Out of these options, who do you blame most or hold most in contempt for Trump's hijacking of the GOP and the persistence of MAGA/Trumpism for nearly a decade now? The options are not exhaustive - Trump himself is absent - so choose the closest bucket and/or explain.
- Grifters/Benefactors: People who participate/perpetuate the movement for profit/power. Examples: Right wing media, the MAGA political class (MTG, Boebert, Lake, Santos, etc.), Musk, Big Tech leaders, crypto folks, only care about lower taxes, or some specific regulatory item, etc.
- Spineless Know Betters: The 'traditional' Republican politicians who let their party get hijacked. They know better, privately they wish Trump never existed, publicly they toe the line. They could have impeached him after 1/6 but they overestimated the decency of their base and took the easy way out. They stand by with the absurdity, the repulsive behavior, the conspiracies', and are feckless. And much of it wasn't endured to obtain traditional conservative policy. The GOP has gone populist. Free trade? That's for Marxists now.
- The "Deplorables" - the group that most people think of when thinking of MAGA. They're in red hats, flags flying, their identity is tied to Donald Trump, 1/6ers, detached from reality, it's like a religion. Many of them are at least one of: angry, impoverished, in pain, addicted, bitter, resentful, undereducated, left behind. They are vulnerable to a 'savior' character like Trump and are in need for a group to blame/hate, and a group to belong to and feel apart of... MAGA.
- Disinterested/Reluctant Trump voter - The people who cannot be bothered to pay attention to the news and politics. They usually vote in the presidential elections, sometimes not. Maybe they lean conservative, maybe they're rural, maybe their friends and family were always Republican growing up, so when it comes time to vote, they usually vote for Republican. Maybe they voted for a Democrat the last time, but their sense of the trajectory of the country, calls for a switch.
- Democrats - They ran poor candidates. Two women, one really old man. Hillary was vilified for years and was anointed, plus her emails. Biden was too old and feeble. The handoff to another anointed - minority - woman was not ideal. They focused too much on DEI, and got too soft on immigration, inflation occurred on Biden's watch. They slow walked the Trump criminal prosecutions. Their candidates and performance fostered an environment where Trumpism can thrive.
- Grifters/Benefactors: People who participate/perpetuate the movement for profit/power. Examples: Right wing media, the MAGA political class (MTG, Boebert, Lake, Santos, etc.), Musk, Big Tech leaders, crypto folks, only care about lower taxes, or some specific regulatory item, etc.
- Spineless Know Betters: The 'traditional' Republican politicians who let their party get hijacked. They know better, privately they wish Trump never existed, publicly they toe the line. They could have impeached him after 1/6 but they overestimated the decency of their base and took the easy way out. They stand by with the absurdity, the repulsive behavior, the conspiracies', and are feckless. And much of it wasn't endured to obtain traditional conservative policy. The GOP has gone populist. Free trade? That's for Marxists now.
- The "Deplorables" - the group that most people think of when thinking of MAGA. They're in red hats, flags flying, their identity is tied to Donald Trump, 1/6ers, detached from reality, it's like a religion. Many of them are at least one of: angry, impoverished, in pain, addicted, bitter, resentful, undereducated, left behind. They are vulnerable to a 'savior' character like Trump and are in need for a group to blame/hate, and a group to belong to and feel apart of... MAGA.
- Disinterested/Reluctant Trump voter - The people who cannot be bothered to pay attention to the news and politics. They usually vote in the presidential elections, sometimes not. Maybe they lean conservative, maybe they're rural, maybe their friends and family were always Republican growing up, so when it comes time to vote, they usually vote for Republican. Maybe they voted for a Democrat the last time, but their sense of the trajectory of the country, calls for a switch.
- Democrats - They ran poor candidates. Two women, one really old man. Hillary was vilified for years and was anointed, plus her emails. Biden was too old and feeble. The handoff to another anointed - minority - woman was not ideal. They focused too much on DEI, and got too soft on immigration, inflation occurred on Biden's watch. They slow walked the Trump criminal prosecutions. Their candidates and performance fostered an environment where Trumpism can thrive.
