Why Republican voters say there’s ‘no way in [you know what]’ Trump lost

[essentialsaltes]

Tales from Trump country.

Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.

Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a “reactionary” force of about three dozen - including Fryar and his son, Caleb - who conduct firearms training

“If President Trump comes out and says: ‘Guys, I have irrefutable proof of fraud, the courts won’t listen, and I’m now calling on Americans to take up arms,’ we would go,” said Fryar

In Reuters interviews with 50 Trump voters, all said they believed the election was rigged or in some way illegitimate.

Many voters interviewed by Reuters said they formed their opinions by watching emergent right-wing media outlets such as Newsmax and One American News Network that have amplified Trump’s fraud claims.

In Sundown, Texas, Mayor Jonathan Strickland said there’s “no way in [you know what]” Biden won fairly. The only way he’ll believe it, he said, is if Trump himself says so.

“Trump is the only one we’ve been able to trust for the last four years,” said Strickland, an oilfield production engineer. “As far as the civil war goes, I don’t think it’s off the table.”

Asked whether Trump might be duping his followers, he said it’s hard to fathom.

“If I’m being manipulated by Trump ... then he is the greatest con man that ever lived in America,” Caleb Fryar said.

 

[Brightmoon]

Wouldn’t touch that ‘greatest con man’ line with a 10 foot pole .

 

[Yttrium]

“If I’m being manipulated by Trump ... then he is the greatest con man that ever lived in America,” Caleb Fryar said.

Could be. Or maybe Caleb's just more gullible than he thinks he is. But Trump is a very good con man.

 

[JackRT]

And so a nation destroys itself.

 

[Paulos23]

That is scary, but not unexpected. I knew the fake news stories in 2016 were trouble, and here is their logical conclusion: People believing conspiracy instead of facts and willing to go to war over it.

 

[dzheremi]

I guess it wouldn't be much of an article if it just said "Because they're gullible and will believe anything that fits with their preconceived notions of how bad 'the other side' is. The end."

 

[Goonie]

And if Trump succeeds in getting legislatures to ignore the vote, and appoint trump electors, the USA will be in civil war territory as one side will realise that there is now no possibility of a peaceful transition of power.

 

[hedrick]

And if Trump succeeds in getting legislatures to ignore the vote, and appoint trump electors, the USA will be in civil war territory as one side will realise that there is now no possibility of a peaceful transition of power.

It won’t happen. However it’s hard to guess what might happen in the next election.

 

[Goonie]

It won’t happen. However it’s hard to guess what might happen in the next election.

It's 2020, in still wondering wheres the asteroid.

 

[Nithavela]

Wouldn’t touch that ‘greatest con man’ line with a 10 foot pole .

Personally I think the greatest con man is the founder of scientology.

 

[A_Thinker]

And if Trump succeeds in getting legislatures to ignore the vote, and appoint trump electors, the USA will be in civil war territory as one side will realise that there is now no possibility of a peaceful transition of power.

Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Georgia are all preparing to certify that Biden won their states. Trump would have to convince 3 of the 5 not to do so ... to have any chance of doing what you suggest ...

 

[JackRT]

What we have here is a petulant child who has realized that his toy is about to be taken away.

 

[hedrick]

What we have here is a petulant child who has realized that his toy is about to be taken away.

That's not the problem. We have a large chunk of the population that believes conspiracy theories, and half our national leadership who wants to take political advantage of that. This is the kind of situation that in other countries has led to dictatoratorships. 20 years ago I would have thought any serious prospect of that in the US was absurd. I'm no longer so sure. Many CF contributors would be happy to forget elections (claiming, of course, that the elections are fake news) and make Trump the ruler. I'm afraid they speak for many others.

Maybe having Trump out of power for 4 years will improve things, but this has been going on for longer than that. How many people believed that Obama wasn't a US citizen?

 

[hedrick]

One worry is that although the current secretaries of state seem determined to do the right thing, there is strong Republican opposition to them in several states. All we need is a Trumpite as a secretary of state, and the next election could be a very different matter than this one.

 

[Brightmoon]

Personally I think the greatest con man is the founder of scientology.

you’re probably right . Scientology supporters still believe in L Ron’s stuff. More than half the country doesn’t accept trump’s nonsense

 

[dzheremi]

you’re probably right . Scientology supporters still believe in L Ron’s stuff. More than half the country doesn’t accept trump’s nonsense

Maybe President Trump should leave so that his supporters can have hope that he'll come back at some point in future, as L. Ron Hubbard's supporters believe about him.

I mean, sure, that kind of invites comparisons between Trump and Jesus, but it's not like that's all that far off considering the level of unwavering devotion the most hardcore of Trump supporters have to him, and their taking every single thing he says as though it's gospel straight from the mouth of God Himself.

 

[Brightmoon]

That’s scary !

 

[JackRT]

Maybe President Trump should leave so that his supporters can have hope that he'll come back at some point in future, as L. Ron Hubbard's supporters believe about him.

I mean, sure, that kind of invites comparisons between Trump and Jesus, but it's not like that's all that far off considering the level of unwavering devotion the most hardcore of Trump supporters have to him, and their taking every single thing he says as though it's gospel straight from the mouth of God Himself.

The hardcore followers of Trump show all the signs of cult behaviour.

 

[hedrick]

The hardcore followers of Trump show all the signs of cult behaviour.

Sure. But they're not the ones that bother me. The ones that bother me are the 70% of Republicans that don't think Biden won. They're not all cultists.

 

[dzheremi]

Sure. But they're not the ones that bother me. The ones that bother me are the 70% of Republicans that don't think Biden won. They're not all cultists.

If they're listening to the purveyors of conspiracies and believing them not any less than the cultists, this seems to be a distinction without a difference, as it produces the same result: 'My guy' can't have lost, so there must be something wrong here. There's no other explanation!