by Rod Williams, Oct. 23, 2024- Yesterday it was reported that former Trump Whitehouse chief of staff, General John Kelly had spoken out against Donald Trump saying, "he is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life," saying the depths of his dishonesty is just astounding, that Trump expressed admiration for autocrats and murderous dictators, and saying Trump was a fascist, and has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. Kelly also said Trump praised Hitler and he said he wished he had the kind of generals Hitler had.
Not only does Trump praise Hitler and wish for the kind of Generals Hitler had, but Trump also praised the Chinese Generals. During the George Floyd riots a frustrated Trump said, “The Chinese generals would know what to do.” Not only is Trump's admiration for dictators and contempt for the Constitution revealed but Trump's lack of historical knowledge is displayed. In discussion with John Kelly, Trump did not know who Bismark was nor Rommel, for example.
All of this was revealed in an article by Jeffrey Goldberg published in the Atlantic.
Will this make any difference? I'm afraid not. Trump's support seems baked in. In any other time, revelations like this would end one's political career. Why does this not spell the end of Trump? Trump's supporters do not believe it or they don't care. Take a look at who are Trump's supporters.
One, there are a lot of ignorant people who did not get a civic education. They do not know that generals take an oath to the Constitution instead of the president and think it perfectly reasonable that Trump expects loyalty from "his" generals. They have watched a few war movies but don't know a lot about Hitler. They admire people who reject conventional civility and conformity. They like Trump's in-your-face style. Trump is most popular among working class people without a college education. Some without a college education also lack a high school education too and are what you would call "rednecks," or "ghetto." Trump is the tough guy. They like the tough guy who can bully others and get his way, who lays a lot of women, who is brash and flashy. They are probably people who are low information voters and low propensity voters. Trump is the first politician to ever excited them. These ignorant voters love Trump and are not going to abandon him no matter what he says. They don't know much about the Constitution, or Hitler or fascism and don't care. They are kind of proud of their ignorance. Just a guess, but maybe a fifth of Trump's voters are the ignorant.
The second group are people who don't really believe that Trump is a fascist who admires Hitler. When he says he will go after the "enemy within," such as Nancy Pelosi, and will use the military to round them up if necessary, they simply dismiss that as hyperbole. They are traditional Republicans who simply discount any reports about Trump they do not like. They believe reports that portray Trump poorly are "fake news." They will dismiss General John Kelly as a "RINO." Critics of Trump are RINOs or part of the Deep State, or Swamp Creatures. They may not like some of Trump's harsh rhetoric but view the most outlandish things he says as simply his schtick. They find him entertaining and dismiss his excesses. After all, they reason, life was pretty good under Trump's first term, inflation was lower, and the border was secure. When Trump talks about suspending the Constitution or using the military to round up enemies, they reason he did not do that in his first term, so why think he will do it in a second term.
Some people in this second group may have reservations about Trump, but they have always voted Republican, and they are not going to stop doing so now. Also, they are fed up with cancel culture and political correctness and being sneered at and looked down upon. Yeah, they may not like some of what Trump says, but by God, he will not allow tampon dispensers in Boy's bathrooms. I know these people. They are not bad people. There is some overlap in these groupings, but I think this group is about a 60% of his supporters.
A smallish sliver of Trump supporters are the Christians. Call them Christian Nationalist or Value Voters or whatever. They are mostly White evangelicals but not exclusively. They are pro-life and they are for traditional values and are appalled at the normalization of perversion and having it rammed down their throat. They may think Trump was or is a flawed. They may believe he is a philanderer and a crook but maybe he has changed, but even if he has not, he is God's anointed, and God sometimes uses flawed people to advance the Kingdom.
There is even a smaller sliver of the Trump supporters who I call the nut-jobs. They believe everything is being controlled by the "insiders" or the "deep state." They think global warming is a hoax, but chemtrails are real. They think Alex Jones has insight. They think Jewish space lasers cause California wildfires. They will only abandon Trump if they think he has been coopted by the deep state. When Trump says crazy things, that reassures them. A QAnon meme shows that Trump is for real and is one of them.
And then there is this other group. These are the ones that concern me most. These are the true believers. When Trump says he wants Generals who will be loyal to him, they agree with Trump. When Trump says Democrats are the "enemy within," they agree. When Trump calls immigrants "vermin" they like that language. When Trump says something cruel or outrageous they do not cringe but applaud. These people are not uninformed, and they are not deceived. Many are highly educated and thoughtful. They think democracy has failed us. They think it is time for a strong leader who will sit things right. They think that maybe the Constitution should be suspended. They view the Constitution as an impediment to doing the things that need to be done. I don't know how many of these people they are but among these people are the Trumpian intellectuals who are unafraid to say what they think and are building a foundation for a movement that knowingly rejects liberal democracy. Trump is the leader America needs, they reason. Unfortunately, I see this group making inroads into the thinking of the other groups.
For more on the John Kelly revelations, see the following video.
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