The Biomechanics of Trumpism - the root of his success

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump is Lucy with the football for Republicans. Despite delivering L after L after L. Maybe he'll win this time!

But I think OP is correct that any discussion of Trump's "policies" by people who support him is just window dressing. Even when he does a 180 on any particular "policy" he supposedly has, his followers continue to support him because it's got nothing to do with policy. It's just hating liberals and doing so publicly and viciously. That's it. Not even for what they're doing or not doing. Just because a certain segment of the population has been taught to hate liberals.

I didn’t grown up here and even I hate liberals after living among them for over a decade. No one has to be taught to hate fake clowns whose policies are horrible.

Are these real flesh and blood liberals or just abstract "liberals" generally? Or maybe randos on the Internet? Because I hate the liberals I used to hear Rush Limbaugh describe way back when I listened to his radio show. I don't know how many of them actually exist, but sounded terrible!

What an arrogant, utterly foolish question. I must have learned about liberals from the radio in order to hate them? You are the embodiment of everything people hate about liberals and like most of your ilk, you’re too haughty, blind, and stupid to know it.

So, no flesh & blood liberals. Check.

Idiot. Check. We love to see Trump take a crap on you types.

You people? Rootless cosmopolitans, mongrel races, homosexuals? Corrupters of blood and polluters of soil?

You are so angry, and you don't even know why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://open.substack.com/pub/richardhanania/p/the-biomechanics-of-trumpism?r=bhpmd&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

1. It’s not about economic anxiety

2. It’s not about social/racial/work issues

“ give the people “Trumpism without Trump.” Surely the voters who saw Trump as the answer to their grievances would jump at the opportunity to vote for such a leader, if only given the chance.
This was the theory of the Ron DeSantis campaign. I say “was” rather than “is,” because even though he hasn’t announced yet, it sort of feels like it’s over. ”

3. Political science tries to figure out what people want or believe based on what they say. But in the realm of personal relationships, humans are pretty bad at explaining why they prefer some individuals over others.

4. At a gut level, people understand that part of the reason DeSantis won’t talk to the media is that he’s afraid of them, while pretending that he’s standing on some kind of principle. We all know that if DeSantis goes on CNN, he might be forced into a gaffe, or his voice might crack at the wrong time in response to a hostile question.

5. Some men worry about saying the wrong thing when talking to a woman, but the higher status male is the guy who can say whatever he wants. This is the difference between DeSantis and Trump.

6. The Republican voter is not attracted to ideas, but has a sense of alienation from elites and mainstream institutions, and simply wants someone loud and obnoxious enough to fight with them. And since he mostly just wants to grill and politics is a secondary concern in his life, he is not tuning in unless the show is particularly entertaining.

No one has fully describe the WHY of trumps success like Hanania has.

6 is correct. 1-5 are off.

Hannia is not saying anything new. The Pomona guys and Bronze Age Pervert have said variations of 6 since 2016.

I think you’re misunderstanding DeSantis. DeSantis knows that Trump clown show antics are incredibly helpful to Trump in the primary and get Trump attention. But those antics hurt Trump in the general and then become a huge distraction to governing.

DeSantis is, more realistically, the more dangerous of the two. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with him substantively, DeSantis is trying to create a real movement that has a chance at actually governing after an election. So he can’t and won’t go full on inflammatory on a personal level like Trump because the price for that behavior has to be paid after an election.

I think that’s why you’re seeing donors pull back from DeSantis. Trump, for all of his odious behavior, is a self-defeating machine and ultimately poses no real threat to the party elite. He’s a toddler pushing buttons in an airplane cockpit. He’ll never get the thing off the ground. DeSantis is actually breaking with party orthodoxy in some respects (see his war with Disney). I think the donors fear that DeSantis may follow through on a more right wing populist movement.

Jonathan Chait (I think) had a good piece on DeSantis and the media. DeSantis absorbed the Trump lesson of unrelenting hostility toward the media and get your message to the people directly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://open.substack.com/pub/richardhanania/p/the-biomechanics-of-trumpism?r=bhpmd&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

1. It’s not about economic anxiety

2. It’s not about social/racial/work issues

“ give the people “Trumpism without Trump.” Surely the voters who saw Trump as the answer to their grievances would jump at the opportunity to vote for such a leader, if only given the chance.
This was the theory of the Ron DeSantis campaign. I say “was” rather than “is,” because even though he hasn’t announced yet, it sort of feels like it’s over. ”

3. Political science tries to figure out what people want or believe based on what they say. But in the realm of personal relationships, humans are pretty bad at explaining why they prefer some individuals over others.

4. At a gut level, people understand that part of the reason DeSantis won’t talk to the media is that he’s afraid of them, while pretending that he’s standing on some kind of principle. We all know that if DeSantis goes on CNN, he might be forced into a gaffe, or his voice might crack at the wrong time in response to a hostile question.

5. Some men worry about saying the wrong thing when talking to a woman, but the higher status male is the guy who can say whatever he wants. This is the difference between DeSantis and Trump.

6. The Republican voter is not attracted to ideas, but has a sense of alienation from elites and mainstream institutions, and simply wants someone loud and obnoxious enough to fight with them. And since he mostly just wants to grill and politics is a secondary concern in his life, he is not tuning in unless the show is particularly entertaining.

No one has fully describe the WHY of trumps success like Hanania has.

So… about Richard Hanania…

Just incredible how many Nazis are in this barrel of young male Trump fans. No wonder Hanania has such a good handle on Trump.

[Anonymous]

Trumpism is much simpler than this. They do not believe the government does or will do anything that will make their lives better. But they are dead certain that other people ("urban blacks", "elites", "migrants") are getting freebies from the government and it enrages them.

[Anonymous]

Trumpism is even simpler than that. He is entertaining, and he is on their team. that's all they want and need (well, there are a few confused ones who actually pay attention to his policies, like the immigration poster here, but they are 5% of the Trump followers)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Republican woman here. There is too much sexual tension in your analysis of a geriatric former president. I mean, you do you. But, it's weird.

This is legitimately one of the weirder posts I have ever read on here given that there’s zero sexual tension in OP’s post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
6. The Republican voter is not attracted to ideas, but has a sense of alienation from elites and mainstream institutions, and simply wants someone loud and obnoxious enough to fight with them. And since he mostly just wants to grill and politics is a secondary concern in his life, he is not tuning in unless the show is particularly entertaining.

No one has fully describe the WHY of trumps success like Hanania has.

This has been said before and it is correct. The way Trump ridicules and belittles privileged white liberals explains his appeal to conservatives AND immigrants. Speaking as an immigrant, I mistrust right wing nuts, but I DESPISE the condescending, arrogant, hypocritical liberals whose company I suffered until I left the northeast. I hate the pretense they make of speaking for POC when they avoid any of us on their level and make time only for POC they can look down on and play savior to. I hate how they pretend to know all about what the poor want when they live off the same unearned fruits of white privilege that conservatives do. I hate that they exploit the less fortunate for power. I hate their benevolent, infantilizing smiles. I hate their foolish, awful dogmas that put cross-dressing men in women’s spaces and deny police protection to actually vulnerable people. I hate everything about white liberals. Every time Trump clowns one the way he did that idiot who moderated the forum, something in me smiles deeply. He might be a jerk, but he’s not a liar, phony, or conniving backstabber exploiting the plight of POC for a platform.

Watch Malcolm X's talk about the white liberal.

[Anonymous]

If you really want an answer, read Scott Adams's blog, starting around Aug 2015.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://open.substack.com/pub/richardhanania/p/the-biomechanics-of-trumpism?r=bhpmd&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

1. It’s not about economic anxiety

2. It’s not about social/racial/work issues

“ give the people “Trumpism without Trump.” Surely the voters who saw Trump as the answer to their grievances would jump at the opportunity to vote for such a leader, if only given the chance.
This was the theory of the Ron DeSantis campaign. I say “was” rather than “is,” because even though he hasn’t announced yet, it sort of feels like it’s over. ”

3. Political science tries to figure out what people want or believe based on what they say. But in the realm of personal relationships, humans are pretty bad at explaining why they prefer some individuals over others.

4. At a gut level, people understand that part of the reason DeSantis won’t talk to the media is that he’s afraid of them, while pretending that he’s standing on some kind of principle. We all know that if DeSantis goes on CNN, he might be forced into a gaffe, or his voice might crack at the wrong time in response to a hostile question.

5. Some men worry about saying the wrong thing when talking to a woman, but the higher status male is the guy who can say whatever he wants. This is the difference between DeSantis and Trump.

6. The Republican voter is not attracted to ideas, but has a sense of alienation from elites and mainstream institutions, and simply wants someone loud and obnoxious enough to fight with them. And since he mostly just wants to grill and politics is a secondary concern in his life, he is not tuning in unless the show is particularly entertaining.

No one has fully describe the WHY of trumps success like Hanania has.

So… about Richard Hanania…

Just incredible how many Nazis are in this barrel of young male Trump fans. No wonder Hanania has such a good handle on Trump.

Everyone knows Hanania is a racist - doesnt invalidate the substance of his post.

People were trying to dunk on matty Yglesias because he commented once that Hanania had a good post on some topic or another and people were like “ohh matty is a racist”

Hanania is the “the worst person in the world you know made a good point”

And tbf I’m not even sure if Hanania is a full racist because he is pro immigration and fights with republicans on it.

He’s anti-black and anti-Christian that’s def true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump was the only politician to advocate for lower immigration and stopped HXXXB processing.

He has my vote

Democrats gave US workers the middle finger a long time ago.

Did you miss the fact that we’re in a labor shortage and could use more immigration?

There is no such thing as a labor shortage. This statement is a perfect example of why the elites in this country are partying like its 1788.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a little of everything, OP. Trump supporters are not an homogeneous block. They want different things.

But the good news is that Trump has alienated all the left and a majority of independents, as well as a sliver of moderate right. Add in the demographic shift of the electorate in favor of younger, lefty voters, and the mathematical path to a second Trump presidency is quite narrow. Not impossible, but not the most probably.

Now consider that Republicans are tired of him, not because they necessarily believed he lied, but because he has too much baggage. They're not going to turn out for him like the Democrats are going to do for Biden. Democrats want to ensure Trump is not President more than Republicans want to ensure Trump is President. That will make all the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://open.substack.com/pub/richardhanania/p/the-biomechanics-of-trumpism?r=bhpmd&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

1. It’s not about economic anxiety

2. It’s not about social/racial/work issues

“ give the people “Trumpism without Trump.” Surely the voters who saw Trump as the answer to their grievances would jump at the opportunity to vote for such a leader, if only given the chance.
This was the theory of the Ron DeSantis campaign. I say “was” rather than “is,” because even though he hasn’t announced yet, it sort of feels like it’s over. ”

3. Political science tries to figure out what people want or believe based on what they say. But in the realm of personal relationships, humans are pretty bad at explaining why they prefer some individuals over others.

4. At a gut level, people understand that part of the reason DeSantis won’t talk to the media is that he’s afraid of them, while pretending that he’s standing on some kind of principle. We all know that if DeSantis goes on CNN, he might be forced into a gaffe, or his voice might crack at the wrong time in response to a hostile question.

5. Some men worry about saying the wrong thing when talking to a woman, but the higher status male is the guy who can say whatever he wants. This is the difference between DeSantis and Trump.

6. The Republican voter is not attracted to ideas, but has a sense of alienation from elites and mainstream institutions, and simply wants someone loud and obnoxious enough to fight with them. And since he mostly just wants to grill and politics is a secondary concern in his life, he is not tuning in unless the show is particularly entertaining.

No one has fully describe the WHY of trumps success like Hanania has.

So… about Richard Hanania…

Just incredible how many Nazis are in this barrel of young male Trump fans. No wonder Hanania has such a good handle on Trump.

Everyone knows Hanania is a racist - doesnt invalidate the substance of his post.

People were trying to dunk on matty Yglesias because he commented once that Hanania had a good post on some topic or another and people were like “ohh matty is a racist”

Hanania is the “the worst person in the world you know made a good point”

And tbf I’m not even sure if Hanania is a full racist because he is pro immigration and fights with republicans on it.

He’s anti-black and anti-Christian that’s def true

So you’re out here in front of God and everybody wondering if someone who you thinks is “anti-black” is a racist or not?

[Anonymous]

DP. Here's my theory regarding the root of Trump's success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump was the only politician to advocate for lower immigration and stopped HXXXB processing.

He has my vote

Democrats gave US workers the middle finger a long time ago.

Doesn’t Trump use a lot of foreign workers on his own properties? Why doesn’t he hire Americans?

Good question.

Why does our system benefit employers and those who didn't come here illegally, at the expense of those who waited in line to get in, and those who were born here?

Oh, because owners are greedy, and customers want everything cheap, and then people here illegally can get taken advantage of because they're put in a vulnerable position.

I always trip you guys up by suggesting that we legalize most of the migrants. Then when you make excuses not to your true colors are revealed and you find some other reason why that can’t happen. Round and round we go.

That's been done before and the process starts over again.

Just enforce the law, fine businesses such that they collapse and we wouldn't have that problem.

[Anonymous]

The debate just proved Hanania

Everyone on that stage looks odd in some way - small, plastic, misshapen, dull, shrill etc

Trump can win this from a jail cell when you look at what the competition is