About a white rural voter...

[Random Boomer]

75. This man's definition of "us" is much smaller than yours

This is a "good" man within his own social group, within the circle of who he defines as "us." And like all too many in this country, that is a very small circle, often confined to people he has met personally or who (like the musicians you mentioned) specifically cross over into an area of interest to him.

Everyone outside that circle, everyone else who is "other", is a stranger and is someone to be feared. Trump makes people feel good about hating the Other, he validates their fears of anyone outside the "us" circle. Even if they cringe at his vulgar, obnoxious behavior, they still feel like he talks for them in a distrust of the Other Who Would Destroy Us.

Lib/Dems tend to have a much larger definition of "us", which can expand to include all of humanity, not just the people we meet, until they exhibit behavior we find intolerable. So for this group, "other" is based on observed bad behavior and whereas for conservatives, "other" is based on just being different.