Being raised in the Bible Belt of Appalachia, I thought I sort of understood the attraction of Trumpism. Donald Trump’s rallies were similar to NASCAR entertainment, but not exactly. The chaos of the car wrecks was there, but none of the watching winners actually win. I could not quite figure out the intensity of the crowds, the garb, the hats, the flags, etc. After arguing for the past five years with my Trump-supporting friends and family, I had pretty much given up hope of understanding the appeal of someone like Trump.
I think I finally found an answer to this con game from my childhood. Every summer, we had two big circus-type tents come to our small town. One was a movable roller-skating rink built up under the tent. You could rent skates each night and skate around in a circle with other kids to music. The other big tent event was always a church revival. A roving preacher would come to town for a week or two, preaching the gospel and generally revving up the religious fervor of a crowd already sold on Christianity. Many folks came every night, if the preacher was a good speaker. They wanted their beliefs reconfirmed by the preacher, fellow congregants, the singing and generally the excitement the crowd. The preacher was not making new converts in a Bible Belt full of Christians, he was confirming their already strong beliefs.
I think Trump is like this old-time preacher. He tells his enthusiastic crowd it’s OK to believe what they already firmly believed. He re-enforces the belief that many of his crowd’s woes are caused by others — i.e., immigrants have taken their factory jobs, or bring crime and disease. They believed already that big government steals their wages and gives this money to those too lazy to work. Coal jobs were taken by tree-huggers. Big bankers robbed them when they were tricked into taking out mortgages they could not afford, therefore losing their homes.
The gospel according to “St. Donald” preaches only he can make things right. For the true believers, this is not about politics, it’s about religion-like beliefs. To admit this Trumpian gospel is based on lies would be like denying one’s own religion. This leads us to two truths. One, those true believers in the Trump gospel will not be converted by reason. Two, those who have discovered the preacher’s lies and no longer follow the gospel of Trump will be labeled as heretics and purged, i.e., Rep. Liz Cheney, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, etc.
— Gordon Bowen
Homer
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