I don’t get it, like, I get why people support him, they live in a weird media bubble, but that same media bubble insists he’s a fantastically successful businessman, why donate to a billionaire even if you do support his cause?
Ehh, populism isn’t limited to politics, at least not tactics-wise. Lots of televangelists and the like use the same sort of tactics - boil down everything wrong in your life to a single, easily-solvable datapoint that YOU can take action on.
At the same time, I think it’s important to recognize that not all Trump voters are “stupid” or “ignorant”. While those exist, cults can - and HAVE - suckered in people with high-paying jobs, with degrees and education and accolades. Trump’s cult of personality is no different - a LOT of Trump voters aren’t stupid or ignorant or anything, they might vote for him for dozens of reasons, from “well I’m a shitty racist as well” to “well he wears the trappings of success” to “he sounds confident”, and it’s important to recognize that anyone can fall victim to a cult like that through the sheer momentum of peer pressure. Jonestown was full of people who were desperately seeking a better world, and a lot of them were fairly well-educated engineers and doctors and lawyers and the like. Aum Shinrikyo was FULL of PhDs and MDs. Trump has lost a lot of the more well-informed and well-educated people in his camp, but characterizing his entire voter base as “dumb hicks waiting to be conned” is unhelpful at best and harmful at worst.
They live in a paradoxical mindset. He’s a fantastically successful businessman who also was attacked and lost revenue because Democrats are somehow boycotting his brands or smearing him. So therefore you have to save him or the Democrats will oppress you next and ban your religion.
Like many cults it only works if you are in their bubble.
