Why do some people still trust Trump?

[Dr. Jack]

If you look back at Trump’s entire adult life, he has left a path of destruction behind him. Countless people who have chose to trust him who’s lives he has in turn destroyed. How many cases have you heard about of Trump stealing people’s money or getting them into serious legal trouble or destroying their careers and credibility in service of this man? How many people went to work for him in his 4 years in the White House who’s lives are now ruined? Yet people still line up to get into his orbit assuming that things will turn out different for them?

Just time and time again someone gets close to Trump, they defend him, put their credibility on the line, he absolutely fucks them over, they then warn people to stay away but then someone else starts the entire process over again. Why? Why are there still so many people ready and willing to trust Trump if it only ever ends one way for them?

[Walleye]

1. Resolution of cognitive dissonance.

The inability to admit they were wrong. They’ve lost so much and gotten so little in return, they’ve got to find a rationalization. Couldn’t be that they had poor judgment. So they “double down”. If they had gotten rich they would’ve just said “yeah we lied.” Since they got nothing out of it they had to continue their self deception

[Mike Nelson]

2. Well...

... he makes fun of disabled people. He pushes women around, and has been accused of rape. He questions Obama's citizenship. He admires dictators. He thinks woman who have abortions should face some kind of punishment. He wants more investigations into Hillary Clinton. He wants to investigate Hunter Biden. He calls adult film stars and models for sex. He doesn't pay most of his taxes. He gains wealth thru fraud.

THE ABOVE ARE ALL THINGS HIS FANS ADMIRE ABOUT TRUMP.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. One Nit To Pick

Lying to borrow money to pay the interest on loans extant is not creating wealth.
He has no idea how to do that.
Other than that minor quibble, i heartily agree with your post.

[Dave says]

3. Because they are idiots. Full stop.

[uponit7771]

4. ***ANCHOR BIAS*** Humans behavior science and pathology. Trust science instead of our opinion

... opinions about how humans act.

The GZP plays on cognitive bias more than anyone

[underpants]

5. It's very hard for people to admit their mistakes

especially when they were duped.

I think that a lot of people, spurred on by Fox Q etc, just flipped out when Obama was President. A black President was just something they couldn’t reconcile. Add in that being gay was no longer joke material and that being gay was both celebrated and married became legal - it was too much for them. Trump prepped them by being in Fox every Monday morning offering his worldly insights. That was far more important than his TV show. He fully closed the deal with the Birther crap. It’s not true! It’s all fake! Their masses rejoiced.

My 2¢

[Chainfire]

7. The rank and file voter trust him because he is, in their eyes,

a highly successful businessman, he is a genius, he understands the value of white supremacy, he isn't afraid to "tell it like it is", Any evidence to the contrary is fake and comes from people who hate America and freedom. They see him as "one of them." (They also have odd definitions of American and Freedom, but that is another discussion)

The Rich and well connected trust him because he is always going to have their best financial interests at heart and he has a dedicated hatred of social justice. He understands the value of special classes of people, and he worships the same god, (the almighty dollar. ) They are not afraid of him being nuts, because he is "their" nut, and they keep him on a short leash.

[twodogsbarking]

8. They all hate the same people.

[keithbvadu2]

15. He knows how to home in on their hate to confirm and rationalize it to themselves.

He knows how to home in on their hate to confirm and rationalize it to themselves.

[twodogsbarking]

16. Exactly. There is a method to his madness.

[mountain grammy]

9. I believe there is a large segment of human beings

30% or more who are just mean, selfish and hateful and they found their hero in Trump. He's an asshole, a crook and a bigot and these people had their very own president for 4 years. Now these same people are labeling Zelensky a thug and claiming, with no proof, the US had bio weapons labs in Ukraine and Ukraine was running some kind of child trafficking ring. The are unswayed by the truth because their own "truth" trumps everything.
Despots who commit genocide don't do it by themselves, and if he finds enough support, not a majority just enough, we all pay the price.

It's the media giving these people sunlight and they find each other.

[GoCubsGo]

10. Because he's still telling them what they want to hear. nt

[XanaDUer2]

11. Because he abuses people they hate nt

[Cognitive_Resonance]

12. They're convinced he represents their best shot at getting whatever vile things they covet. nt

[Buns_of_Fire]

13. Their hatred of "the other" trumps their misgivings. So to speak. nt

[lindysalsagal]

14. IMHO, there are far too many tall toddlers who want to throw temper tantrums

but lack the guts, so they use his as something to celebrate.

His selfishness and utter lack of compassion feel right to failed adults who are suffering from cognitive disabilities and arrested development. The world never made sense to them, and they're just angry.

[11 Bravo]

17. Because P. T. Barnum underestimated the "suckers per minute" ratio.

[UTUSN]

18. Not that they trust him, it's that they love the way he hates us