this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
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The liberal framework cannot explain why millions of people support Trump because it refuses to acknowledge that capitalism itself generates such movements.
This is why we see liberals using increasingly mystical language (cult). Liberals reduce the Trump phenomenon to irrational devotion to a demagogue, framing it as a psychological or cultural pathology rather than a political response to material conditions. This obscures the fact that Trump's base is not a brainwashed sect but a coalition of reactionary class forces—primarily the petty bourgeoisie, sections of the labor aristocracy, and segments of the bourgeoisie itself—whose interests align with right-wing populism in the face of capitalist crisis.
By calling it a "cult," liberals dismiss the genuine (if misguided) grievances of workers who have been destroyed by neoliberalism.
I don’t disagree that this kind of language is unhelpful. The quickest way to turn someone off is to attack them. However, this isn’t a response to conditions. Because if it were the people voting for Trump should realize he is not now nor ever going to help them economically. Just today he said he doesn’t care if car prices go up. He doesn’t buy cars. He has no clue what ordinary financial hardships people face. Hell he thought you had to show ID to buy groceries. What Trumps popularity is is a tribal reaction. Trump has turned it into an us vs. them and the right is eating it up. They want to believe the ills they feel are someone else’s fault. Whether it’s trans, brown, or black people. It’s not a white Cristian’s fault. When in reality it really is someone else’s fault, just not the someone else they are being to lied to about. As soon as the majority of people realize this is all about class, rich vs. poor (well at least not rich), greedy billionaires vs every one else, that’s when the shit is going to hit the fan. Of course since the rich own all of the media, they may never realize.
I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Just because a response to changing conditions is irrational doesn't mean it is not a response to changing conditions. It seems like you're arguing that Trump supporters give their support to Trump because they think he will ruin the economy, but that's obviously not the case. One of the Trump camp's main arguments is his economic aptitude (whether or not you believe that is complete bullshit). The undeniable reality is that Trump supporters truly believe he is going to save the economy even if you (perhaps rightly) think tariffs are going to cause massive damage.