People ask how we Americans can support someone who thrives on creating chaos and division, considers Vladimir Putin his friend, is a pathological liar, has bragged that the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center made his own building the tallest in Lower Manhattan, and has been accused of inciting his followers to overthrow our elected government.
Despite all his scandalous claims and missteps, despite his lies and the multiple charges of corruption against him, Trump is as popular as ever with his base.
His claim in 2016 that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and still not lose any supporters seems to be true. His followers see themselves as the underdogs, and they feel that Trump is the only one who understands them. Even though he has nothing in common with them, he feigns sympathy for his followers, telling them that society has passed them by.
Trump preaches the great replacement theory to them, stoking their fear that they are being replaced by Blacks and Browns, immigrants, non-Christians, and anyone who doesn't look like them. He also tries to instill fear of educated people, saying that they look down on his supporters.
Another fear that Trump-aligned Republicans stoke is that criminals are taking over because Democrats are soft on crime. In fact, statistics show that the rate of violent crime in the U.S. has decreased. But, never one to let the truth get in his way, Trump warns voters that things will just keep getting worse unless they put Republicans in control.
When the mainstream press exposes Trump's lies and corruption, he tells his base not to believe any of it. He says the media is controlled by the far-left wing, who want to destroy democracy. His repeated claim that he won the 2020 election was proved not to be true by courts around the country, and yet his base continues to believe his big lie. When the FBI, armed with a court order, found classified documents in his home in Florida, Trump warned his followers that the FBI would raid their homes next.
An autocrat relies on uninformed supporters who believe only what he tells them. What is of greater concern to me, however, is the fact that nearly all Republican officials kowtow to Trump. Most of them don't like him or believe in what he stands for. Nevertheless, they fear he will mobilize his base against them in the next election. Their desire to stay in power is stronger than their desire to do what is right for the country.
Can our democracy survive when a charlatan and autocrat can so easily take full control of a major political party?