I think Juan Cole is on to something. He asks, why would anyone back Trump? His answer is persuasive, and worth reading, which you can do here.
His argument is that Trump’s adherents, particularly the men, want to be Trump. Read the whole thing, but here’s a taste:
But I nevertheless think that the men who back Trump no matter what are doing so because the celebrity real estate speculator and name-licenser provides them with an opportunity for ego inflation. By backing Trump , they are participating vicariously in the wealthy businessman’s persona. They can imagine themselves in the stretch limousine, they can imagine themselves putting China’s Xi Jinping in his place, they imagine never again paying taxes, they can imagine themselves having cocktails with models in the penthouse, perhaps the most despicable of them wish they could assault women with impunity.
There is, of course, no single explanation, but I do think that this is on the money with respect to a lot of Trump’s supporters. Sort of pathetic, really.
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