The Republican Party is full of pretenders who imagine themselves as the one who will capture the imaginations of Trump voters in 2024, and ride their support to the White House. They include Ted Cruz, Mike Pence, Josh Hawley, Mike Pompeo, Tom Cotton, and Nikki Haley. Ha. They’re kidding themselves. There is no politician — Republican or otherwise — who can seize the crown of Donald Trump and become his heir.
Part of Donald Trump’s appeal is his style, his character, his celebrity charisma. His voters see him as a take-charge badass who knows how to win. They feel he’s one of them. He tortures the condescending elites they despise. Trump, as repellent as he is, is seen by his devoted supporters as the only means available to them to resist the overwhelming Democratic and progressive cultural tide that threatens to drown them. They feel that the values and beliefs that they hold dear, and their way of life, are all under threat. Trump is their protector.
Trump’s voters recognize that their hardships and challenges remain invisible to the coastal elites who threaten them. They fear losing their majority status and whatever control and influence they have left. They feel an overwhelming resentment toward those who don’t share their beliefs, values, and way of life. They feel they’re not getting their share of attention, respect, or resources. Ironically, Donald Trump, a wealthy New Yorker, gives them their only outlet. Do you think Ted Cruz could ever do the same?
The 74 million people who voted for Trump in November prove that his 2016 election was not a fluke. He tapped into the racism and xenophobia that run deep throughout the United States while championing his voters’ side in the culture war, allowing them to feel recognized and validated.
But after Trump’s four years in the White House, it’s fair to ask how could 74 million people have voted to re-elect this guy? He didn’t do a single thing to help the people who love him. He didn’t bring back mining jobs and manufacturing jobs. He didn’t improve anyone’s healthcare. He didn’t build a wall paid for by Mexico or anyone else. And he totally mismanaged a pandemic which cost hundreds of thousands of his supporters their businesses and their jobs, and tens of thousands more their lives. How is it possible that this record of incompetence was rewarded with 74 million votes for re-election?
Because his voters don’t care about policy or competence. They care that he hates the same people that they hate — including Ted Cruz.
Trump’s appeal to his voters has nothing to do with populism or policy or competence. His appeal exists beyond the logic of policy or politics. It exists in the realm of feelings. Trumpism is an emotional planet that orbits around Donald Trump’s star. Trump’s fans internalize their support for him, and perceive even a mild rebuke of him or his actions as an attack on them. Trump’s basic message to his voters is: “I love you. You love me. We all hate the same people.” Trump’s embrace of resentment politics makes him the messenger of his supporters who are consumed with their own resentments. They see his message as “I’m suffering for you.” This is profound. Suffering consolidates and strengthens belief. It gives the Trump political project the shape of a religious movement. Religions require their followers to believe fantastic things that can’t possibly be true. Trump’s followers are predisposed to this kind of thinking. Trump’s claims that he won the election, that some conspiracy rigged the election against him, don’t seem farfetched to his voters. They genuinely believe he won the election. There’s no way to break this connection between Trump and the majority of Republicans — the 74 million Americans who voted to re-elect him.
Trumpism is not a garland of public policy proposals that any other Republican can drape around his or her neck. It’s more complex than a personality trait or a talent for saying mean things on Twitter. Trumpism is an emotion, a feeling, that can’t be transferred by Trump to another, or taken away from him by a political rival.
Donald Trump may have left the White House, and been tossed off Twitter, but those who love him have nowhere else to go and won’t abandon him for Josh Hawley or Nikki Haley — for anyone. Donald Trump and his 74 million will be around next month, next year, next election, and the one after that.
