But when I watch his rallies, I am just stumped. How he made people chant about jailing and expelling his political rivals. How he calls the free press the "enemy of the people". How he loves to bully a protester out of his rally, is that a standard part of every speech he makes nowadays? How he "jokes" about become president for life, and installs his family in high positions.
That's where I am left speechless. How is it possible to like this guy and support him? Do you have to be blinded by anger? I honestly don't understand and it scares me.
I'll give my impression, since my mother constantly watches Fox News.
The jailing of political rivals:
This comes from believing they've committed actual crimes. Hannity of Fox News talks repeatedly about how Hillary kept confidential emails on a private server (after having previously given a cyber security conference to
not do that) and wiped the servers after they got hacked and the FBI started looking into it, therefore obstructing justice. This is referred to as "Her emails". Hannity asserts the FBI treated her with kid gloves because they expected her to win the election and they'd have to answer to her. There is a longstanding distrust of Hillary Clinton among Republicans (see:
Whitewater).
There are assertions (by Fox contributor John Solomon) that Biden used his Vice President position to enrich his family, such as getting his son Hunter on the board of Burisma (a Ukrainian natural gas company) while advocating that the Ukrainian government invest in natural gas. There was a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating corruption in Burisma, and there's footage of Joe Biden saying he told Ukraine to fire the prosecutor or they wouldn't get $1 billion in loan guarantees. Solomon asserts this was because the prosecutor was about to look into Hunter. Trump supporters are doubly upset that Trump is being impeached for asking Ukraine to look into this.
The press is the "enemy of the people":
Trump asserts that the liberal mainstream media (MSM) has been treating him unfairly ever since he started running for President. They mocked him when he joined the race. CNN leaked debate questions to Hillary. All the polls had Trump losing to Hillary. They accused him of being a Russian agent for years. They said there was no FISA abuse. That his campaign hadn't been surveilled. They spin everything Trump as negative, and everything Democrat as positive. To a Trump supporter, the MSM is a liberal propaganda machine. Hannity asserts that the "free" press is dead, and that the MSM's "journalists" are spouting their opinions as fact. (Hannity openly describes himself as an opinion host, by contrast.) A Trump supporter is predisposed to believe Trump and Fox News over anything the rest of the media claims. "
Anthropogenic climate change? That's a hoax concocted by the Left so they can kill fossil fuel jobs and force more people to rely on the Government, give the Government more power, and institute a Socialist economy!" (As we all know, Socialism has never worked and results in an oppressive totalitarian regime.)
President for life:
The MSM claimed Trump might refuse to leave the Oval Office if impeached. IIRC, there was also a typo in some article about having to suffer 8 more years of Trump. Trump rolled with it and began joking about it. A
meme was had over a
Time magazine cover. Trump continues to joke about it because the Left got "Triggered" over it, and it should surprise nobody that Trump likes to troll his opponents.
Installs his family in high positions:
Not entirely sure of the defense for this one. Found
this article via Google, which claims past Presidents have done it and it's not illegal.
So, to conclude:
Maybe anger has a part in it, but a significant factor is a belief that over 90% of the media is lying to the public and has them brainwashed, while only pro-Trump media are willing to offer unbiased coverage of the President. They believe the MSM are the ones
blinded by their hatred of Trump.
The end result is two parallel universes. One where the Democrats are impeaching a pathological liar and the Republicans are engaging in a cover up in a bid to hold on to their waning power. The other where Trump is fighting against the corrupt establishment and the Democrats have been smearing and sabotaging the President from the beginning so they can give citizenship to illegal immigrants and use their votes to secure corrupt power for the rest of history. Which universe you experience is based on your political leaning and the media you watch.
(Did I seriously waste 3 hours writing this? Damn.)