Why do some people think Trump is a good man?

[Lyannaa]

There are a lot of people, even in the UK who act like you have offended their mum or dad if you point out what an awful person he clearly is. Even his own family don't like him and plenty of people have said how his relationships with his own children are merely transactional.

If people like him, is it because they are fascists themselves deep down? Or is it some type of mass hysteria?

The only bright spot for everyone watching from outside the country is that the political infighting will be spectacular.

Apparently, he doesn't understand very much about the history of the US. He doesn't read, and needs a bedtime story approach to help him understand politics. If someone tries to school him on anything he doesn't properly understand, he gets angry and fires them.

If your friend only saw positive news coverage of Trump then she was purposely turning to one (possibly two) cable news channels. The vast majority of network (mainstream) news coverage of Trump in the US is mainly critical.

Your friend supported him and sought out positive coverage. Nothing to do with censorship; everything to do with confirmation bias.

I said that it was some networks. Clearly, the one that she watched in Texas was in favour of Trump. She was newly married to a Texan and probably watched what he watched without realising the bias.

They split up; she returned; she saw; she was horrified.

Spot on.

I don't agree that it's as straightforward as people not being very bright, having no morals, having extreme Christian beliefs or being MAGA fanatics.
Clearly Trump reach goes well beyond these stereotypes. It was far from the case that this election was won from the votes of uneducated insular Americans. Much wider demographic groups played a significant role in his victory too.
I suspect that most Trump voters from a wide variety of backgrounds were well aware of his morals and lack of integrity, but they chose overlook that to vote for him anyway.
I suspect that for many Americans the choice came down to whose policies they felt would be most likely to give them what they feel they most need - more disposable income, reduce their gas bills, grocery store costs etc etc. The things that are important to people day to day. Trump understood this and capitalised on it.
To answer a previous question I suspect some atypical Trump voters get angry and offended when we brand them/him as stupid because as Brits we tend to simply view Trump as bad and mad. The US election being the choice between good and evil. Trump voters were obviously willing to look beyond the man and focus on what he can potentially deliver for them and their families. And I think many are willing to overlook the madness of Trump if they feel that they'll be largely unaffected by the darker side of his beliefs and proposed policies.
GB and USA are poles apart in terms of values, attitudes to wealth and success etc. Self made flashy characters like Trump are often lauded in the US as aspirational while we Brits tend to cringe at flash and brash. We're very different from them and probably won't ever fully understand the layers of decision making that brought Trump his victory.
Put simply many new Trump voters are offended that we think we have the right to judge their carefully thought out voting decisions.

He's not thick - his knows his audience

It's a simple as

The global population is 8 billion even as natural resources, the need for human labour, etc are declining.

Of course it's going to be more difficult to find a way to earn a living and to get a share of the good life, on an ever-shrinking planet.

People who blame that on heads of state are morons.

I have an American friend who is intelligent and employed as a journalist on a national publication.

To my horror she told me she voted for him because he is "pro-life" and her "faith" (catholicism) requires it. I was dumbfounded. She's 61.

I said what does your priest think about all the Ukranians going to be slaughtered and she never replied.

Yes, I agree with the previous posters who said that conservative Christians see him as an instrument of God to bring about their more desired society i.e 10 commandments in the classroom, censored libraries, no abortion and only married people (man and woman) having sex. I know quite a few Christians and they very much want more traditional lives for women in general with fewer options for divorce. These type of Christians feel very cornered and under existential threat with loss of membership especially by the young unless the type of radical change they want comes about.
Trump knows this and in fact told them they’d only have to vote once.

That’s why I don’t think other Western countries will go full Trump even if they vote for right wing parties because they are less religious. It’s more about immigration e.g France.

People in bad and worsening situations looking for answers and getting only lies pick the lies that suit them best.

Some even know they're lies, but are so stupefied by what they've been drip-fed by the mob of liars that are the media that they see hatred and division as necessary means to an end.

Ask them what they think that end is and you'll get nothing beyond stuck-record regurgitation of the utter nonsense Trump comes out with.

I've just read an article where voters who like him expressed pleasure at his Cabinet picks. Tbh it's just made me think that I need to die soon, but I'm only 55 so that's unlikely. I'm clearly out of step with what other people think if the parade of wackjobs and extremists he's picked so far is what people like.

I do see the huge desire to stop funding Ukraine and let Putin crush resistance there so that there is an end to fighting. That at least is likely to happen.

Interesting. So you don't believe a government sets the agenda, you think it's a worldwide global issue no one can control. Leaders of governments are simply reacting to what's happening globally.

Well said!

Yes this.

Also I’ve never ever voted on whether I think someone is personally a good person. It’s always policies. There will be a few who are drawn into personality cults (Corbyn definitely had people like that, I saw someone claim he was responsible for the peace process in NI had a nobel peace prize, mad). But most people just think the policies on balance are preferable.

Sometimes people are just voting against the other guy.

Where? When? This is a ridiculous claim and carry on with this you never get anyone to vote for the democrats.

About lies if you are drilling your opponent for being a liar you do not do it by lying. Did you forget how they covered for Biden’s dementia? The cherry on top came when they sacked Biden and started saying that Trump had dementia and was incapable to run. You couldn’t make it up. The only thick people are the ones falling for those lies of the sanctimonious left.

It does rather bring to mind either Whitty or Vallance’s evidence at the covid inquiry about the difficulties of trying to explain science to Boris Johnson.

Listening to that rambling pile of nonsense it’s difficult to find it surprising that he managed to make 6 businesses bankrupt, including a casino.

As someone very clearly stated the US has a different way or culture than the U.K. or Europe. As an outsider I laughed at the canvassers at my door suggesting that the Tories were far right. That would explain a lot of how people think in the U.K. The ones in disbelief in the US live in liberal bubbles. No doubt they will be making the same mistakes but the ones here in the U.K. can throw all their teddies out the pram. It is not either their country or choice.

The Trump dementia claims have been about since his last Presidential term. There’s a reason he was boasting about his ‘very hard’ mini mental state test. And if Trump is aiming claims about senility or dementia at Biden then it’s a fair bet he’s worried about his own mental acuity. He has a tendency to make claims about others based on his own insecurities.

And if republicans really thought getting words wrong and switching names was a barrier to being a president then Trump wouldn’t have been anywhere near the nomination.

Yes, then you can’t put forward Biden while saying is Trump who has dementia.
The Republicans sticking by Trump paid off so there is not much room for wiggling about it. A clear mandate and Democrats can eat their hearts but Trump made history with these elections. I am not even a fan and could not care less but the amount of whining and hypocrisy are off the charts.

I think sometimes, when people are so shocked that some people aren't as horrified by Trumps behaviour as others, it would be a good idea to go back and look at the history of past politicians too. I don't believe that someone gets to one of the most powerful jobs in the world by being a decent person.

Really OP? You immediately "took offence" when someone said those who work from home are lazy. (Some are, some are not - obviously). And you came back with a snippy response about your DP.
"People who work from home are lazy now? I've heard it all. Tell that to my dp who works from home 8am til 9pm with very few breaks because he's a workaholic basically"
As if what goes for your dp must be the same for everyone else. (!). So how might you feel if someone said that anyone who voted how you or your DP voted was racist, fascist and thick?? Offended possibly???? Doesn't take a genius to work that out.

Like the Labour apologists on MN keep saying about Starmer and his merry band, give Trump time to show how good he is…

'Where? When?'
Trump talked about injecting bleach at the White House press conference on April 23 2020. I watched the news, a lot of people did. There's a transcript easily findable online. I've pasted a quote below.

I do think every country has its own political system. I get upset when people impose British solutions on US situations, or on any other country, without taking a different system and culture into account. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to have a view, or impossible to identify when a politician is so terrifyingly out if their depth that they are actively dangerous.

'And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it'd be interesting to check that so that you're going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me.'

I think some people see him as 'anti establishment' and as a needed 'outsider' and for them that's enough to make him a good guy.

This. Hence why Reform picked up so many disillusioned Conservative voters.

There was some interesting post-election survey analysis and the overriding message seemed to be that voters accepted that Trump is crazy and a fair bit of what he says is unbelievable but they divorce the person from the policies.

While I still look at Trump and Harris and think is that really the best America could do, I think the Trump hand-wringing is a bit extreme. People want change and don't trust career politicians to deliver it.

No he did not asked people to inject bleach on themselves. It is not true but yes Biden repeated this endlessly. It feels that the big come back is Karma for the people who pushed him out with lies in 2020 just to do a terrible job.