuz we're still tribal apes.

hardwired to follow a ‘strong man’ when the going gets tough.

[whathehell]

41. Lol..Speak for yourself

..Some of us have evolved.

[mopinko]

49. well, yeah, but we're talking about magats here.

but we do all have that wiring. it’s about whether the requisite sitch flips the fear switch.
i dont know about you, but if i was in the middle of a riot, i’d be looking for a cop on a horse. i think myself pretty evolved, but…

i guess the evolution is in how easily that switch gets flipped.

[whathehell]

69. I get what you're saying..

..and yeah, we do have some of that wiring...The difference, I guess, is who we would perceive as a "strong leader".

[mopinko]

72. that too.

we’re in lord of the flies territory, but the history of humanity shows that cooperation leads to greater gains than fighting. esp now that there is little ‘vacant’ territory to take over.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

107. Republicans anyhow

They like to follow the alpha chimpanzee. See Lindsey Graham for example.

[mopinko]

112. in the right circumstances, we all do it.

they’re just afraid of their damn shadows.

[Blues Heron]

7. He gives them permission to indulge in their own hatred

[RAB910]

8. He did three things

1) He made stupid people feel smart

2) He made bad people feel like good people

3) He made losers feel like winners

[2naSalit]

14. +1

[Squaredeal]

26. 4) He justified the narcissists and racists in our community, who don't know any better.

[RAB910]

36. I felt they were included in the bad people feeling like good people

[mountain grammy]

42. Exactly!

[Aristus]

52. Perfect.

[MontanaMama]

74. This.

It’s really just that simple. I would add that he told the stupids and the uneducated who to blame for their woes.

[GoodRaisin]

76. 4). He elevated them over all the other classes. nt

[Walleye]

9. I have often wondered that. Politicians usually at least good at getting people to like them.

Most politicians, and I know not all, are just naturally likable, they remember people’s names, they smile. Trump happened to steal one election. He says he’s not a politician but constantly running for reelection. It’s just that he’s a very poor politician. I think the man is one of the most repulsive people I’ve ever seen, not just in politics, but anywhere. And, pardon me, but how any woman can allow him to touch her is beyond me.

[Cyrano]

10. Given the answers so far, there doesn't

seem to be a shortage of unintelligent people.

[whathehell]

45. Lol..On this thread?

Are you categorizing the responses here as " "unintelligent"?

[Cyrano]

47. No! I'm speaking about the MAGAts.

Sorry if I didn't make that self-evident or clear enough

[whathehell]

51. Okay.

..just checking.

[ancianita]

65. Along with them, consider their numbers.

Last edited Thu Dec 29, 2022, 11:57 AM - Edit history (1)

Only 22% of America voted GOP. 74 million.

What, then, is your take on the other 78%. My take is that they don't love or even like him.
In fact, the record 81 million who voted for Biden, validate their leaders, instead of the 22%'s leaders validating them. 81 million validated Biden's 'soul of America' belief.

The 22% you 'have to get' seems sizable because corporate media -- including MSNBC and even DU -- amplify their right wing christo-fascist white nationalist and sexist dramas as "news."

Audiences mistake them for being powerful, when they just perform power for the cameras. They neither know nor care how honest, democratic republican governance works. They have been dupes and tools of win-lose capitalism since Reagan, Gingrich and Lee Atwater.

We habituate ourselves to "solving" or "getting it," forgetting how a large, diverse population (numbers) means that an unintelligent population is bound up with it. The 22% (as evidenced by Texas voters) have been groomed since Reagan days to debate facts, science, promote faith based belief, stubbornly deny reality, and like mental dwarves, smash government structures.
We of the 78% have tried to understand them for generations. We won't change them.

We need to stop trying. We need to redirect our energies to get on with preventing & solving the 21st Century's problems, while they threaten to use media to kick and scream. They should be afraid they'll be replaced, because they've earned it.

[samnsara]

11. cuz Stockholm

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. FWIW...

Will Rogers wasn’t just a “famous Vaudeville performer” he was the preeminent political humorist of his time.

It is on his shoulders the likes of Mort Sahl, Bill Maher and many others stand.

[betsuni]

117. +1

[ananda]

15. He is their mirror image.

...

[hlthe2b]

16. He hates who THEY hate (and isn't afraid to both say it AND act on it)

policy-wise.

DeSantis isn't likable either, but the same thing. He hates who they hate.

[Cyrano]

19. Yet, DeSantis lacks Trump's sneering, "fuck the libs" delivery style

Trump has what could be called negative charisma. DeSantis has no charisma. He sells in Florida, but it remains to be seen if the rest of the country will buy him.

[usaf-vet]

64. He loves what they are willing to give up. $$$$$$$$.

First and foremost, Trump seeks money.

[Cyrano]

73. DeSantis lacks Trump's visible hatred for the "THEMS

[EddieOnTheMesa]

17. Like Minded

They see a lot of themselves in him and how pathetic is that.

[Botany]

18. Why do millions love him?

Racism, sexism, and anti-intellectualism. He scratches their deep deep seated itches and damn it feels good
to them.

[fightforfreedom]

20. Trump verified, told them what they wanted to hear.

He told them all the things they have seen, read, for years on Fox, the internet were true. He told them they were the true Americans and he would save America. Trump basically used Hitlers playbook.

Trump also had 50 years of practice learning how to perform in front of a camera. His reality show gave him national exposure. People thought he was an amazing business man and most importantly he was not a politician. Trump suckered them just like Hitler sucker the German people.

[stopdiggin]

22. simple. it's BECAUSE he's an ass*ole

the middle finger (or worse) that everyone else in the world deserves ..

Oh - and let's not underestimate an appetite for cruelty, and violence.

(but we mistake in going in search for complex causes. it is essentially base.)

[MiHale]

23. Because they stopped teaching logic in high school...

allowing people to catch any wind scattered idea(s) without knowing how to prioritize and critique them.


Again a deep and heartfelt thank you to the Great Ron Reagan.

[lambchopp59]

83. High school dropouts.

I wouldn't have a clue if curricula have changed so radically, though.
Just in my experience, the now-Trumpers were the dropouts, the losers, the "party animals" the bullies back then (1970's).

[Act_of_Reparation]

24. This isn't complicated.

People love Donald Trump because he behaves like they want to behave. He's an asshole, and they're assholes, too.

[doc03]

25. There is marker at the cemetery near me that would

be appropriate for Trump. It says "This man had no redeeming qualities, but he was loved".

[Cyrano]

29. You may have stumbled onto the location of Hitler's grave

[doc03]

31. No it is not old enough, but it fits. I was walking one day

at the cemetery and looking for another person's grave when I saw that marker. I am thinking that guy must have been a real asshole.

[multigraincracker]

27. Same folks that think

WWE is real.

[marmar]

28. Because he's the id for all their hate and insecurities.

[LiberalFighter]

30. Scum like scum.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

32. Definition of stupid: having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense.

Anyone who can't see the MAGAt king for what he is, has, without question, serious cognitive challenges, challenges which cause them to fear and hate that which is different from them. Like the evil dictators before him, he figured out how to bring about a mass, unhealthy psychosis among the susceptible within a large population.

The MAGAt king is a malicious, predatory, narcissistic sociopath, and he knows his worshipers are stupid and/or ignorant as all fuck. He channels and fuels their hate, and fear based lack of empathy, to deceive them into acting against their own interests, in order to stroke his ego, for personal material enrichment, and power.

They are members of the dark cult of the MAGAt king. They've gone almost hopelessly dark, and it appears to me that very few of them will ever be able to be reprogrammed into healthy, happy, contented human beings with a reasonable grasp on reality.

Teach your children early, often, and well, so that they may never fall under the spell of lies and deceit spewed by unspeakably wicked people like the MAGAt king. What a great tragedy it is, for anyone to become a danger to their fellow citizens, and be forced by the laws of their society to live in a cage for worshiping and subsequently mindlessly doing the bidding of evil, insatiable monsters such as the MAGAt king.

[Cyrano]

38. Hopefully, he will be indicted soon

Allowing his life of crime and the pure evil he represents to go unpunished, will just bring much more of the same from dictator wannabes.

[Harker]

34. Because he has great hair. n/t

[Higherarky]

67. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

HahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ...

... Yeah, that's gotta be it ... HahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ...

[boyedav1969]

35. He's a racist, low-information, non-critical-thinking...

low brow, etc., person. The people in our country who share those traits love him because he actually represents who they also are.

[vlyons]

39. He models and gives them license to be greedy, vicious, selfish, and to speak beligerantly.

They want to be just like him. A better question is why do we have so many malignant narcissists in our society?

[Cyrano]

44. The best answer I can think of to your question is

from Carl Sagan's book, "Contact." To paraphrase him, he wonders if humanity will evolve out of it's adolescence before destroying itself.

[vlyons]

82. From the Hindu/Buddhist perspective, we are in the Age of Kali Yuga, the Degenerate Age

Human Society cycles thru 4 ages, over and over. The last age of each cycle is the degenerate age of Kali Yuga. Floods and famine, war and crime, deceit, and duplicity characterize this age. Humans are profoundly ignorant of their higher selves. For me, the GOP allowing Santos to be sworn into congress is the perfect example of how degenerate our society has become.

The good news is that it is a target rich environment to practice compassion and work for the benefit and happiness of others.

[yaesu]

40. Because those millions are just as unlikable as he is. nt

[Chakaconcarne]

43. Half of those people are probably bots...

[yellowdogintexas]

66. except bots don't vote. nt

[Cognitive_Resonance]

46. Because he vocalizes the hatred and vileness they've had to keep bottled-up in post-Civil Rights

America, and with that he became their Messiah. The con man knows his marks.

[thesquanderer]

48. It's hard for us to see it, but he has natural charismatic showmanship.

It's why people were drawn to him on The Apprentice. You don't host a hit show without that "it" factor.

Related, he knows how to work an audience.

Yes, eventually, many people who once thought positively of him realized what an a-hole of a human being he was. But all those terrible character traits you mention are not discussed on fox news or talk radio, or if they are, they are qualified and minimized. And even then, probably some people don't care if he's a terrible person, if he's saying things they agree with.

[ToxMarz]

50. The magats are some of the most unlikable people.

I guess they can relate.

[liberal N proud]

53. Florida Man was the result of years of republican hatred and corruption

He simply fueled the fire that the previous devils had created. He saw a gullible people and decided to profit from it.

[JohnnyRingo]

54. If you can't say something nice about Donald Trump...

...sit here by me.

[pandr32]

56. He is like watching an accident unfold.

It appeals to the 'lookie-lous' by holding them in fascination. He openly airs his grievances, he calls people names, he performs like a hurdy-gurdy man with a monkey, he behaves badly and boldly, he calls them up like a carnival barker, he dares all authority until he can claim there isn't any--it's all fake, and he is defiant and proud.

[jaxexpat]

57. He fills the hole in their hearts.

The place where the satisfaction from proper nurturing should reside. They fill it with blatant idolatry for any personality they can't fathom. Especially one that seems powerful. To be included in the club of worshipers is like sleeping in their mother's arms.

Sick? Yes, but humans are simple machines. Square hole/square peg sort of creatures.

[Yavin4]

58. If you listen to AM Talk radio and watch Fox News regularly, you would know why.

Trump echoes everything that Hannity, Tucker, Rush, et al. say every day. Their audience is his followers. It's that simple. He's nothing more than the loud mouth know-it-all-dude on the radio.

This is the result of limiting political views to right wing on the limited broadcast spectrum. And, it explains why the right wing is at war with social media. They cannot limit access, and in fact, extreme right wing points of view have been banned entirely. This is why Musk bought Twitter. He wants to do to social media what Murdoch did to legacy media.

[lambchopp59]

77. This. Ten thousand times this.

Jumping up and down this.
Just the unbelievable notion that hoardes of these fools have died of COVID rather than compromise their "values". That "rolling coal" idiocy was bad enough. Now it's driving mass insanity.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

59. He acts out for them in ways they cannot.

Or dare not.

Money, or the appearance of it, speaks volumes.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

60. Why TFG supporters vote for TFG

Link to tweet

[Martin Eden]

61. He liberated their inner Deplorable

And they love him for it.

[bluestarone]

63. My thoughts are, these YAHOO'S think he is the chosen one! Plus he's untouchable!

So far he HAS BEEN untouchable! Until this changes, they will continue to love him! This FUCKER needs to be brought down. And i mean brought down HARD

[nightwing1240]

68. I never fully understood the grip Hitler had on Germany

Until I saw it happen here in America with Trump. He is the Hitler of our generation. Minus an actual world war consider all the things that made each man the way they were/are.

Vile messages and speeches to inflame the public by blaming one group of people that bare the fault of all things bad for their respective nations. (Hitler the Jews, Trump migrants, minorities and liberals)

Fear, that is what both were selling and a gullible public ate it up

Propaganda to spread it (Hitler had the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by Joseph Goebbels, Trump has or had Fox News led by Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and a host of other hate mongerors.

Lies, countless lies. The more wild the better. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” - Joseph Goebbels

As for Mussolini and Stalin, they were not far behind. Add to it these men killed their political opponents or perceived enemies, which Trump no doubt would do if he could, well, I rest my case.

[barbtries]

70. i don't either.

there are millions more who agree with your assessment. one theory i entertain is that it's his tv show. people who watched that have a different take. i never watched a single episode.

but i don't get it either at the end of the day. i can't stand his voice. i cringe when he's talking. I would really like for him to fade away now. preferably in prison.

[CanonRay]

71. He allows, even encourages his followers

to be the assholes they have always wanted to be, but used to get shamed out of certain behaviors.

[Javaman]

75. unlikable like unlikable.

when they say, "he's just like us", they weren't kidding.

[FakeNoose]

78. The evangelical ministers are complicit - they gave Chump their stamp of approval

It's hard for many of us to believe, but they tell their church members whom to vote for, and they DO IT!
It's all part of the brainwashing of America.

[Cyrano]

104. I think many, if not most of these evangelical "preachers" are in it only for the money.

I don't believe these people represent the actual meaning of Christianity. IMO, they're running self-enrichment scams that Trump could only envy.

P.S. I'm a devout agnostic.

[Hotler]

79. He represents the hate the repugs have for Dems and Libs. The hate for us is all that drive them. nt

[patricia92243]

80. He has given a voice to them that are filled with hate and violence. They would never

in a million years admit - even to themselves - that is what draws them to him.

[Jakes Progress]

81. All of the reasons here are valid, but they

all have one thing in common. His appeal is to the worst parts of human nature. His supporters are not good, smart, or honest. They are stupid.

All of us have bad inclinations at times, but some of us use the better parts of our nature. trump supporters just wallow in the depths of human nastiness and cannot summon their better angels. They have banished or killed that part of their soul.

I was deplored that trump won. But mostly I was appalled that there were enough stupid, mean people to elect him.

[Prairie_Seagull]

86. They love him because their hatred is aspirational.

Along with the great answers above. So many forms of hate. The opposite of love is indifference. Hate is a different animal altogether. In my view, it's not just a feeling or lack thereof. It takes active participation. It's more insidious, and certainly more dangerous.

[betsuni]

119. +1

[deurbano]

87. He gives them permission to be who they already were, and to say the quiet parts out loud.

I could see that with my sister. Her thin veneer of civility was soon stripped away to reveal the perpetually aggrieved, racist, hateful, xenophobic, anti-intellectual (etc.), and really dumb person she always was. I had known she identified as "conservative," and was a Limbaugh fan, but really thought she wasn't very political, and mainly followed her more outspoken husband's lead. (And our parents'.) As soon as Trump was elected, she started posting all kinds of inflammatory things on Facebook, like how she would be ashamed if any of her daughters wanted to attend Berkeley to join the other "snowflakes." (My daughter and I had attended Berkeley, and my daughter was her Facebook "friend" at the time.) She posted an obviously photo-shopped photo of Taylor Swift in a MAGAt hat with a big thumbs up. (She actually believed it.)

And all that just kept accelerating with more and more "own the libs" crap and willingness to publicly express repugnant beliefs I had thought were on the decline, but that were, in fact, just suppressed when there were some consequences (however limited) for expressing them in "polite "society." I came to realize she (and the other MAGATs) had deeply resented that, and she was relieved to finally be able to let her freak flag fly, with high fives from all the other goons.

She's not uneducated (and even has a law degree from ASU, although she failed the CA Bar exam at least twice, before conveniently deciding she didn't "like" law, after all), so she still tends to use more coded racist (and other) language, like "urban"... and talking about "stolen" votes in Philadelphia and Detroit. Of course, she and her husband (who posts about litter boxes in schools), have purchased their retirement in the "free" state of Florida, and their new messiah is DeSantis.

[Cyrano]

105. So sad. The stupidity of the MAGAts is far more dangerous and deadly than COVID.

And as for DeSantis, he may not turn out to be their "new messiah." Florida bought him, but will he sell nationwide? He has no charisma and that can be deadly for a politician.

[LAS14]

88. Me either! The biggest mystery I know of. nt

[world wide wally]

89. Trump attended the "WWE School of Acting" where everything is over the top.

These people quite often cheer for the comic book style villain and he plays that role to them. A villain who is not a real villain in real life. He sees himself as this kind of person and people eat it up.

[TlalocW]

90. Either someone on DU or in an article I read posited this

He doesn't really do anything day-to-day so he watched a lot of television, especially FOX News, and just soaked in what republicans were becoming starting with Newt and his merry bunch in the 90s to the Tea Party, etc. He then cast himself as the guy who gets it and went further than any other republican in justifying the proto-MAGAts hatred and fears. The republican party isn't what it is because of Trump - he just helped hurry along its eventual development into what it always was going to turn into by dropping the need to be decent. From there, it's just a vicious cycle. He pumps out more hatred which gets the mobs cheering for him which gives him a high/satisfies his incessant need to be praised which leads to pumping out more hatred.

[LeftInTX]

91. Some people like him

They liked him enough to watch his reality show.

I personally don't think he's as unlikable as Roger Stone, Ken Paxton, Steve Bannon, Jared Kirschner, Michael Flynn, Greg Abbott, Mitch McConnell, Hannity, Tucker, Limbaugh. Gingrich, Ted Cruz.

Trump is an unqualified A-hole, PT Barnum

[Mad_Machine76]

92. I don't get it either

he is one of the worst human beings in all of world history. Maybe some people get a momentary rush of being able to vicariously "own" the libs and everybody else they hate whenever Trump (and DeSantis) was able to hurt somebody they hate, but anybody who likes that is seriously messed up in the head and are narcissistic sociopaths/psychopaths. What's been the scariest about the whole thing is finding out that there are a lot more people who like Trump than you would think. Especially when it comes to otherwise nice, seemingly "good" people.

[wiggs]

93. Something is broken in them. nt

[gulliver]

94. People feel they're being screwed over, bossed around, and judged

Trump "sticks it to the man."

It's performance art, of course. It's professional wrestling. For right leaners, Trump is a "face," the good guy trope in wrestling. He's not the right's old-style face, though, an Eagle Scout who loves his mom and goes to church. He's got that dark, cynical, anti-hero persona in the mix that so many (lousy) dramas now have.

Trump and the media and some folks who like to play liberals/progressives on screens find or create good "heels," the bad guy trope. Then Trump just does a couple of body slams, cheats whenever the ref looks away, etc. It's great fun and lucrative.

[IronLionZion]

95. The cruelty is the point

he gives them permission and validation to be as deplorable as they want to people they don't like. They gloat about "owning the libs" even if they are actually owning themselves, causing high prices from labor shortage, or even dying of COVID.

[kimbutgar]

96. I never liked him

After seeing how he treated his first wife by humiliating her in public and the way he was such a braggart of his greatness. I watched all of maybe 5 minutes of apprentice and was grossed out. Never once have I ever thought he was an admirable person. I just don’t see how people can think he was a great person or president. They are surely idiots who don’t have any sense.

[electric_blue68]

98. Racism, Sexism, Anti-Semetism, Anti-POC immigrants & Refugees, Uber Greed, etc....

His cruelty, and mockery is almost always the point if not always admitted to.




As a born & bred NYC'r I didn't pay much attention to him bc I always thought he was crass & boorish.
Then when he started up that "Birtherism" crap that just nailed it for me from distaste to full disgust. Let alone his later comments.

[Midnight Writer]

99. Remember the TV show, "Dallas"? J R Ewing became an unexpected hero and sex symbol.

He was the villain of the show, very Trump-like in his selfishness, his arrogance, his intentional cruelty, and audiences fell in love with him.

Americans love bad boys. Rulebreakers. Outlaws. Hell-raisers. Rebels. Mavericks.

[Mysterian]

100. Pervasive fascist propagana across multiple platforms,

telling gullible people they are victims of immigrants, minorities, gays and liberals.

[Silent3]

101. It seems to be a common thing where many dictators and would-be dictators...

...seem not only repugnant, but clownishly so to the people who aren't drawn to them.

I get the appeal of Trump at one level (which many people have already talked about here: hating who the followers hate, appealing to their anti-intellectualism, etc), but what stuns me more is how so many people can fail to see through the act.

It makes me think of the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Toto pulls back to curtain to reveal Oz, and he shouts through his microphone "Pay no attention to the main behind the curtain". Millions of people are bizarrely willing to go along with that command -- ignoring what should be plainly there to see, right before their eyes, and keep pretending it didn't happen.

[Cyrano]

109. Good analogy. "Ignore the man behind the curtain."

Too many Americans did, still do, and it's given us more than six years of Republican hell. And now that Trump has kicked open the door to the reality of what Republicans have been for decades, a still larger, permanent hell may be in our future.

[Genki Hikari]

108. The difference between that...thing and assorted

Historical monsters, is that the historical monsters weren't all complete monsters.

Hitler loved animals and was especially close to his dog, and his superior officers in World War I commended him for his bravery.

Stalin was hardworking and was infamous for working 12+ hours a day. He was also a huge fan of classical music, and had something like 2500 albums that he enjoyed listening to.

It's probably not a surprise to learn that former journalist Mussolini was famous for being well-read. He had also taught himself French and German and published many translations of foreign works, in addition to writing his own novel.

Mao had written poetry from a young age, and continued to do so throughout his life.

So while all of the above people were awful in their own ways, each of them had some redeeming characteristic to render them not completely horrible.

Not so that...thing. He has not one redeemable thing about him: No love of beauty, no love of people, no love of animals, no love of any higher ideal--NOTHING.

Only a bottomless, writhing pit of self-serving narcissism and greed.

[Cyrano]

110. Well, it's true that he didn't murder countless millions as did those other psychopaths.

I guess that's the most positive thing I can to say about that...thing. Then again, had his coup succeeded and he had gained absolute control, he might have outdone them all with a nuclear arsenal at his disposal.

Nonetheless, is it really possible to measure anyone against a Hitler, a Mussolini, a Stalin, a Mao, and all the other historical monsters? As far as I'm concerned, they're all cut from the same cloth and they all visited nothing on the world but misery, destruction, death, and pure evil.

[Tree Lady]

111. I don't think they love him

It's just vote for R to get what they like. That's most people. Others love him because of his rebelliousness and his stick it to the rules. Meanwhile others are just brainwashed.

[betsuni]

116. +1

[mzmolly]

113. He gives people permission

to embrace their worst instincts. (Paraphrased and stolen from Mary Trump.)

[Jack the Greater]

114. He had them at "They're criminals. They're rapists."

"And some, I assume, are good people." That is when every white supremacist in America and around the world crawled out from under their rocks and cried, "We got ourselves a president!"

[Skittles]

118. this "Christian nation"t thing is a bunch of BULLSHIT

you simply cannot be a true Christian and admire a man like Donald Fucking Trump - YOU CANNOT

[betsuni]

120. Because media told people Hillary was unlikable and they believed it.

Trump wore a costume and played a role -- "The Emperor's New Clothes" come to life.