There have been thousands of articles written by now. By pundits, commentators, psychologists, behaviorists, and observers of every stripe: It’s economic stress that animated Donald Trump's support. Or racial animosity. Or the anxiety of this, or that, or what the fuck ever. They may all have been correct, but they’ve all also severely pulled their punches. There’s something more that needs to be said.
Trump supporters are fucking stupid. Sorry (not sorry) if that feels like a cultural elitist licking the third rail, but the evidence is overwhelming.
Sure, they may be overtly or covertly racist, or a toxic mix of clueless, uneducated, gullible, and fearful, too. But they’re also brutally, brutally stupid. “Stupid” in the ugliest form of the word. And they manage to wear that stupidity not just as a badge of honor, but a suit of armor. Intelligence in the form of newly learned and accepted information, presentation of facts or reality, or any most basic and obvious offering of truth that happens to be the mental equivalent of 2 + 2 is simply lost on them. In the world of Trumpers, 2 + 2 = Lock Her Up.
In this alternate universe of ignorance, Trump, a lifelong proven liar, is a truth teller.
In this World of Stupid they can see nothing in Trump’s embarrassing and dangerous responses to the Russia investigation as even the remotest indication of guilt.
Seriously. Every single douche in Trump’s administrative cabal has lied to investigators about connections to Russia, and some are even going to prison for it—but, nah, nothing to see here. It’s all a witch hunt. Or fake news. But whatever it is, Trump definitely didn’t do anything shady, because when have we ever known Trump to do anything shady? Like stiff contractors? Or screw partners? Or hire 70 foreign workers on visas to work at Mar a Lago last year instead of Americans? Or manufacture every one of his signature products in China, or Mexico, or Bangladesh instead of the good ol’ US of A after running on an "America First" platform? Or pay a multi-million dollar lawsuit settlement for defrauding students with his fake university? Or take about a half dozen draft deferrals to chickenshit his way out of military service during the war in Vietnam? Or hire 200 undocumented Polish laborers to work on the construction of Trump Tower? Or pay monstrous and multiple fines for breaking the law while operating casinos? Or violate an antitrust agreement for which the Federal Trade Commission fined him nearly a billion dollars? Or use $55,000 worth of campaign donations to buy his own book in 2016 to goose sales and pocket the money? Or fail to show his tax returns after promising to do so? Or have his own charity shut down because it functioned as a money laundering intermediary? Or violate the Cuba embargo? I can go on and on…you probably get the point. But his supporters won't. They can't. It's weird.
Trump has admitted to obstruction of justice on national television in an interview with Lester Holt (sorry, Trumpers, yes…the words “I fired James Comey because of the Russia investigation” are an admission of obstruction—how much the fuck longer do smart people have to pretend it isn’t?), but his brain addled supporters somehow see not the slightest hint of malfeasance.
Yes, Donald Jr’s acceptance of a meeting with clandestine Kremlinites to ostensibly receive dirt on Hillary from a hostile enemy state is the very definition of collusion. To Trump fans? Well, this just proves Hillary is crooked. Or Obama is Kenyan. Or something.
Trump’s own former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called him a “fucking moron,” yet the Trumpanzees think he’s a genius sent from God.
Trump’s own recently departed economic adviser Gary Cohn described Trump as “dumb as shit.” But the Trumpers think The Donald is playing 3D chess.
One of Trump’s former professors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School was quoted calling Trump “the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.” But his supporters still think Trump has "all the best words," whatever the fuck that means.
More?
Trump and his supporters don’t know the difference between weather and climate.
Trump and his supporters don’t actually know what a trade deficit is.
Trump and his supporters don’t really know what the ACA is, or does.
Trump made a federal case of athletes defaming the National Anthem—then mangled the words himself on national television. Yet his supporters remain unmoved. Trump is the most patriotic American in the history of America, after all. Just ask anyone covering their lobotomy scar with a red MAGA hat.
Neither Trump nor his supporters know what the Iran Nuclear deal is. Or what the Paris Climate Accord is. Or what NAFTA or TPP are. Or that the coal industry isn’t coming back, or why. Or that Trump didn’t save jobs at Carrier or GM. Or that land border-crossers aren’t really a big threat, that we have net zero illegal immigration now (and have for a decade) or that Mexicans have actually cracked the complex theorem of air travel to arrive safely in the US if they really wanted to come here and overstay a visa. Or that Hillary didn’t sell anyone any uranium. Or that all 17 US Intelligence Agencies have concluded with certainty that Russia hacked the 2016 presidential election rather than "some 400 pound guy lying in his bed." Or that Frederick Douglass has been dead for 120+ years. Or that AR-15s are sold in sporting goods stores. Or that Trump didn’t write his own autobiography. Or a bajillion other things.
Trump has said, “I have tremendous respect for women,” and his followers bought it. Because they are perceptive?
Trump has said, “I am the least racist person you’ve ever seen,” and they swallowed it. Because they excel at critical thinking?
Trump called the residents of Iowa “stupid” to their faces, and they applauded and cheered before voting him into office. Because they are smart?
Trump bragged that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose support. And he was right. Because even senile mental brick Donald Trump himself knows that his own supporters are the most willfully ignorant human beings walking the face of the Earth.