Photo by kellybdc | CC BY 2.0
Donald Trump’s many critics like to note that he has been struggling with epically low approval ratings – in the middle and high 30s for the most part – across most of his presidency. That is hardly surprising, given Boss Tweet’s relentlessly un-presidential behavior, which helps make a laughingstock out of the United States.
The Insane Clown President’s idiotic and offensive conduct has been so bad that one must wonder how he has managed to retain a durable base of support amongst the 33-39% who regularly tell pollsters that they approve of his job performance. The unshakeable durability of the Trump base seems like evidence in support of candidate Trump’s infamous statement that he could go out onto Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and still not lose any of his core supporters.
What’s the resilience and robustness of Trump’s base all about? It’ reflects a combination of at least eight overlapping and interrelated, mutually reinforcing factors. One is that Trump’s virulent white nationalism resonates with a significant part of the white populace. The Caucasian “heartland” has for many decades been hearing that Black welfare cheats, job-stealing Latino immigrants, and criminal Black and Latino gangbangers have been sucking the nation dry and demoralizing its values and purity with the help of fancy and pampered big city and bi-coastal middle- and upper-class liberals and leftists. It’s nothing new, really….