A question routinely asked by those who don’t like Donald Trump is why his supporters continue their support.
The answer is often that Trump doesn’t hold back, he “tells it like it is.”
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Donald Trump is by no means a polished speaker, rather, he has long been known for a style that could be best described as an “in-your-face verbal assault.”
Trump’s meteoric rise shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone.
American politics was slowly moved in that direction, not by the politicians but rather by a new wave of loud-mouthed political pundits.
Rush Limbaugh rose to superstardom among conservatives largely by telling it like it is to his loyal listeners. Today, the mantle has been passed to the likes of Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, whose shows arguably help divide the country.
Likewise, Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert do a fine job of disparaging conservatives, contributing to the divide. While Carlson has a background as a political journalist, Hannity began his career essentially as a radio shock jock, and Maher and Colbert are just opinionated comedians.
Donald Trump: Where Politics Ends, Entertainment Begins
The line between political discord and entertainment has blurred significantly in the past two decades. There was a time when political junkies had only Sunday morning to hear pundits and politicians offer their opinions on the state of the nation and international affairs. Those who routinely were in the hot seats were seasoned political commentators, not merely opinioned loudmouths.
Talk radio, followed by cable news, and now late-night TV has made it so that everything is political all the time. It is no wonder we’re so divided because those with little to no political background on the issue are allowed to share their opinions as educated facts.
That suited Donald Trump quite well.
He played into it better than nearly any other candidate in 2016, while Trump also relied on social media to offer a near real-time stream of his thoughts. That certainly resonated with some voters as he said what many were thinking.
Yet, Trump’s big mouth has long been seen as his undoing. A number of businesses cut ties with him for some of the outrageous comments he’s made over the years. More importantly, we now live in an era where every statement made by elected officials is put under scrutiny.
During his term as President of the United States, Donald Trump also made tens of thousands of false or misleading claims. According to The Washington Post’s fact-checkers, there were 30,573 statements made by Trump – an average of about 21 per day by the end of his presidency – that weren’t true.
Falsehood Propaganda
Trump’s use of the “fire hose of falsehood propaganda” technique has been described as “unprecedented” in American politics.
Yet, he has simply denied having made any false or controversial statements. Among these was the false claim that there had been massive election fraud and that he had won the 2020 election.
As a result, some have questioned his mental fitness.
Even before the “big lie” of 2020, The Atlantic ran a piece titled, “Is Something Neurologically Wrong with Donald Trump?” While it acknowledged it is best not to diagnose the then-president from afar, it called for the federal government to establish a system to evaluate those who occupy the Oval Office. The 2018 article noted that President Trump had bragged via a tweet about the size of his “nuclear button” compared with that of North Korea.
While not a lie, it was still a good example of the nonsense that no elected official should ever tweet about. It was just one of many actions the president made that brought his mental health into question.
“Trump’s grandiosity and impulsivity have made him a constant subject of speculation among those concerned with his mental health,” wrote James Hamblin.
However, it may not be an actual mental issue – apart from ego.
Donald Trump is known to have a massive ego, and can’t accept being a loser. In his mind, there is nothing worse. Those who were close to the former president following the 2020 election suggested he became unhinged by his defeat to the point it nearly consumed him. It hasn’t gotten better since he announced his intention to run for president again.
The truth is that Trump’s big mouth will continue to be his undoing.
Were Donald Trump actually able to stick to the script and stay on message, he likely could be a serious political force. Unfortunately for him, he can’t do that and it will be his downfall. Of course, it could be added that were Trump to be a bit more polished, he likely wouldn’t have been so popular in the first place.
It is also important to note that Donald Trump didn’t divide America; he was the result of our deep divisions. Now that the country is so fractured, and our political system is so nearly broken that it is clear Trump would do little to mend it. He thinks about only Donald Trump and making his legacy great again… not the country.
Author Experience and Expertise: A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
