'Like an Addiction': On the Road With Trump's Rally Diehards

[Kilgore]

‘Like an Addiction’: On the Road With Trump’s Rally Diehards https://www.wsj.com/articles/its-kind-of-like-an-addiction-on-the-road-with-trumps-rally-diehards-11567762200

Mr. Trump has hosted more than 550 ticketed campaign events since 2015, at least 70% of which include his trademark rallies, according to Republican officials. These rallies form the core of one of the most steadfast political movements in modern American political history, a dynamic that has reordered the Republican Party.

Mr. Trump’s perpetual tour attracts a coterie of political pilgrims who travel across the country and encamp outside arenas for days at a time for the chance to stand in the front row and, for 90 minutes, cheer the man they say has changed the U.S. and, in many cases, their own lives. Somewhere between 5% to 10% of attendees have been to multiple events, the officials said.

“You go to the rallies, and he basically tells you that you don’t have to put up with ‘the swamp’ and those kinds of people,” said Saundra Kiczenski, a 40-year-old Walmart worker from Michigan who has been to 29 rallies. “Because of him I decided not to pay for Obamacare, not pay the fine. And what happened? Nothing. Before, the quiet me would have paid the fine. But Donald Trump told me that we have a voice, and now I stand up for myself.”

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[rampartc]

1. incredible.

[underpants]

2. Gee. Wonder if someone is paying them

My other comment is that this sounds like the people who travel for Chik-fil-a openings.

[marlakay]

3. Just wait till she gets real sick

Between him and Fox they have people believing some really crazy stuff.

[hlthe2b]

4. These people are frightening...

[no_hypocrisy]

5. A couple of things:

1. This is their venue for entertainment, their night on Broadway. It's like when the Circus came to town in the old days.

2. They are mentally lazy and want someone like Trump to tell them how to think.

3. In terms of Society and socialization, they are adrift and have no group identity, save for Trump.

4. It is not exaggeration to compare them to the German masses following the failed Weimar Republic and the hyperinflation of postwar Germany. All they have is anger and nationalism.

[blueinredohio]

6. I call bullshit.

Wal-Mart workers can barely pay their bills much less follow Trump around the country. And per my grandson he didn't have insurance so they kept part of his return which means you're paying a fine for not having insurance.

[Vinca]

7. And if the dumb woman had gotten seriously ill during her avoidance of demon Obamacare,

she'd be begging for Medicaid to get treatment and maybe avoid medical bankruptcy.

[kentuck]

8. It's like entertainment for most of these folks.

They are mostly small-minded, greedy people.

They want to yell and cheer, as if they were at a rock concert or the world championship of wrestling.

They have no idea of what the consequences are for their moments of self-gratification.

[tblue37]

9. They think he's like the Grateful Dead or the WWE. nt

[Salviati]

10. The Hateful Dead...

[MANative]

11. If only... Nt

[Salviati]

13. In the head and heart at least.

[Javaman]

12. their "tweaking" when he loses will be terrifying. nt

[dalton99a]

14. They're pros