I subscribed after reading your article on the Huff Post because I wanted to understand the answers to the question posed by this series, and in your initial paragraph. And because you were doing something I couldn't bring myself to do, talking to them in person and listening to their answers.
It's been clear for over a decade that 'they' live in an alternative reality created and inculcated into their minds by relentless RW propaganda. There are lies upon lies, and they eagerly believe them,
Trump was their hero and savior because he parroted them back to them, and promised to fix everything. As absurd as that sounds to the rest of us, they long for that redemption and rescue from the scary and unfathomable world that so threatens them.
There is one Big Lie that sums up and gives purpose to all the others, and is the foundational Big Lie that has been repeated in various ways since Rush Limbaugh hit the air waves, and perhaps earlier in other ways and methods (by Lee Atwater and his ilk) . But he codified it and repeated it endlessly to his ditto heads.
I call it The Mother of All Big Lies.
(after relating some obscure anecdotal article or event or statement by anyone anywhere that he can make sound stupid or bizarre or ridiculous...)
'you see, ladies and gentlemen, that's how these LIBERALS think. They do this because they hate America and they want to destroy it, and REAL AMERICANS like you!'
By the time Trump came in the picture, it had become more like: "Democrats (Liberals, The Left) are the minions of Satan and they are bent on destroying America. Anything and everything must be done to stop them." Especially among the Evangelicals, Dominionists, Christian Nationalists etc.
You have shared a few screen shots recently of comments on the RW boards of the more conspiracy addled versions, like QAnon and the more militant militias, aka "Lizard People"
Finally, I saw this piece recently that addressed this Mother of All Big Lies and more broadly the decades of propaganda that set it in their minds in stone. (Unfortunately, I can no longer access it to copy the quote.)
So after that long introduction, I'd like to request that you might compose a summary of the versions you heard from the folks you talked to. Hopefully, you asked them not only, 'Why do you support Trump?' but also 'Why do you oppose Democrats, Biden/Harris?'
Was there a broad variation? Were the answers usually quite similar?
What is your take on the consensus of what they think of the 'enemy within'?
Thanks for this - you have absolutely nailed it. There is a lot of fear based in misinformation, a subset who say and act like they believe democrats are truly demons, more who think liberals are anti-Christian, and they have a hard time engaging with policies and people. I'll definitely synthesize what you've asked about because it truly gets to the heart of the issue.
A video montage would be awesome, to hear and see them in their own words explain why they are such devoted MAGAS, despite all the negatives about Trump. Of course, as incredible as it may seem to the rest of us, I've read multiple reports that they are utterly unaware of so much of what he has done and said. So blinded by their devotion and faith that he is their savior.
I subscribed after reading your article on the Huff Post because I wanted to understand the answers to the question posed by this series, and in your initial paragraph. And because you were doing something I couldn't bring myself to do, talking to them in person and listening to their answers.
It's been clear for over a decade that 'they' live in an alternative reality created and inculcated into their minds by relentless RW propaganda. There are lies upon lies, and they eagerly believe them,
Trump was their hero and savior because he parroted them back to them, and promised to fix everything. As absurd as that sounds to the rest of us, they long for that redemption and rescue from the scary and unfathomable world that so threatens them.
There is one Big Lie that sums up and gives purpose to all the others, and is the foundational Big Lie that has been repeated in various ways since Rush Limbaugh hit the air waves, and perhaps earlier in other ways and methods (by Lee Atwater and his ilk) . But he codified it and repeated it endlessly to his ditto heads.
I call it The Mother of All Big Lies.
(after relating some obscure anecdotal article or event or statement by anyone anywhere that he can make sound stupid or bizarre or ridiculous...)
'you see, ladies and gentlemen, that's how these LIBERALS think. They do this because they hate America and they want to destroy it, and REAL AMERICANS like you!'
By the time Trump came in the picture, it had become more like: "Democrats (Liberals, The Left) are the minions of Satan and they are bent on destroying America. Anything and everything must be done to stop them." Especially among the Evangelicals, Dominionists, Christian Nationalists etc.
You have shared a few screen shots recently of comments on the RW boards of the more conspiracy addled versions, like QAnon and the more militant militias, aka "Lizard People"
Finally, I saw this piece recently that addressed this Mother of All Big Lies and more broadly the decades of propaganda that set it in their minds in stone. (Unfortunately, I can no longer access it to copy the quote.)
https://newrepublic.com/post/188197/trump-media-information-landscape-fox
So after that long introduction, I'd like to request that you might compose a summary of the versions you heard from the folks you talked to. Hopefully, you asked them not only, 'Why do you support Trump?' but also 'Why do you oppose Democrats, Biden/Harris?'
Was there a broad variation? Were the answers usually quite similar?
What is your take on the consensus of what they think of the 'enemy within'?
Thank you for all your efforts.
Thanks for this - you have absolutely nailed it. There is a lot of fear based in misinformation, a subset who say and act like they believe democrats are truly demons, more who think liberals are anti-Christian, and they have a hard time engaging with policies and people. I'll definitely synthesize what you've asked about because it truly gets to the heart of the issue.
A video montage would be awesome, to hear and see them in their own words explain why they are such devoted MAGAS, despite all the negatives about Trump. Of course, as incredible as it may seem to the rest of us, I've read multiple reports that they are utterly unaware of so much of what he has done and said. So blinded by their devotion and faith that he is their savior.