Many people remained mystified about one of the great ironies of American politics. That is, how Trump, a guy that almost no one in the GOP political establishment liked in the beginning, and despite everything dirty about him still owned and ran that establishment lock, stock, and barrel.
Start with the numbers. The seventy-four million votes he got in his 2020 presidential loss was the greatest number of votes a losing presidential candidate ever got in a free election anywhere, ever. In fact, it was a greater number than any American presidential winner had ever gotten. But it was how Trump got those staggering numbers that revealed much about why GOP politicians of all stripes years after his oust from the White House and through multiple state and federal indictments remained scared stiff of him.
In part, it was rage and rebellion against the perceived wheeling-and-dealing corporate beltway Democrats and Republicans. In another, it was a passionate belief that Trump talked the talk and fought the fight for less-educated blue-collar and rural workers, a healthy segment of middle-class suburbia, and a not inconsiderable number of Blacks and Hispanics. In even bigger part, it was his deep tap of the racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, nativist, know-nothing fear and loathing that is a foundational part of American life.
Those factors remained powerful, undeniable forces that propelled American politics. So powerful, that in spite of the irrefutable proof that the 2020 presidential vote and vote process was accurate and untainted, more than half of Republicans in 2023 still doggedly claimed the election was stolen from Trump. A year later the number of those who still bought Trump's lie that the election was fraudulent had dropped. However, there was still the strong current of belief in the Trump lie. Even when those who spouted the "election was stolen" nonsense couldn't give any coherent reason for clinging to the silly belief.
Sarah Longwell, executive director of Republicans for the Rule of Law, conducted regular focus groups with fans of Trump. She explained, "For many of Trump's voters, the belief that the election was stolen is not a fully formed thought. They know something nefarious occurred but can't easily explain how or why. What's more, they're mystified and sometimes angry that other people don't feel the same."
Trump's vote numbers and the frenzy of his backers were the life support of the GOP. Without them, the GOP was in grave danger of losing vital House and Senate seats in both the 2022 mid-term and 2024 presidential elections. Any GOP falling off the cliff here meant the party could kiss any chance it had of fully taking Congress back in 2024 good-bye.
Much has been made that America will no longer be an old-white-guy-run country in 2050, that white male voters have steadily dropped in national elections, and that Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, women, and young persons would be the new majority voters. But that was still a long way off an would not decisively tip the 2024 presidential election to the Democrats. White males still would have outsized voter clout in the crucial Heartland states and the South.
Trump knew that and talked to them in the giant circus-like exhibitions that passed for campaign rallies. He openly bragged at his rallies that he'd continue to do exactly what got him elected in 2016. That was, play hard on his base's latent racist, anti-immigrant, anti-woman, pseudo-patriotic sentiment. The added element, considering the multiple indictments, was to play even harder on the conspiracy-to-get-him theory.
In polls and interviews, Trump's backers filled in yet another piece of the puzzle on Trump's popularity with them. He was a real, tough talking, tough acting, the almost proverbial man on the White Horse type of leader.
The proof for many was that he allegedly got things done on immigration, the fight against terrorism, and most importantly a robust economy with lots of jobs and relatively low inflation. A September 23 , 2023 CNN poll backed that up. It found that Trump walloped Biden in terms of a perceived better job performance on these issues.
There was one other add on. His boosters claimed that he had a clearer vision of the future direction of the country than Biden. This was a not inconsiderable intangible that swayed millions of Americans who were always nervous over the country's future.
The blunt reality was that Trump was always more than the titular head of the GOP after his White House win in 2016 and even White House loss in 2020. He was the point man for GOP on policy and issues. In a perverse way, he spurred them action on the issues. That included playing relentless hard ball with the Democrats.
Trump showed that he could give the GOP a big boost in its ruthless drive to tamp down Democratic voter turnout by suppressing, rigging, playing dirty and gerrymandering. That millions continue to swear by him still is terrifying frightening testimony that the GOP is still very much Trump's party.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the host of the weekly Earl Ofari Hutchinson Show on KPFK-Radio 9 AM Saturdays and the Pacifica Network. He is the publisher of thehutchinsonreport.net
