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Karla's avatar

I don’t either really. Cults start because people need a place to belong and one person gives them that place. I think his racist bullshit when he announced his run in 2016 felt like home to a lot of people who couldn’t be openly racist before. Beyond that, republicans are afraid of the government so they don’t want elected officials to be too intelligent.

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kdsherpa's avatar

"Afraid of the government" which builds roads and bridges, pays for your Social Security and Medicare, protects workers from toxic chemicals, sets a minimum wage, has Labor Laws to protect workers, protects our national parks, pays for all VA costs, pays for scientific research for medical problems (I know, I know -- it's all fake), protects you from theft at your ATM, and keeps a standing army (I know, I know -- you want to turn it against us), among dozens of other things.

Yup. The government is a terrifying thing.

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Teri's avatar

"But the Blackhawk helicopters circling over your houses, come to take ALL YOUR GUNS!!"

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Lisa K. Obrien's avatar

Jeezus, I wish they WOULD take their fucking guns.

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

Which, coincidentally, the rich want to end, or privatize.

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Patrick Daniels aka Cromulent1's avatar

Excellent point Karla!

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Karla's avatar

Thanks but it wasn’t all my original thinking. I remember hearing that his supporters like him because of how awful he is, not in spite of it. It all clicked for me then.

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TCinLA's avatar

He hates the same people these losers do - the people (us) who aren't losers.

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Marycat2021's avatar

He envies us, as do they. We're the people he wanted to join up with originally - remember his other attempts to run for president, and that he was originally a liberal Democrat. But he was rejected, and he never got over it. Trump cannot handle rejection. He never forgets it, and it's behind all that rage and lies against the Democrats. Most telling is that he publicly sympathized with Biden, saying the Democrats forced him out. He's raging against Obama too, and Hillary Clinton, because of their enduring popularity. The envy is extreme, sick and toxic. What he hates most about Kamala is that she rose politically over time, working hard. He doesn't know what it's like to work hard and succeed; everything he's ever done has been a failure.

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Ethereal fairy Natalie's avatar

He was a registered Democrat, but he's never been a liberal.

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Marycat2021's avatar

But he did start out being pro-choice, He's probably paid for more abortions than we'll ever know.

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TCinLA's avatar

Excellent points all, Marycat.

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NEAL O'CONNOR's avatar

He obviously lacks respect for others, especially those as poorly educated as him. Because his uncle taught at MIT, Trump thinks he is genetically of genius material. It is beyond troubling that they still adhere to him and even hump his leg!

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Marycat2021's avatar

They hate government because they're still in an adolescent mindset where every authority figure is hated and distrusted. What makes people still think he's an authority on the economy still mystifies me, however. Replacing taxes with tariffs? Whoa.

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Bonnie Council's avatar

It's not just the government they hate. It's now also our constitution, because he's has taught them to hate it. All those rules. But what's going to happen if he gets his way and rewrites it, as is his plan? Suddenly their lives, along with ours, are going to be pure hell. Who will they blame then?

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Marycat2021's avatar

This is how cults operate. Trump repeats himself ad nauseam, not because he's just devoid of new ideas, but because repeating the same things over and over causes his listeners to absorb the messages and believe them. It's simple but very. very effective. we use it on children to teach them everything from toilet training to high school chemistry. Memorization takes place whether we want it to or not. How many of your favorite rock songs are so familiar to you that you know the lyrics and sing along? It's another example of the same principle.

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