Donald Trump recently said he wanted to become a “dictator for a day” – just one of many statements that lead opponents to use the term fascism. Robert Reich, former labor secretary, as well as Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the centrist magazine The Atlantic, warned that Trump and his followers wanted to damage democracy or even abolish it. And Trump recently angered many Europeans by saying that Russia should attack countries that did not make their financial contribution to NATO. His supporters are enthusiastic wherever Trump expresses such views. But the election cannot only be won with fanatical “Make America great again” fans. As in 2016, the fact that Trump now has good poll numbers again is also thanks to voters who are not his typical supporters. Recently, for example, more Americans with college degrees said they planned to vote for Trump. After the 2022 midterm elections, they deserted him en masse. 62 percent of Republican voters now support Trump – and 60 percent of conservatives who have a college degree.
Trump's numerous accusations apparently cannot affect him – and the memory of his supporters' attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 no longer seems to play a major role. The date was almost four years ago, Republican Trump opponent Mitt Romney told the New York Times at the beginning of January – people had now “processed” the unrest incited by the election loser. Romney warned: “As a campaign theme for Biden, the argument of danger to democracy is a flop.” As in 2016, there are increasing signs that so-called “moderate” Republicans will also vote for Trump. Many trust Trump to be the most likely to defeat President Joe Biden. They see their own interests as best served by the Republican Party, even if they are not Trump fans wearing “MAGA” hats.
One such voter is Rosie Brown, who lives in suburban California and raised “four left-liberal daughters.” Brown doesn't believe Joe Biden “stole” the 2020 election, as Trump says. The retired librarian also gets information from other media outlets besides Fox News. She doesn't think many of the things Trump is announcing are right – but she also doesn't believe he will implement them. Brown thinks that Trump actually doesn't want to get out of NATO – calling on Putin to invade European countries is pure rhetoric. Trump simply speaks differently than one is used to from traditional politicians. He probably wanted to scare the Europeans into spending more money on defense. Brown found the riots on January 6th “terrible” – but Trump had nothing to do with it.
#Classic #conservatives #vote #Donald #Trump