AIBU to be curious about Trump supporters

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Not looking to start a bun fight! Long time lurker first time AIBU poster. Bit random but am curious!

I would consider myself liberal politically and generally in support of things that would probably be considered v left wing for the States (free healthcare etc). A lot of my friends are the same. Even the friends I do have in the States are not Republicans. So I am probably in an echo chamber of opinions really.

But I find myself so curious to know what the average Trump supporter really thinks of how he is handling the presidency and recently the pandemic. After watching that interview he did recently on Axios, I couldn't help but think there's something more to it all...so many people on my sm laugh about how 'dumb' he is, but he is basically front page news all the time. Who benefits from this? What's going on the in the background? Is it just him being random or is there some kind of strategy

I have read that Joe Biden is now ahead of him in the polls, but especially now that we can't travel - I doubt I am going to get the chance to ask a Trump supporter what they really think. Are there any on here that do support him or the way he's doing things and willing to discuss?

Before anyone asks why not about politics in the UK or Boris or whatever, I do have similar questions, but I guess the recent interview with Trump really made me wonder what his supporters think, whether this recent period in history has made them consider their position. Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this question! I know this part of the site gets a lot of traffic.

Oh and I should have added - I know there are other forums for this questions, I do see a lot of chat on Twitter - but it just seems so polarized and hectic. Very shouty!

the recent interview with Trump really made me wonder what his supporters think

They don't. That's why they support him.

I think American politics are in a bigger mess than uk politics.
With the election looming and So much anti Trump press you would think that a strong candidate would be put forward against him. But no they have gone with Joe Biden. It is almost as though the democrats don’t really want to win.

I fear that Trump will be elected again in November, I really do. His supporters keep quiet, look on and then turn out to vote. I am not the type to make dire predictions but it seems that the consistent low level, bubbling unrest even before George Floyd's death was because those who hadn't voted for him simply couldn't tolerate him as president. I dread to think what could happen there if he gets a second term.

Take a look at #lincolnvoter on Twitter

Lots of trump voters explaining why they backed him in 2016 but wont vote for him in November

YANBU to wonder but I seriously doubt any will want to engage on here.
It's like asking people why they voted for Brexit - anyone that says they did is just crucified and told how shit they are on MN.

Twitter is a cesspit and I would take anything on there with a massive punch of salt.

I am not an American But as a British on looker I can’t see the appeal of joe Biden. The man is as old as dirt who seems to end most sentences with variations of OH Man or Come on Man like the throw back to the 70,s he is.
Is he really the best that America can put up against Trump? And even though I am not a Trump fan if I was American I wouldn’t want to vote for Biden.

@Proudboomer I agree with you. Two most unappealing candidates that's for sure.

I met some people in Italy from New Jersey who proudly told me they voted Trump. They thought he was an excellent President. I asked why and it was about taxes and wealth.
These people were well off and trump, at the time improved their wealth.

They also despised Hilary.

It was the oddest conversation.

@Hingeandbracket true - I suppose I hoped that with the anonymity people might but you're probably right.

@ifeellikeanidiot thanks I will check this out!

@Proudboomer i agree Joe Biden seems like a weak option.

@ihatethecold I guess from their perspective they benefit directly from his presidency so they'd have to be those Warren Buffet socially conscious rich folks to have a problem with that. Am always so curious about the Hilary hate - she's not the most charismatic person, but the hate for her seems really intense from some quarters!

As I understand it, there is an almost religious fervour to being a 'patriotic American'.
In fact, it seems to me that the main religion in America is being American. They think Trump represents that, and, like all religions, logic or reason don't come in to it.

Has anyone read a good article about why the Dems have gone with Biden as a candidate? I'd be interested in their thought process.

Democrats went with Biden because he is pretty much middle of the road with a slight swerve to the left and let's not mention him riding on the coat tails of Obama's popularity The rest of the Democratic candidates were a hard left and America is not ready for that yet

[quote workhomesleeprepeat]@ihatethecold I guess from their perspective they benefit directly from his presidency so they'd have to be those Warren Buffet socially conscious rich folks to have a problem with that. Am always so curious about the Hilary hate - she's not the most charismatic person, but the hate for her seems really intense from some quarters![/quote]
Hillary hate? Most definitely can be laid to rest at the feet of the Benghazi scandal where several American service members and citizens died. She was in charge and she got the blame. Add to the fact that the Clinton's numerous scandals which started in Little Rock during Bill's tenure of Governor and still continues to this very day she never had a chance

@ihatethecold

I met some people in Italy from New Jersey who proudly told me they voted Trump. They thought he was an excellent President. I asked why and it was about taxes and wealth. These people were well off and trump, at the time improved their wealth. They also despised Hilary.

It was the oddest conversation.

Not sure why you think it was odd? They voted for him because he promised and did the most for their situation.

It's not always about voting for Trump, but against something else - eg Hilary who is viscerally hated by many Americans.

Also, we are in a climate of fear and Trump offers something that looks like a positive vision to many.

I always wonder why, with so many intelligent, wise and personable people in the world, we always end up with bad choices of politicians. Biden or Trump? Boris or Corbyn? Maybe more "normal" people just don't go into politics? With some exceptions eg Obama.

Surely in 2016 the democrats started to think about who to nominate in 2020?
Surely in the last 4 years they could have moved someone through the ranks who would have more appeal than a man who rabbles about his hairy legs.

I am about as far from a Trump supporter as you can get, but I do have family (in the US who voted for him - I'm a dual citizen, I sure as hell didn't vote for him though). My sense from those family are that they think he is a bit of an incompetent idiot (in much the way that people think of Boris), but not so disastrously harmful that they would gasp vote for a non-Republican. They see him as not great but the lesser of two evils for whatever crazy reason happens to be hot at the moment.

My take on it:
In 2016, Trump funded his own campaign, this was seen positively that he was serious about the job, and wouldn't drain government coffers.

He purported to be the anti-Hillary, what you see is what you get, no corruption.

He promised to reduce taxes, supposedly to reward workers, rather than supporting the vulnerable ('spongers'). Along with this, stoping 'Obamacare' which had seen most middle class Americans see an enormous increase in their (already scarily) high insurance costs (largely borne by employers).

Hillary is/was HATED. An absolute visceral hatred, which Trump helped feed.

Most Presidents are voted in for their second term, so it wouldn't make sense for the Democrats to put their best efforts in for 2020, would be a waste of a great candidate that they can get prepped for 2024 when Trump will have to stand down.

Just as there are generations of people in the UK who would only ever vote one way, so it is in the US.

I don't live in the US but have friends and family (some of which voted Trump) who do, and some of these reasons have been used to explain to me the situation.

My dad voted for Trump. He never liked Hilary Clinton, probably for fairly sexist reasons, and he takes issue with political correctness and ‘woke’ culture. He is not a gun-toting evangelical, but I think he has felt targeted as an old white man, seemingly responsible for all the ills of American society. I try not to engage in conversations about it all too often because I love my dad and he is a good man, and I don’t want all of our interactions to be soured by politics.

I don’t know how he’ll vote in November, but he has made some negative comments about Trump, particularly with regard to his handling of COVID-19. He called him an idiot and has said he’s unpresidential. His major frustration is with the media, which is always playing a role in the Trump circus. I don’t think he buys into the ‘fake news’ thing, but he does think the media is biased, and it ends up making him defensive about Trump.

Biden is perceived as a safe choice for the Democrats. Their focus is not on huge structural change, but on restoring some degree of normalcy to the White House. Biden is perceived as being more appealing to swing voters than a ‘burn it all down’ candidate would be. Keep an eye on who he chooses as his running mate, though. Given his age, there’s a decent chance he wouldn’t run for re-election in four years, so a more liberal pick might be setting the party up for greater change in the future.

Today 21:00 Leaannb

ihatethecold
I met some people in Italy from New Jersey who proudly told me they voted Trump. They thought he was an excellent President. I asked why and it was about taxes and wealth.
These people were well off and trump, at the time improved their wealth.
They also despised Hilary.

It was the oddest conversation.
Not sure why you think it was odd? They voted for him because he promised and did the most for their situation.

It was odd because it was the first thing they said to me and my husband.
We were on holiday in Italy and they were staying at the same place as us.

They were very proud that they voted trump.

I have quite a lot of connections in various parts of the States so I pick up snippets, rather than hearing one coherent view. My information is mostly gleaned from overhearing pub-type conversations, so I can't really enlarge on or try to explain what I'm saying.

What I hear from the Trump supporters, or those who really listen to Trump supporters, mostly in the Rust Belt, is that what makes a difference to poorer people's lives is jobs. They want to provide for their families, not rely on handouts from the State, such as they are - they see the European Welfare State model as decadent. Trump talked a lot about 'taking back American jobs' and the perception is that, until Covid, unemployment had fallen and China, where they felt jobs were going, had been pushed back. Trump makes a lot of Law and Order and they feel that they are the victims of crime. They don't seem enamoured of Obamacare and they don't like being told what the poor should want. Among poorer Black people the view is heard that they had high hopes of Obama and yet nothing changed. I think poor Obama was put on a bit of a pedestal and unrealistic hopes were raised. Much talk of this project and that project but nothing actually happened. They feel that Republicans claim to be for the poor, but don't listen to them (remember 'deplorables'?). But they have benefitted from the jobs that have appeared since Trump got in. The Hispanic view seems to be that Democrats are only interested in Black people, so that leaves them hoping that the Republicans will court them. There seems to be a surprising (to me) amount of enthusiasm for Trump's wall, as if they don't want a whole lot more people from their part of the world let in.

Meanwhile I hear from Trump detractors, mostly in affluent East Coast suburbs and California, that they don't approve of the way he does things - they've decided how 'presidential' should be and he's not doing it. They think that Obamacare is Good and that this and that should be done for The Poor. I must confess that sometimes I think they sound a bit patronising, but my politics aren't American anyway. They hate Trump's approach to crime and violence, preferring an approach that tries to stop the need for people to turn to crime. Someone pointed out that the Trump haters have handed him a lot of power: he can do just about anything and they will still feel the same way about him, so he ignores them and concentrates on the undecideds. I think that sometimes the media decide what it is that Trump has said and report on that, even if when you listen to what he actually said, you can see why they heard that, but it wasn't quite what he did say.

I think PamDenick has a point. This is a country where the flag is saluted and, AFAIK, the National Anthem is still sung at the start of every school day; with the hand on the heart. I was taken aback when they did that when Disney World opened each morning.

There also seem to be a lot of people who have a problem with both Trump and Biden. I have no idea where their votes will go. I'm not sure that they do. I do hear the view expressed that Biden will stand down before the election and the candidate will be someone else. But who is waiting in the wings? I agree with PP that out of 331 million people it's disappointing that they can't find more inspiring presidential candidates.

From my holidays in the states it appears that they have blind allegiance and tend to pick up in some racist or sexist thing he has a looted that chimes with their own prejudices and run with that.