Trump's trial paints him as a clown -- but MAGA sees a boss

[marmar]

Trump's trial paints him as a clown — but MAGA sees a boss
Donald Trump contains multitudes and none of them are good

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED MAY 8, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) “He’s a man. He’s a husband. He’s a father. He’s a person just like you and just like me.”

Donald Trump’s attorney told the jury in the New York hush-money trial those things about his client in an attempt to humanize someone who is one of the great villains in American history. But Donald Trump is not a family man and a “person just like you and just like me.” He is a floating signifier and symbol for the global antidemocracy movement.

....(snip)....

In an essay at The Philadelphia Inquirer, the always insightful William Bunch traveled to a MAGA political rally in Pennsylvania last month and spoke to the people there to bask in the aura of Trump and the community they have constructed around him:

In a sense, Trump himself is almost like the MacGuffin, the plot device that gives these characters an excuse to get together. “We already know what the spiel is, we know what he stands for,” one man, a middle-aged Canadian American executive, told me. So why wait in this massive line? It’s partly that a rally gives supporters a chance to get off the couch, shut down the TikTok app, turn off YouTube, and prove to themselves they are actually not alone in thinking that everything has gone to heck…. That’s why it was so jarring to see that the happiest place on Earth was this mile-long line in Schnecksville. It was a kind of “Trumpstock”: one night of manufactured peace, unity, and shared disinformation, while the gale-force winds of truth blew well above their bubble.

....(snip)....

Donald Trump has repeatedly shown that he is attracted to violence and delights in hurting other human beings. A short list of examples includes Jan. 6 and the lethal terrorist attack on the Capitol by his MAGA followers, his racist and bigoted beliefs and behavior, channeling of Hitler with threats to purge the “vermin” from the “blood” of the nation, threats to kill and imprison his perceived political enemies such as President Biden and Hillary Clinton, public admirations of murderous tyrants and dictators, willful negligence in response to the COVID pandemic, being found responsible in a civil court for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll and many other examples of antisocial and dangerous behavior.

....(snip)....

Donald Trump’s hush-money and other criminal trials are an opportunity to tear down the strongman facade and character he has constructed, and by doing so, to expose him as just being a mere mortal as opposed to the type of god he imagines himself to be — and that his MAGA people and other supporters see him as. ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/05/08/trial-paints-him-as-a-clown--but-maga-sees-a-boss/

[Think. Again.]

1. Even a bunch of clowns need a clown boss.