Why Trump remains popular among Trumpterians

[Julian Englis]

Never mind the scandals--literally. From Vox, “I just choose to not listen”: why Trump supporters are tuning out the scandals"

"Objectively, Donald Trump’s presidency is flailing. Regardless of what you feel about his core politics and policy, the Trump administration is caught in a cycle of scandals of its own creation. Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, with the possible intent of quashing an FBI probe into his campaign. He gave away intelligence secrets to the Russians, potentially endangering a foreign agent embedded with ISIS. (And wait ... there’s more!)

The start of the Trump administration has been riddled with more scandals than any presidency of recent memory. And yet Trump still enjoys high support among his base: 85 percent of Trump voters approve of the job he’s doing, a recent Morning Consult poll found.

If you’re looking for an explanation for why Trump’s support is so solid among his base — and why it will remain so stubbornly high — read this piece by the Associated Press, where the reporters asked Trump supporters how they’re handling the wave of scandals.

“I tuned it out,” Michele Velardi, a 44-year-old in Staten Island, told the AP of the recent news. “I didn’t want to be depressed. I don’t want to feel that he’s not doing what he said, so I just choose to not listen.”

This line is extremely revealing. It shows a psychological tendency we’re all susceptible to. That tendency is called “motivated ignorance,” and it’s an extremely powerful force in American politics. It’s also one of the keys to understanding why political discourse can be so irrational. "

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/18/15659394/trump-supporters-motivated-ignorance

[BigmanPigman]

1. It's not about the issues. It's all about his bully/thug personality that they admire.

It does make sense in a psychological sort of way. Since most people aren't like that (thank god) we don't understand it and try to look for realistic and rational reasons for their undying love of this narcissistic sociopath. They admire his type of personality. His base will remain at 35% even if he shot puppies and kicked little old ladies. In fact they'd probably like him even more if he did those things. They're sick.

[Blanks]

2. The press isn't properly evaluating Trump supporters...

Here's how this works: Everyone has a circle of friends. They have one friend in that circle that most people like. That one person decides how they feel on a number of issues, because not only is that person liked, but that person is feared. The fear of that person need not be based on any real event, just a lack of confidence on the part of those who fear him.

We are all shocked that Trump supporters haven't abandoned him, they won't abandon Trump until that 'leader' has said it is ok to abandon Trump.

We are dealing with kind of a mob mentality on social media. If you see a hard core Trump supporter on Facebook (like an old friend from high school) try messaging them instead of dealing with them in public. They have a different personality.

We aren't going to change the minds of Trump supporters by running into the herd, we have to pull them out and work them like cattle. Imho.