Trump also represents a pretty impressive combination of horrible, charismatic, and authentic.
He is truly, truly horrible. He embodies the ugliness that a lot of people see in the world and in themselves, and is willing to cause harm to the world around him in a way that they wish they could.
He is, in his own utterly fucked up way, charismatic. He’s eager to aggressively beclown himself for applause and to sell his poison in a way that Stephen Miller or Ron DeSantis couldn’t match.
He’s authentically awful. Every word he says serves his own corrupt enrichment and aggrandizement, and he makes no secret of that, even when telling lies. When he’s lying, he’s obviously lying. When he’s stupid, he’s authentically stupid, not pretending.
Voters are very sensitive to all three of those categories, and they can tell when someone isn’t entirely any one of them. Trump is the rare beast to max out all three.
None of them had a 14-year propaganda campaign to convince Americans that they’re “good at business.”
Trump also represents a pretty impressive combination of horrible, charismatic, and authentic.
He is truly, truly horrible. He embodies the ugliness that a lot of people see in the world and in themselves, and is willing to cause harm to the world around him in a way that they wish they could.
He is, in his own utterly fucked up way, charismatic. He’s eager to aggressively beclown himself for applause and to sell his poison in a way that Stephen Miller or Ron DeSantis couldn’t match.
He’s authentically awful. Every word he says serves his own corrupt enrichment and aggrandizement, and he makes no secret of that, even when telling lies. When he’s lying, he’s obviously lying. When he’s stupid, he’s authentically stupid, not pretending.
Voters are very sensitive to all three of those categories, and they can tell when someone isn’t entirely any one of them. Trump is the rare beast to max out all three.