Here’s a story in the NY Times about a phenomenon that should have been investigated long before now. We know there are a bunch of true believers out there who dress up in stars and stripes regalia and deck out their trucks and boats for Trump. But that’s just the hardcore of the Trump base. What about the rest of them?
The Times interviewed some of them at Trump’s Detroit economic club interview. They know he’s a liar so they think he’s lying about all the terrible stuff he plans to do in his second term. So they’re fine with him:
There were a few hundred people there. They were not the sorts of people one encounters at a Trump rally. They weren’t construction workers or truck drivers or forklift operators; they carried business cards and had very active LinkedIn pages. They did not wear red hats or T-shirts with images of Mr. Trump’s bloodied face; they wore windowpane suit jackets and loafers and rather conspicuous cuff links.
They did not want to hear about “one really violent day” or about the deep state or the Marxists or the fascists or any of the other radical or antidemocratic visions that Mr. Trump describes in baroque detail at his rallies. They just wanted him to tell them that he would be good for business.
So, he did. For nearly two hours. There were rough edges in his remarks, and some talk of a stolen election, but mostly he made them feel content in their choice to vote for him. They chuckled at his self-deprecating wisecracks about his age, his body, his hair and his wealth. He talked about American muscle cars and regaled them with tales of how he went toe-to-toe with various world leaders and about his new buddy, Elon Musk. They cooed when he told them his daughter Tiffany was newly pregnant, and clapped when he said, however improbably, that he would work with Democrats to get stuff done. This was the version of Mr. Trump in which they (and their 401ks) wanted to believe.
They found it easy to tune out the other versions of him.
“I think the media blows stuff out of proportion for sensationalism,” said Mario Fachini, a 40-year-old Detroit man who owns a book publishing company. His black hair was gelled back and he had on a boxy, black pinstriped suit with a gold pocket square peeking out. There were tiny model globes hanging from his cuff links. He held up his wrist and gave one a spin.
Asked if he believed Mr. Trump would purge the federal government and fill its ranks with election deniers, Mr. Fachini sipped his iced tea and thought for a moment. “I don’t,” he said. So why was Mr. Trump saying he wanted to do that? “It could just be for publicity,” Mr. Fachini said with a shrug, “just riling up the news.”
Mary Burney, a 49-year-old woman from Grosse Pointe, Mich., who works in sales for a radio station, described herself as an independent-turned-Trump-voter. She did not believe the former president would really persecute his political opponents, even though he has mused about appointing a special prosecutor to “go after” President Biden and members of his family. “I don’t think that’s on his list of things to do,” she said. “No, no.”
Tom Pierce, a 67-year-old from Northville, Mich., did not truly believe that Mr. Trump would round up enough immigrants to carry out “the largest mass deportation operation in history.” Even though that is pretty much the central promise of his campaign.
“He may say things, and then it gets people all upset,” said Mr. Pierce, “but then he turns around and he says, ‘No, I’m not doing that.’ It’s a negotiation. But people don’t understand that.”
Did Mr. Pierce, a former chief financial officer, believe Mr. Trump would actually levy a 200 percent tariff against certain companies? “No,” he said. “That’s the other thing. You’ve got to sometimes scare these other countries.” (Indeed. In an interview on Fox News on Sunday, Mr. Trump said, “I’m using that just as a figure. I’ll say 100, 200, I’ll say 500, I don’t care.”) Mr. Pierce added, “He’s not perfect. And I don’t necessarily care for his personality, but I do like how we had peace and prosperity.”
I’m not conviced they are so deluded that they look at their balance sheets and their 401ks and fail to see that the economy is roaring right now. Sure, they’re looking for the invitable GOP tax cuts but really, they’re no different than the silly cultists singing YMCA at the rallies.
They just don’t want to admit that they like what this monster is saying.
The utter chaos of his first administration, his denunciation of long time allies and cozying up to dictators, the endless lies, the handling of the pandemic and then the Big Lie and January 6th does not qualify to any thinking person as “peace and prosperity.” They’re onboard with the chaos.
They’re liars and they admire him for being a liar. They are cultists too.