Here's an article that does a pretty good job of explaining Trumpism....
https://www.upworthy.com/all-done-trying-to-understand-trump-supporters
I am going to speak frankly and somewhat forcefully about my fellow Americans here, but first I want to be clear about my perspective. I am a political independent who would best be described as "leaning left," though I hate those kinds of labels. I have always voted for both Democrats and Republicans, including on my own state's ballot in this election. The only real passion I have for politics is my disgust with our two-party system, so don't take my words here as toeing some partisan or ideological line.
I also believe there is a distinct disconnect between why Trump supporters
think they support him and why they
actually do. I've spent four years listening to their reasoning. I've tried to make it make sense. And though entire books can and will be written about this, I've landed on what I see driving Trumpism the most.
Though partisanship certainly plays a role in his number of supporters, the support for Donald Trump isn't about political parties. Yes, there are people who will vote Republican even if they have to hold their nose or sell their soul to do so (same with some Democrats, I would assume). For some people, elections are all about one issue—usually abortion or taxes—so they vote Republican, but Trump hardly represents the traditional party identity.
I mean, let's be real here. Anyone who thinks a serial-adultering,
porn star banging,
pussy grabbing,
charity stealing,
student defrauding,
non-church-going, faith-mocking, unrepenting man like Trump is a reflection of true conservative values is as delusional as he is. And anyone who thinks that a
military-bashing,
deficit-building,
debt-ballooning grifter is a true Republican is fooling themselves. There's a reason why many lifelong Republicans rejected Trump from the beginning.
Despite appearances, Trumpism isn't about Republicans vs. Democrats. Political parties are merely weapons Trump wields in his battle for personal glory. After all, this is a man who changed his political party four times in less than three decades. He's not now and has never been about party.
No, Trump is about Trump. It's what he's always been about and will always be about. He is
a textbook malignant narcissist, always and forever obsessed with what will serve his personal need for power, glory, and adulation.
The question then is, how did Trump get 70+ million voters to believe he's all about America or all about them? He did it the same way every demagogue with authoritarian tendencies throughout history has done it—by keeping the message painfully simple, appealing to people's basest human instincts, lying egregiously and relentlessly, and undermining people's faith in the real-world journalism and fact-checking that keep them from being sucked into his unreality....
SNIP