Why do people vote for Trump and why do they still support him? Answers.

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Trump's supporters were disgusted by the government run by the affirmative action assisted black guy, mainly with his having provided health care to millions of undeserving poor people by taking over the health care system in some vague way involving death panels and socialism.

I've often found that most people of most political persuasions have a very difficult time describing those they disagree with from the point of view of those they disagree with.

I have yet to meet anyone who will admit to voting for Trump.

Ask underseer.

 

[zorq]

The OP is right in that the reason the typical vocal Trump supporter supports Trump is because he is an outsider who would shake things up. To me this tells me something important. I think the reason Republicans didn't choose an establishment candidate in the primaries is because they are starting to smell the BS that has been fuming from their party over the past few decades.

Republicans don't trust their party as much as they used to. They are starting to understand that the establishment is dirty. They know that their party has told them lies and let them down, and they hate it. That is why the Tea Party had waves of support in 2010 and that is why Trump won the primary. Both the Tea Party and Trump promised them a new, maybe "cleaner", conservative alternative to the Establishment Republicans.

They "know" the Democrats are liars and socialists so their only hope is to vote for the conservative candidates that might not be tainted by Washington or whatever it is these folks sense is wrong in the Establishment GOP.

Frankly, I think it is unlikely that any of these individuals will ever realize that some of their core beliefs are based on lies and figure out that Democrats, while far from perfect, have a more rational approach to fixing the problems they are facing. It is human nature to protect its ego from the blow of realizing that they have been wrong about something their entire lives. Hoping these core Trump supporters can learn to support Democrats is like hoping we can get all the lifelong Christians in the country to deconvert over the next few years. It isn't going to happen and largely for the same reasons.

Telling a Trump supporter that socialist policies can make their lives better is like telling a born again Christian that they can be happier and wealthier if they spend less time and money at church. No matter how much middle ground you start with, It just isn't going to work. I have just written these people off as hopeless.

The best we can hope for is that these Trump supporters who smell the BS cause a big enough rift in the GOP that the Dems can sneak in for a couple cycles and fix some of the damage left behind.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Maybe Trump's core is those people who believe they have been persecuted by big gubmint, have been forgotten and overlooked for too long. They're just not gonna take it anymore.

Actually that doesn't sound too farfetched. His supporters do seem to have a persecution complex.

 

[braces_for_impact]

Start off by not telling people they are wrong, wrong for watching Fox and any other questionable place they might visiting. If you want someone to tune you out, attack their beliefs, their opinions, tell them they’re wrong.
Avoid the volatile subjects you know are going to drive a wedge in the conversation. Find an area of common ground and build from there. I would suggest the “United” in United States of America might be a good jumping off point. Few actually support a divided country. It is an unpatriotic position to defend. I would talk without giving reference to support my claims as my references would likely be considered fake. Just appeal to common sense. Build these areas of agreement and let them find their own way.
I think it is also important to approach a person from a point of neutrality. If they know you and you have “Liberal” stamped on your forehead, you’ve already got a hole to dig yourself out of.
Gauge the person’s level of knowledge and speak to them appropriately. You may have no problem speaking in depth on many subjects but that’s no way to build rapport.

This could take awhile.

Basically don't preach and try to find common ground to start with. This could take awhile.

Waste of time and energy. Sure, some of the Trump humpers have buyer's remorse, but if they still support the moronic carrot at this point, you're not going to reach them. That 1/3 of the electorate is not going to swing your way. With the way the numbers are right now of the electorate that actually vote, the gerrymandering and the upcoming census that the GOP most assuredly will fuck with, the very fucking scary part is he CAN win again on 2020.

We need to spend that limited time and energy winning those people that don't like Trump, but most likely will not vote. They have to be motivated. Everyone loves talking about the dramatic courtroom drama House of Cards type stuff, like impeachment or the 25th amendment. This current crop of the GOP have proven themselves the most despicable politicians in recent American history (no hyperbole here, I honestly believe this is the case). They have shown themselves willing to throw our democracy under the bus in order to maintain power, and they've also decided they really aren't afraid of the people. If this party isn't made to pay, and pay dearly for what they have done, then mercy on all of our non-existent souls, because the American experiment at that point really is over.

Impeachment and the 25th amendment and other solutions that have been proffered are not likely, but there is one sure fire way to win. VOTE. Vote in large numbers. We cannot have yet another depressed, stupid and lazy ass turnout like we have been having for this last couple of decades. We have to turn out BIG. We have to overcome the gerrymandering and upcoming census-fucking and outright breaking of rules and norms that the GOP will continue to throw at us. We need a strong majority and as large a majority as possible, and we need to enact lOTS of legislation, SOON. One gift Trump did give us...he and the GOP pointed out many of the weaknesses in our system. We have to save our country form these assholes, seriously. We need to make laws. No more stealing Supreme court justices. No more gerrymandering. Prospective presidents must be required to show tax paperwork and divest themselves - as must congresspersons and cabinet members. We have to make corruption much, much harder, or the temptation will be too great and we won't just get another Trump. We'll get one that is as evil, but not stupid. Then we're fucked. VOTE.

 

[BH]

I have yet to meet anyone who will admit to voting for Trump.

I voted for him.

The country is going down the drain and no one is doing anything to stop it and reverse it. The decline would have continued under Hillary though at a much slower pace. With Trump the whole thing may just crash. Let it crash and get it over with. When people are going hungry, lose their savings, and can't pay their bills maybe then they will reform and stop being willful idiots. Before the Depression hit in the 30's you would read a lot of the same things you read so called conservative people say about economics, the poor, how society ought to be run, and so forth today. Then the Depression hit and destroyed the fantasy world these folks lived in and they had to try new things to stave off the depression and make the country prosperous, even more prosperous than before. We'll have to do the same thing, and if we don't we just don't deserve to exist as a nation.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Whew. I find that strange. Make that Strange. "Let it crash and get it over with"??? Out of nihilism comes...more nihilism. As for the country becoming more prosperous after the Depression than before, there are so many nonrepeatable features about our boom economy in the 50s and 60s -- the lack of competition from Asia; the roughly 35% of unionization in the mid-50s; the relegation of minorities to menial labor -- not to mention the fact that there wasn't as extreme a 1% back then with the cash to own its own legislatures. Trump is uniquely destructive because he's a self-centered buccaneer. He will cause more and more destruction until he hopefully implodes -- but the destruction won't have any redemptive features. Why would you want such a man to persevere in his looniness?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I have yet to meet anyone who will admit to voting for Trump.

I voted for him.

The country is going down the drain and no one is doing anything to stop it and reverse it.

Such a vague and entirely meaningless claim.

The decline would have continued under Hillary though at a much slower pace.

We were going to apply a tourniquet, but figured... fuck it!

With Trump the whole thing may just crash. Let it crash and get it over with. When people are going hungry, lose their savings, and can't pay their bills maybe then they will reform and stop being willful idiots. Before the Depression hit in the 30's you would read a lot of the same things you read so called conservative people say about economics, the poor, how society ought to be run, and so forth today. Then the Depression hit and destroyed the fantasy world these folks lived in and they had to try new things to stave off the depression and make the country prosperous, even more prosperous than before. We'll have to do the same thing, and if we don't we just don't deserve to exist as a nation.

I'm sorry, but were you living under a rock in 2009? Because the great crash happened, every big bank would have went under due to the weight of the failure and lack of confidence. The difference was we had the hindsight of the Great Depression and we didn't make the same mistakes (and thank goodness a Democrat majority to vote for TARP), and it ended as "just" a Great Recession.

 

[James Brown]

On another board I frequent, I know a liberal who happily voted for Trump. His reasoning was the Clinton was just another business-as-usual candidate. So he voted for Trump, thinking that he would cause massive disruption in the Republican Party. The poster is thrilled to see the scandals, the crises, and the relative inaction of the party that controls all three branches of the US government.

 

[J842P]

On another board I frequent, I know a liberal who happily voted for Trump. His reasoning was the Clinton was just another business-as-usual candidate. So he voted for Trump, thinking that he would cause massive disruption in the Republican Party. The poster is thrilled to see the scandals, the crises, and the relative inaction of the party that controls all three branches of the US government.

One can only hope that the Republican brand will take a significant hit with the youngest generations. The silver lining would be if the Democrats could manage to take advantage of it, but I doubt it. One thing is for sure, their sheer political incompetence has never been more clear.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

On another board I frequent, I know a liberal who happily voted for Trump. His reasoning was the Clinton was just another business-as-usual candidate. So he voted for Trump, thinking that he would cause massive disruption in the Republican Party. The poster is thrilled to see the scandals, the crises, and the relative inaction of the party that controls all three branches of the US government.

That was very much my thought process at the time of the election. And I thought it would be a wake up call to the democrats, to stop selling out and actually start representing the people. It is still a great opportunity for them to do so, but they haven't yet. Just how loud do they have to be told to side with the people before they actually will do so, and stop taking millions in donor dollars to do their bidding? Both Trump and Bernie showed you don't need multi millionaire sponsors and huge corporate donors to get your voice on the big stage. Trump really could be the burn it down and start over candidate. People are very sick of the Hillary, Bush, Obama, etc same old same old pay for play crap and want a reboot, and some of them voted for Trump as the reset button, not thinking Trump isn't just as corrupt, but thinking he's so over the top that the next one coming through will be dealing with a whole new landscape and a populace even thirstier for real substantial democracy.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

On another board I frequent, I know a liberal who happily voted for Trump. His reasoning was the Clinton was just another business-as-usual candidate. So he voted for Trump, thinking that he would cause massive disruption in the Republican Party. The poster is thrilled to see the scandals, the crises, and the relative inaction of the party that controls all three branches of the US government.

One can only hope that the Republican brand will take a significant hit with the youngest generations. The silver lining would be if the Democrats could manage to take advantage of it, but I doubt it. One thing is for sure, their sheer political incompetence has never been more clear.

I'm not certain how fair that is.

George W's Admin had clearly fucked up repeatedly, from the Iraqi Occupation to the Katrina response. It took all of that to get the '06 Democrat wave.

In 2010, the Democrats passed the ACA and the Republicans had a historical landslide in '10.

At some point, you have to blame the people for being stupid.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

On another board I frequent, I know a liberal who happily voted for Trump. His reasoning was the Clinton was just another business-as-usual candidate. So he voted for Trump, thinking that he would cause massive disruption in the Republican Party. The poster is thrilled to see the scandals, the crises, and the relative inaction of the party that controls all three branches of the US government.

That was very much my thought process at the time of the election. And I thought it would be a wake up call to the democrats, to stop selling out and actually start representing the people.

You mean like Unions (very white), minorities, the poor and "middle" class? Yes, the Democrats are beholden to corporate interests, but the Republicans... they want to turn people in to meat and sell it for profit (minor exaggeration).

Significant support for Trump came from people that thought Obama had lost jobs in America (he didn't), Obama exploded spending in the budget (he didn't), and the economy was worse when leaving office than when he entered into it (the exact opposite). I'm tired of Democrats being blamed for people being so terribly and willfully misinformed.