In which David French, New York Times columnist and Nashville resident, presents the case that we don't "fully understand" Trumpism, which is,
That,
The consistent message from Trumpland of all ages is something like this: “They’re the worst, and we’re awesome. Let’s party, and let’s fight.”
That,
You’re horrible, and no one should listen to horrible people.
That,
...they know that you’re horrible and that horrible people are capable of anything, including stealing an election.
That,
For them, the MAGA community is kind and welcoming. For them, supporting Trump is fun. In their minds, they’re the same people they’ve always been — it’s just that they finally understand how bad you are.
That,
"...while countless gallons of ink have been spilled analyzing the MAGA
movement’s rage, far too little has been spilled discussing its joy."
That,
...their own joy and camaraderie insulate them against external critiques that focus on their anger and cruelty.
That,
Trump’s opponents miss the joy because they experience only the rage.
That,
If you’re deemed to be one of those people who is trying to “destroy our country and our family,” then you don’t see joy, only fury.
That,
MAGA devotees [have] a sense of belonging. ...they know they have a place at a Trump rally, surrounded by others — overwhelmingly white, many evangelical — who feel the same way they do.
That,
You can’t replace something with nothing. And until we fully understand what that “something” is — and that it includes not only passionate anger but also very real joy and a deep sense of belonging — then our efforts to persuade are doomed to fail.
Who amongst us did not "fully understand" that, all of that? I fully understood it. I read a few gallons of that contrarian feel ‘em spilled ink in 2016 about who Trump supporters really were, even though I have (at least) two in my birth family. Initially I found Olivia Nuzzi's encapsulation of them ("They don't care! They don't care what his positions are on the issues or if those positions have changed. They care about him. He's someone who has never gotten screwed over and who will protect them from getting screwed over.") different, plausible. I didn’t see cult of personality in Nuzzi’s writing right away, hidden as it was by a fig leaf, not until Republican senator Bob Corker said it. Then I saw it and Nuzzi’s take became less plausible and not different but a euphemism. Then I read and heard with my own ears Trumpists shouting at mention of President Obama’s name "Fuck that nigger", and I found that consistent with my-brother-the-klansman's oeuvre and then I didn't find Nuzzi's take plausible or different, just a, perhaps honest but mistaken, but also perhaps a conscious cover for Trumpists who she met and liked, racist, fascist blemishes notwithstanding, nothing that a little makeup couldn’t obscure—I came to see Nuzzi as wrong or duplicitous and I saw what I had always seen, the same old same old violent racism. And let us say, if I may speak on this point for others of my horrible ilk, that we see, we have always seen this joy of belonging among Trumpists at his rallies, their insulating camaraderie, that we respect it and indeed support it and are determined that they join the people like them, the mostly good people, over 800 and counting now, soon to be joined by their cult Leader in the much more cozy, insulating various franchises of the Federal Gray Bar Hotel. But if you didn't read gallons and didn't hear "Fuck that nigger" then take the understanding provided by David French as today's lesson:
You’re horrible, and no one should listen to horrible people.
And have a blessed eve-en-ing.
