It's a two party system in a big complicated country. Voting for a candidate you dislike and often disagree with is the norm. People vote against opposing candidates as much as they vote for something, especially in recent years.
In the particular case of trump, the less one knows about politics and governing the more likely they are to support him. The US is full of people who don't care much about how government actually works, which is not an unreasonable position for the most part, but can get hijacked by an effective conman.
> I think we have to trust the ballot box more than opinion polls.
I think voting trends are a pretty poor signal of voter values, but a much stronger signal of voter “alignment”, especially in first-past-the-post systems.
Certainly there is very little granularity in both election outcomes and yea/nay approval rating.
That said, if people voted based on values or alignment for a candidate that said he would overturn civil service reform and conduct the bigliest deportation campaign in history, it'd be silly to think they'd reject the outcomes they voted for.
I think one of Trump’s greatest sleight-of-hands was convincing nearly every red triber that he represented their interests specifically, which is the ultimate goal of a populist. He was simultaneously a free market hero, while also highly protectionist. He was fair and sophisticated, while also highly retributive and humble. He became representative of their values, no matter what they were. I even still see it when talking to people who lean red - they’ll forgive Trump for nearly everything except what they view as being the important thing, which is a reflection of their own politics rather than Trump’s.
I mean, up until the election he was denying that he even knew what Project 2025 was, and now he’s bragging about how much from the document he’s accomplished.
Trump’s win was not a policy win, it was a culture war win.
No doubt, policy was completely absent in his campaign. His normal shtick does deal a lot in outcomes that are backed into policylike promises, "[literally anything] will make us/you the richest person/country in history, probably ever".
And you point out the single-issue voters that the GOP has farmed for decades. The culture war was there but since he protrays himself as elite, he couldn't do the blue collar charade. Instead it was a really half-assed demonization of trans athletes and, of course, immigrants.
The thing I think has to be mentioned is that he seems to have manipulated people's need to feel like they are on a team that is winning. I think that's why you see the cult of personality stuff like flags and tattoos - he's more of a college football team than an administrator.
Sure they did. They voted for the guy who airstriked an Iranian general in his first term. You might have caught the rampant social media commentary about how people were certain they'd be drafted soon. Of course, we didn't follow up with an invasion but it's a clear acknowledgement that acts of war are absolutely on the table.
His relationship with Netanyahu didn't start Jan 2025, nor did the eventual showdown over nuclear weapons precipitated by our withdrawal from the arms treaty.
I know that is a lot of thinking to ask of his voters so here's an easy one - it's very obvious when the dude is lying. Anyone hearing him talk about being the president of peace should have instantly known it was no different from claiming we'd all soon be rich beyond our imagination. Or that covid would be over in a week. Or that any election he lost was 'stolen'. Anytime he describes himself as being the "most/greatest anything in history". Whenever someone asks a critical question and he freaks out (sadly for Trump voters, Joe Rogan isn't capable of this).
Many Americans didn't vote for Trump at all, so to the extent this is true, it still can't be accurately summarized as "American voters are fine with being robbed blind." Maybe some still are, but they don't speak for everyone.
In the particular case of trump, the less one knows about politics and governing the more likely they are to support him. The US is full of people who don't care much about how government actually works, which is not an unreasonable position for the most part, but can get hijacked by an effective conman.