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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe problem with 'But Trump's base loves it!'
By Paul Waldman July 3 at 12:58 PM
To judge by the unfiltered contents of President Trumps psyche as expressed through his Twitter feed, there is nothing he cares about more as president of the United States not health care, not regulation, not taxes, not trade than his ongoing battles with the news media. And whenever he says or tweets something more appalling than the last thing he said or tweeted, what ensues is a regular and repeated pattern that goes like this:
1. Trump tweets something despicable.
2. Elected Republicans say, I dont approve of this.
3. White House spokespeople offer laughably pathetic defenses of his behavior.
4. Journalists and commentators point out that as vulgar and infantile as Trump is being, his base loves this stuff, and therefore it may be a clever strategy and not just a hypersensitive, insecure man-child having a tantrum.
-snip- (Trump's anti-CNN tweet)
The problem with Step 4 of this cycle is twofold. First, by assuming his supporters are in fact a bunch of Cro-Magnon mouth-breathers who grunt in approval at any intimation of violence from their hero, it is deeply condescending. And second, it lets Trump off the hook, in effect excusing whatever he does as long as it can be hypothesized that it will be met with approval by his supporters.
From the beginning of his campaign and continuing into his presidency, Trump created conflict with the media in part as a way of riling up his most ardent fans and in part because it was sincerely felt. We know from numerous biographies and profiles that he has always been obsessed with his news coverage and consumed with slights and affronts. On the campaign trail, this had a ritualistic aspect: At rallies he would point to reporters confined to a fenced-in area and tell the crowd that journalists are the worst people in the world, a bunch of lying jackals out to get him. He once even mocked a disabled reporter who had the temerity to contradict Trumps lie about thousands of Muslims supposedly celebrating the 9/11 attacks on rooftops in New Jersey. The crowd would boo and jeer, then toss epithets at the reporters as they walked out. It was ugly and disturbing, but while Trump openly advocated violence directed toward protesters, he never explicitly told anyone to beat up a reporter.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/07/03/the-problem-with-but-trumps-base-loves-it
stephensolomita
(91 posts)Donald Trump needs attention the way meth addicts need meth. This is the main reason for the tweets and the outrageous behavior. That said, his base does, in fact, love his antics. Trump is an out front racist, misogynist and xenophobe. He's proven this many times, yet the uglier he gets, the more his base laps it up. Myself, I wouldn't compare them with Cro-Magnons, but Neanderthals.
progressoid
(49,991 posts)Response to progressoid (Reply #3)
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leftstreet
(36,109 posts)We know his ardent supporters are, but I question whether or not they actually voted for him. I doubt they are voters.
His voters however are likely typical GOPers who always vote GOP and get their news from FOX, the local paper and/or the local news.
Unless FOX is truthfully covering Loser 45's repulsive behavior, their viewers won't know about it. And anything negative will be blamed on "...well those liberals"
11 Bravo
(23,926 posts)don a Hazmat suit and check out Discussionist.
Over there Obama is: choose one ... Gay, Kenyan, secretly plotting to bring down Trump, a pedophile, not the father of Sasha or Melania ... and I could go on, but my gag reflex is acting up.
I hope Skinner is making an assload of money off of that shithole, because cons there have systematically usurped the moderation function in order to silence liberal voices, and are well on their way to creating their very own myopic little conservative circle jerk.