To reiterate, Trump didn't change the GOP...

[Septua]

..he only revealed it. And most of us knew that.

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/11/1015120444/study-looks-at-what-motivates-trump-supporters

[True Blue American]

1. True!

[FakeNoose]

2. While I agree with that statement

... I also believe that his behavior and his hate speeches attracted MORE people just like him. He displayed bad behavior and enabled more and worse behavior from his worshippers.

The racism, the selfishness, and the in-your-eye hatred was already built into the Party, but Chump's time in office made it all so much worse.

[Pantagruel]

3. Put simply

Prior to Trump, outright racists didn't have a viable candidate to support. Trump attracted them and got them to the polls. IMHO, that's where the '20 GOP spike in votes originated.

[Irish_Dem]

4. It's complex. Ruthless, delusional sociopath meets racist, entitled "victims."

I have turned to WWII to help me understand the political and psychological aspects of this phenomenon.

(I happen to have degrees in both political science and psychology, and I am using all of that training trying to understand what is happening here in the US now.)

Hitler used the dark underbelly of the German psyche to gain
power. The German people were very resentful of the WWI armistice (surrender) which took away land and imposed sanctions. The German people were humiliated by the bitter loss of WWI. There was great economic hardship in Germany in the 1930s and Hitler needs some scapegoats.

Hitler used these psychological factors and the existing anti-semantic sentiment in German to build his party. A concerted, focused campaign to demonize Jews was put into place in the late 1930's, including the myth that Germans were the "master race."

So we had a ruthless delusional sociopath, who wanted total and permanent power using the most brutal and horrendous means possible. He quite correctly read the dark forces at work in the German people and used it for personal and political gain. He attracted like minded ruthless sociopaths who gladly assisted him.

The parallels to current events in the US are striking.

[Septua]

5. Hitler and Trump parallels

The parallels have been obvious for a while. The disconcerting part is whether or not Trump would build the gas chambers...

Probably not (though he has pushed the envelope), but I shudder to think about a Trump autocracy and 50 million (give or take) people who hate democrats and non-whites...

"Vengeance is mine" sayeth Trump.

[Irish_Dem]

7. When at first Covid was hitting blue cities, Trump and Jared did nothing.

So that was an extermination plan of sorts.

[uponit7771]

6. K&R, The GQP was implementing anti democracy measures before Putin's Whore came around