Why Trump supporters stick with him

Why Trump supporters? Trump denies climate change, is a raging psychopath, hates a free press and is hell-bent on destroying our democracy.

I’ve had difficulty trying to understand why so many, apparently reasonable, decent people – including many in my family – support a man who is working to undermine the Bill of Rights, the law, a free press and our democracy?

Maybe my view below has been obvious to most Americans on the middle and left of the spectrum for four years but here’s my attempt to try and explain this.

Yes, some of his base are racists and they do hate the “others,” but Trump, even though grossly ignorant in many ways, saw an opportunity to gain and keep power.

How? By promising that he’ll bring back a world that doesn’t exist and maybe never did exist. That was the status quo where earth-shaking changes shouldn’t exist.

Millions of his base see a world in the 21st century that no longer fits their worldview. That country was where Christianity was dominant, where gays and lesbians stayed quiet and hidden, where African Americans faced the reality of being treated as second-class citizens and where America was the unchallenged social, political and military power in the world.

This base also believed that they lived in a world where the male was the head of the household and where women stayed in the home to raise families and never thought about having a career in the marketplace.

But reality is not what they believe. Reality is a world where they are unwilling to adjust to.

This is our new world: l. Global climate change is real and solving it would mean great sacrifice, a sacrifice like negative population growth and giving up much of our lifestyles, which we are unwilling to accept.

2. People of color here and around the world are the majority and whites are now a minority. Trump’s supporters know this is true but they hang on to some fantasy that Trump will somehow change that.

3. People who are not straight are willing to stand up and step out of the shadows and demand equality and justice.

4. People of color in the United States are going to fight for liberty, justice and equal opportunities no matter what it takes. They will no longer fear the continuing attempts by white people to suppress them. His base even supports voter suppression if that means that the votes of minorities will be minimized.

5. His base is jealous of well-educated multilingual people whether born here or who have come from other countries. They are usually financially and socially successful and that angers his base.

6. Republican politicians and many in his base scorn higher education and support less funding for college and universities so they won’t feel socially inferior.

7. They are troubled in this 21st-century world where whites are the minority and where the percentage of conservative Christians in the U.S. and around the world is becoming smaller. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions and over 20 percent of Americans now say they have no religious connection and/ or are atheists or agnostics.

We all are aware that his slogan “Make America Great Again” is a code for “Make American Christian and White Again.” This clash of reality versus a wish for a past that no longer exists is the defining issue of our country. This is what disturbs them.