Trump cult

To the Editor:

I have hired many caregivers over the years. It has given me a window into the political and cultural beliefs of their ilk.

There is a large subculture of loyal, mostly white Trumpsters, who don't read newspapers, follow hard-right websites, crackpot conspiracy theories, hold Trump rallies, don't wear masks, gun enthusiasts, antivaxxers. Some of them are social media friends.

Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana, shared a keen insight into the Trump cult: “It gives them a sense of belonging.”

Growing numbers of Trump supporters are switching from Fox News to hard right-wing channels, such as Newsmax and One American News, or OAN. Youtube briefly suspended OAN for violating its misinformation policy for COVID-19 fake information. Newsmax is waging war against Fox News from the right, courting Fox viewers with election denialism.

The Qanon conspiracy purports America is run by a cabal of pedophiles and Satan workers who run a global tribal sextrafficking operation and only Trump can stop them. News spread recently over local social media that pedophiles are looking for potential children to kidnap at a Sonora shopping center. Believers shared photos of friends driving pickups scouting for them.

Nikki Spahn, organizer of a well-attended Trump rally in Sonora and county streets, told the Union Democrat, “What's going on in the world with COVID, the forcing of vaccinations, the legalizing of pedophilia and abortion.”

I'd like to think most Republicans are not enamored with Trump but can't bear to vote for a Democrat. I was a county government reporter for the Union Democrat and worked with standup Republicans, such as Jeff Sargo, Mike Albrecht, Charlotte Ginn, Dick Nutting, David Wynne, Larry Rotelli, and Dick Pland.

I long for the day when Republicans return to fact-based evidence where cooler heads prevail.

Robert Dorroh Sonora