One thing I think outsiders don't understand about US politics is just how far to the right our conservative politicians are, generally. So when someone refers to something like the extremists on the right, this is actually a sizeable portion of conservatives in general. To support this one can easily point to the current GOP and how they overwhelmingly support the single worst president to ever serve, one that is only 2 years into his term. Gallup has this at 90% currently. This is not hyperbole in my view. The other things to keep in mind is how intertwined the evangelical religious movement is with conservatism and the extent to which the right has its own propaganda arm to use as it sees fit, with very little regard to any kind of journalistic integrity. Underlying this all is a deeply rooted bigotry, and a class warfare between the North and South, or more accurately, between Rural and Urban areas of the country.
Spend some time listening to conservative media, and you'll find FOX News the least objectionable of the right propaganda machine. You've seen Twitter, and what passes for information in these groups. It's the outlandish and irresponsible conspiracy theorists meeting the gullible and authoritarian arms of the religious. Stir in politicians that for the last 30 years have not just let these lies stand, but encouraged them in order to dehumanize their enemies and garner votes, and you have a recipe for the disaster that is Trump.
You see, what Trump and his associates did to the rank and file GOP was what conservative media has been doing to mainstream media for a long time now. Mainly, claim bias against themselves, and sow distrust in anyone that does not spread their narrative. The right spent so much time sowing that distrust not just of minorities, but expertise in general, and especially of Liberalism, that their policy writing abilities have withered. Their only ideas are zombie economic and social ideas from fifty years ago, but they excel in fostering an outrage among their base. The GOP even has a name for their average voter. They're called "low information voters". That's their OWN name for them. This should tell you what you need to know. The average Republican voter is uneducated, intellectually incurious, religious, authoritarian, bigoted, and very, very angry, Those in the party that do not meet this description have little power or influence within the party, but for some reason like to continuously try to put their fingers in the cracks of the dike as it comes down around them.
As the country moves forward onto an increasingly complex world stage with increasingly complex problems, the average conservative politician has talked a big game with their constituents but been unable to deliver on the promises they freely make. As more and more wealth moves into the top 10 percent, and more jobs disappear thanks to automation and innovation, many of these constituents feel lost as the manufacturing economy closed up shop and the service industry takes hold. The post World War 2 edge the United States had has decreased steadily, and it is no longer for the most part, possible to live comfortably with one wage earner on a high school education. Instead of face these realities, conservatives did what they always do, created a scapegoat. In this case, there are two major offenders. Minorities for taking away all those great high paying jobs, and liberal Democrats for encouraging globalization. Not only that, but the Democrats defend the minorities, and the minorities, being lazy and willing to vote for whoever gives them a bigger handout always vote with the Democrats.
In response to conservative racist policy and language, Democrats, er coastal elites, have often shamed those living in "flyover country" and admonished them for their racist attitudes, actively wagging their finger at their banjo playing brethren in the hicks. This has caused a solidification of said rednecks, and there is nothing they like more than to say and do shocking things to make said elites cry big, awful liberal tears. This sustenance may not be as nutritious as actual food, or as useful as food stamps or health care, but it's second best.
Their final act of defiance was to elect a man that told them they didn't have to feel ashamed of being a racist turd anymore. One that angered the globalist elite cucks and made them sputter with outrage and gasp such statements as "You can't do that!" and "That's racist!" and made them cry all the more. Because America. Because freedom.
The interesting thing is that Trump actually is everything the right accused Obama of being. Tyrannical, overreaching, authoritarian, you name it.
