People who support Donald Trump, despite the evidence of his illegal activities-evidence that grows daily, do not believe he is doing any real damage or that he is different from any other politician.
Let’s back up a bit. The people who support Donald Trump are almost exclusively White, at least middle class, and Christian. They are among the most privileged people in the nation. Intersectionality matters.
For them, everything seems normal. They have created lives that blind them to what actually happens in the United States and elsewhere. They are often afraid of history and science, too.
For them, Trumpism does not threaten their very existence.
For them, Trumpism promises to actually reinstate discrimination, to erase much needed divisions between state and religion, and to draw new attention to the power of Whiteness.
For them, Trumpism is nothing more than a new episode of The Apprentice. On The Facts‘s Facebook page they asked people for thoughts about Trump and James Comey. One vocal Trump supporter said that everything Trump is doing is great, that people have nothing to worry about, and that current events represent the “best season of The Apprentice yet!”
For people who support Trump, Trumpism, and Republicans, everything that is happening is nothing more than fiction. A television show with fictional characters meant to entertain. A television show without real life consequences. A television show where no one will actually die. A television show that has numbed, en masse, hearts and minds.
It takes an extreme amount of privilege to blind oneself to the reality experienced by most people.
More thoughts to come another day.
Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda
Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda 