Donald J. Trump, former President of the United States of America,
leads the Republican party in July of 2023, in its quest to gain
control of the Executive branch of the American Government. He is
again running for President in the upcoming 2024 presidential
election.
He has been impeached twice, a precedent in itself, and is currently
under two criminal indictments, one by the Federal government and one
by the State of New York. Two more possible indictments linger while
Trump is under investigation both in the State of Georgia and again
by the Federal government, both for different aspects of his role in
the attempt to overthrow the government of the United States on
January 6th, 2021. He recently lost a major, multi-million dollar
lawsuit for sexual harassment and slander, and faces at least eight
more major lawsuits, among them the NAACP, the Legal Defense Fund, his niece, Mary Trump, Michael Cohen, California State Representative Eric Salwell, three separate suits from Federal guards injured during the insurrection, and as a correspondent along with his Trump Tower security chief, Keith Schiller, yet he controls the mindset of over one third of
the voting American public. They would vote for him anyway.
The current opinion polls show Trump has a commanding lead over his
nearest Republican rival and will probably win the Republican
nomination. The Marquette Law Poll, CNN, Fox News, and the Quinnipiac
University – a small, private university in Hamden, Connecticut,
famous for its public opinion polling center that is unaffiliated
with any academic department at the school – all have Trump well
ahead of his political rivals in his own party, and one poll, the
Harvard Caps Harris, predicts Trump will beat incumbent Joe Biden.
The
Democratic factions wonder how Donald Trump managed to develop such a
huge, enthusiastic following. They can not fathom how supposedly pious, religious voters condone Trump's misogynistic, sexist actions with women, nor can they accept Trump's adoring relationship with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. Donald Trump, who, as President, saluted a North Korean general but walked in front of the Queen of England as if she weren't there, continues to astound the liberals and Democrats with his blatant disregard for protocol and tradition.
But Trump did not create his
supporters, he simply renamed them. They were there first. He simply
lined up the myriad, splintered, incubated, anti-civilization groups
when he rode symbolically down an escalator into history to oppose
Hilary Clinton and Beyoncé.
Trump’s powerful, central group coagulated from the often opposing
factions he inherited. Loosely included in these widely varying
groups are the same people who oppose smoking bans and refuse to wear
helmets when riding motorcycles, to the devout evangelical Christians
who believe the Bible should rule over the Constitution. From climate
change deniers, and those who pay to spread that belief, to those who
hold their guns more dearly than their grandchildren, the rank and
file core of the right-wing opposition to anything progressive were
spotlighted rather accidentally when the John McCain Presidential
campaign qualified Sarah Palin as a national candidate by branding
her a “maverick,” thereby excusing any of her shortcomings that
would have prevented her from being seriously considered competent.
In 2016, Trump was simply the new “maverick” even though Trump
carefully avoided association with the name.
The Koch Brother’s powerful Tea Party and the competing
FreedomWorks of Dick Armey reinforced their flagging collective
agendas around Trump while the names of their respective
organizations faded into the limelight. Trump’s political
shortcomings became an asset. They still are. The less he looks and acts like the established norms of political correctness the more attractive he is to those who felt kinship with the maverick label. With the possible, even
probable criminal conviction of Trump looming in the immediate future, his supporters love
their underdog, their beloved, undisciplined pack leader more than ever.
Trump supporters have no other choice. Martyrs never have a choice.
They’ll drink the Kool-Aid. Martyrs always do. Simply an observation.