Why would people be even more prepared to vote for Trump now?

[BIWI]

According to a piece in the paper today, 25% of Republicans said they would vote for Trump if he was convicted.

Now he's been found guilty on all 34 counts, so presumably will be more electable.

Why?!

Is it just that Americans see Biden as too old/unelectable?

But even if that is so, why on earth do American voters think it's OK to vote in someone who is so clearly dishonest as their next president?

I really don't understand the mentality.

Because people are stupid, and to be honest, wouldn't be surprised if they voted Tory again.

Mixed support base, comprised of
Cult types (MAGA)
"Kick the establishment never used to vote" types (MAGA, like Brexiters)
"Don't take away my guns" types (MAGA)
Evangelical "Christians" who are convinced Biden is worse
"Would never vote Democrat" types

the left wing podcasts point out how the "arena" is flooded with biased polls that make it seem like the Presidential race is close. There is a strong chance the race isn't close at all.

I think this too. He’s a cult.

The rush on donations may well help him win

Putin and Orban have said they back him. Tells you all you need to know.

Because compared to Biden he appears strong and robust , has presence/ character . His unpredictability could be advantageous dealing with putin etc . People also think he's only going through this circus because he's Trump .

The bar is set so low with Biden I think anyone with their faculties is preferable.

I get the pale, male & stale voter.
I get the redneck voter.

What I cannot get my head around is that any self respecting woman would vote for the world's greatest misogynist. There are are only two explanations 1) complete lack of intellectual capacity 2) cult style brainwashing.

The mind boggles.

Very innocent man, my arse.

I have a lot of friends and family in America. Quite a few see him as being victimised.

The USA is a very diverse nation and huge.
It overstates it a little, but think of hte political diversity across Europe. Even just across the North Sea in Scandinavia, the importance young women feel on being nice to their boyfriends feelings might horrify the bulk of MN.
Trump is a representative of the old ways and that he is a over-priviliged white man with little merit but a big inheritance and arrogance makes him a better representative of that, not worse

It’s easy to mock & deride Trump, and many of the people who vote for him. I have spent the last 8 years doing exactly that.

But no successful democratic politician, whatever you or I might think about them, is wrong about everything. Thatcher was right to stop the unions holding this country to ransom. Blair was right to introduce the minimum wage. Cameron was right to introduce same sex marriage. All subsequent governments have accepted these reforms.

Trump has also been proven right about some things. There is now widespread acceptance that China is an economic & military threat to democratic countries and that globalisation was allowed to go too far, with too much manufacturing capacity & too many skilled jobs allowed to go overseas. That’s why the Biden administration has just slapped 100% tariffs on Chinese electric cars. Europe may well do likewise.

Millions of working class Americans understand that Trump has won the argument on these issues. They believe he is on their side, and despite all his faults, they will vote for him again.

Dementia Joe or Trump? Crazy really this is the choice. I’d imagine Putin would prefer Trump so will be able to influence the weak minded Americans easily.

@StripedPiggy, the issue is the anti-China talk was only talk. The TPP would have been useful at keeping the USA stronger and isolating China a little and Trump undermined it.

Because he is establishing a cult of personality and is actively seeking to create an alternative political discourse in which nobody has any respect for the rule of law or for personal morality, and the only question that matters is whether you're for or against Donald Trump.

He is encouraging Americans of low IQ and poor education to thumb their noses at the institutions of state and show people who are better educated and who respect the law what they think of them. He stokes the fires of personal hurt very ably.

Hence also the events of January 6th.

He's an egomaniac who doesn't care what the price is for the Constitution or the country, or even the rest of the world, as long as his ego isn't bruised. His political career is a monstrous vanity project.

I know where you got that 'dementia Joe' phrase.

Maybe because after he’s been found guilty he’s sen as the underdog?

Then again Americans have this thing where they favour the underdog?

Quite a few posts talking about stupid or low IQ

It probably helps him in the end as people just get angry and vote against that

When people believe something, and become invested in that decision, which will happen if their opinion is attacked, they become more entrenched. ( see, for example, people who supported Johnson, and then said they didn't care about the lockdown parties). That is, I think, what is happening with Trump supporters.

I'm a dyed in the wool socialist and I had the same reaction to evidence that was saying the previous leader of the the Labour of the party was anti semetic. I found it hard to believe so I doubled down on my support of him. I was wrong, but it helps me understand why Trump supporters are saying what they are.

Like me, they are wrong. I just hope they come to realise they are wrong prior to 5/11.

Trump, referring to his fanbase at one of his rallies said ‘I love the poorly educated’, and they whooped and cheered.

I do not think it is bad to think your political opponents are stupid. They probably are. The error is thinking your side is smarter.

Yep. The single factor most likely to solidify Trump’s working class supporters behind him is educated liberal elites sneering at them.

That’s what happened with Brexit, a lot of sneering at the working class.

Because they don't oppose what he's been convicted of? He wasn't tried for a core crime of rape or murder that everyone finds repulsive he was charged with a book keeping crime in effect that isn't going to bother a lot of people. Add to that a lot of trump supporters are marginalised anyway they are highly likely to have friends or family with criminal convictions so won't see it as a massive deal breaker

Yes this is what I mean exactly

Once you see it you can understand it, it makes people react and push back

Loads of donations, I guess whatever happens with the polls / vote is still up in the air

I think it will harm rather than help him. The red hat nutcases will double down on it being a corrupt crooked court case and he's an innocent martyr. But most republicans are not like this and there were already signs before the decision that even Trump's being investigated was putting them off him and the conviction will increase this. I mean, even if you supported one party, you'd feel at least rather embarrassed to vote for a candidate who'd just been convicted of multiple crimes.

He could still win, but this verdict makes it less likely, not more.

Sort of.
It is a particular version of working class. Similar to the brexit debate, most people who were working voted Remain.

Alienation from the modern world is more significant