The most dangerous thing in American politics today is Trump’s Base — the MAGA-hatted true believers who are probably America’s single biggest voting bloc.
Trump did not create the Base. He did not indoctrinate the Base. The Base is a creation formed over the decades by politicians and their billionaire allies.
Before it was the Base, it was the Tea Party. Before that, it was the Moral Majority.
Its members come from all walks of life, and every state of the Union. They are a collection of neo-confederates, white supremists, racists, Incels and average Americans; they have a myriad of beliefs, desires, and needs, but one thing unites them. One thing forged them into the huge voting bloc they are today.
They are the minions of the Message.
The Message is simple and direct.
“The Nation has been ruined, and it’s all because of ‘X’!”
“X” has been redefined several times over the years. It has been blacks, commies, hippies and feminists. Currently it contains libtards, immigrants, trannies and the woke. So long as the list does not contradict itself, then anyone not a part of the list can find someone they hate, and whom they can blame for their situation — and decades of wealth inequality, low wages, and envy have made sure we are all in a poor situation.
Trump, as I said, did not create the Base. He was not the first to use it. Nixon used it when he made comments about ‘welfare queens’ and Willie Horton. Joe McCarthy used it before him, finding commies everywhere. Politicians have for years employed dog whistles and code words to attract the Base to their service.
What Trump did was take control of it — and he did it by using a bullhorn instead of a dog whistle. He said the N- word. He called out Mexicans by name, and called a reporter a cripple. The Base heard him and saw a hero — someone not afraid to label himself as One of Them, someone who would do more than timidly whisper a code word and never follow up on it. The other Republicans were all cowards, fakers, and losers — Trump was the Real Deal. He continues to be because he never surrenders. His denials of guilt, denials of loss, and endless accusations tell the base that he is strong, still on their side, still willing to fight for them. They don’t care that he’s a crook — they’re all crooks in the eyes of the Base. He’s THEIR crook — the one willing to save them. That’s enough for them. And that’s why Trump keeps on posting hate and fear — if he compromises, he becomes just another loser to the Base, and they will abandon him.
The Base is not going to go away. That’s the real threat. If Trump falls, they will find another. Looking forward to 2027, I foresee a clever 30 something Republican with little baggage standing at a podium shouting that he will save America from its internal enemies — and using Trump’s formula of frank talk to win the election and become the dictator that Trump can only dream about. That is the real threat to American democracy.
So, how do we prevent this?
Leftists and scholars have tried to attack the Message. They have argued that the nation is NOT ruined — which hasn’t worked because of all the misery to be found here. They have argued that it is NOT the fault of the current “X” — which hasn’t worked because people WANT to believe that someone is at fault. If someone is at fault, then getting rid of that someone solves the problem. If the problem is economic forces or international trade imbalances, how do you fight THEM?
The only way to defang the Base is to redefine “X”. Convince the Base that their problems are not caused by trannies and libtards, but by billionaires and their obedient minions in government. This would be an easy sell, since in many ways its true, but the Base is not going to listen to a leftist telling them its not the Left that’s the problem.
The solution, strange to say, might just be Trump.
The Base loves their conspiracy theories. Their hero, Trump, has fallen on bad times. Prove that the billionaires are behind Trump’s fall, that they have worked to discredit him so as to get their own man into the White House, and the Base will turn on them.
And they way to do that might just be ivermectin.
Up until he told America to use horse dewormer and bleach to cure COVID, Trump could do no wrong. Insults and criticisms bounced off him. It was the ivermectin recommendation that made the first Trumpers go “wut?”
Who told Trump about ivermectin?
It’s an obscure drug known only to horse owners and veterinarians. Trump is neither. Someone wrote those things into a speech and handed it to Trump to read. Someone who did not have Trump’s best interests at heart. Push that theory — the Traitor in the Ranks — and maybe it will result in enough clout to argue the Base leftward.
