Unraveling The Trump Phenomenon, With Surprising Results

Like many people, I have been trying to figure out the Trump phenomenon. Also like many people, I have been assuming there are a lot of people who are fearful or hateful of others that were afraid to show it before. That Trumps dropping political correctness was empowering people to outwardly show the hate they have been secretly hiding, or even that Trumps rhetoric has caused people become hateful.

Almost everyone I know personally has at least one family member who is a Trump supporter. A few of my own family members, but not all, have been Trump supporters for some time.

I found it upsetting, even baffling, that my family, who I know love me, could possibly back a candidate that literally said he wanted to ban me from entering my own country . They even started parroting anti-Muslim rhetoric, often in my presence, claiming me as the exception .

Outside of my family, I have encountered many people who could not be more nice and caring but were also Trump supporters - people in the fields of naturopathy, homeopathy, energy healing, and even Law of Attraction. It blew my mind that people talking about natural healing or humanity being aligned with one source could also be filled with fear and hate of others.

After the second debate, the last of my family members were completely pro-Trump, with the exception of one undecided... but not yet ruling him out.

That was a come to Jesus moment for me.

Right then I realized the I had to be looking at this all wrong.

The explanations that all Trump supporters are simply full of hate could not be true because my family has never demonstrated that to be true.

The explanations that all Trump supporters are from a particular economic group could not be true because my family does not fall into only one economic category.

The explanation that all Trump supporters are uneducated could not be true because my family is all over the board on education.

The explanation that all Trump supporters are conservative could not be true because my family has never been particularly conservative. Neither is all my family particularly religious. Christian, yes, but reading the Bible constantly, or going to church every Sunday, is not the norm for the majority of my family.

The explanation that Trump supporters have not traveled or interacted with people from other places could not be true because several members of my family have traveled throughout the United States and to several other countries as well. Most of my family does not even live in the same state, much less the same city, where they were born or raised.

The explanation that Trump supporters white or have no real relationships with people of color or immigrants could not be true because my family has intermarried with immigrants and people of color.

While people I dont know might be crazy, there are people I know who support Trump and I know are not crazy.

So I decided to go on a quest to find the answer.

Such a quest requires separating all the things I think I know and being open to alternative explanations or ideas that may be completely contrary to my belief system what I have been taught or conclusions I have previously made based on my experiences or observations.

I had to start looking at the explanations as irrational and untrue.

I then had to look at the Trump phenomenon as THE rational thought. It was difficult at first, to say the least.

So if I assume people who support Trump are rational (obviously excluding the white-supremacists and some of the other extremists), I had to work backward in the thought process to get to the root of the rationale.

This is what I discovered.

Trump Symbolizes Our Turn

Trump inspires people. He expresses to them exactly how they feel. For the first time, someone vocalizes their struggles as though he understands them, not like he is pandering to them.

After years of feeling forgotten, neglected, betrayed, and robbed, Trump, and only Trump, speaks to them directly. Trump tells them he will make things better. He gives them hope.

Trump makes them believe in possibilities again, possibilities that things could be better for them and their families not just economically, but in every way.

More jobs. More justice. More liberty. Most of all, that their way of life will no longer be under attack from others; that he will get the elites and the political elites in check.

Trump brings up conspiracies and bashes the media almost every time he speaks, and his followers believe him. Not because they are ignorant or uneducated, but because we have been told repeatedly by the news for almost 15 years that conspiracies are everywhere those liberals, elites, media, and the politicians on all levels are conspiring against us.

Every Republican who opposes Trump, or speaks negatively about Trump, is part of the political elite conspiracy - maybe even conspiring with Democrats to protect the elite and prevent the underdog from helping the little people. That is also why Trump was able to beat all the other Republican men (and one woman) in the primaries.

Every media story involving Trump, even the somewhat positive ones, are part of the conspiracy to destroy David against Goliath. The media are basically elites trying to maintain the status quo too.

Every non-political person speaking against Trump, supporting another candidate, or sharing the conspired stories against Trump are either elites trying to protect the status quo or willfully ignorant sheep.

Trump may be elite but he is not a political elite. Now, there is a difference. Trump constantly shows he is not like the political elite in his speeches and actions. Annoying the elites, especially the political elites, is Trumps specialty - Trump supporters love him for it.

While others hear Trump sounding like a potential dictator, Trump supporters hear a man willing to use all his strength and skills against a powerful enemy corrupt politicians intent on continuing their corruption. Trump supporters believe Trump might need to use authoritarian power in order to succeed for them but they dont believe he would ever use it against them.

And even if he did, Trump supporters really do agree they dont have anything to lose by trying something radically different since they feel nothing politicians have done has worked for them over the last decade or more.

At the very least the political elites will get some black eyes along the way.

And thats the true source of Trumps enchantment. Trump gives people hope who are convinced their way of life is under attack or feel they have been robbed of lifes possibilities - that finally, it is their turn to get a lift up.

It doesnt matter what race, what ethnicity, what economic status, what gender, or what level of education. Trump gives them hope that, despite everything, he alone sees and hears their pain - that he truly understands their frustrations and fears.

Most Trump supporters have either never felt a politician really related to them or felt betrayed by politicians they believed in before.

Trump supporters see Trump exactly the same way many people saw Obama Hope and Change.

In fact, for Trump supporters, Trump is the embodiment of most presidential slogans for the past decade:

Hope and Change (Obama) + Country First (McCain) + Government Of, By, and For the People Not the Monied Interests (Nader) + Reformer for Results (Bush) + Prosperity for American Families (Gore) + The Better Man for a Better America (Dole).

Trump supporters defend Trump, no matter what mistakes he makes, not because they have lost their moral compass, but because hes just a regular guy, not a politician. Politicians are polished, fake. Politicians lie about anything and everything to get our vote and then just continue the political elite corruption.

Trump supporters expect (even appreciate) when Trump fumbles just like they would if they were running for president.

Trump is the ultimate underdog in the eyes of Trump supporters a modern David against Goliath.

Its not that hes rich, its that Trump is liberated: beholden to no one and without social restrictions or limitations - just like they dream to be themselves.

Trump supporters are filled with hope and living vicariously through Trump and loving every minute of it.

The ultimate stick it to the man feeling.

Going Forward

Why is this understanding of Trump supporters important? Because on November 9th, someone will lose and a portion of the country will be disappointed with that loss. We have heard about voting for the lessor of two evils in previous elections. We have heard politicians use fear and national security as reasons to vote for candidates before. Even the intense passion for candidates is not new.

What makes this election the most unique is the destruction of relationships based solely on who is voting for which presidential candidate. It goes way beyond blocking and defriending on Facebook . Families are not only disagreeing but cutting off relationships. Comments and accusations are being thrown around that will be difficult, if not impossible, to forgive and forget long after this election is over.