I’m am very strongly opposed to Trump and was sick to my stomach when I saw the election results showing he was clearly going to win. However, the OP asked what motivates a person to vote for Trump, so I’ll address that.
First of all, his competition. It was a mistake, and I said so at the time, to get Pres. Biden to back down. We should have strongly supported him, got him reelected and then provided whatever assistance he may have needed. Instead we put up a candidate who was clearly second string. Most VP’s, when they run for pres., don’t have much to show for accomplishments, but Harris had less than most. She also had very little time to campaign. So part of the answer of why people voted for Trump is that his opponent didn’t seem to have much going for her. I think the decision to push Biden out of the way is going to adversely affect the Democratic party for a long time.
As for Trump himself, look at it from the perspective of a low income person. During Trump’s time in office, a couple of the years, we had wage increase which exceeded inflation, which is rare. Inflation was under control. Under Biden we had the highest inflation since the ’70’s; the combined inflation of two consecutive years was 15.4%. That hurt a lot of people. Interest rates increased. The interest on my Mom’s HELOC went from 2.74% to 7.99%. Just out of interest (and because I like math 🙂) I figured out what the increase in annual income would have to be for a person to qualify to buy a $250,000 home. They would have to earn $80,000 more during Pres. Biden’s last year, than they would have during Trumps time in office. That’s not because of increasing house prices; it’s because of increased interest rates. Those are pretty objective observations.
Ironically, the only two things I give Trump credit for are not of much interest to those who voted for him. One was the Abraham Accords, and the other was the stunning success of Operation Warp Speed.
As for the other issues, it’s important to keep in mind the difference between perception and reality. The perception is that allowing 4X as many immigrants into the country is going to make it more difficult for an American to get a job (the reality is that the immigrants people are concerned about generally take the jobs Americans don’t want, and illegal immigrants work for well below minimum wages, keeping the price of produce down). But the belief is, they are competition.
When you have no money and live hand to mouth, the primary basis of your decision is going to be what’s most likely to keep food on your table and a roof over your family’s head.
I saw an interesting exit poll poll done after his first victory, against H. Clinton. It clarified some questions I had about why people voted for him back then. People who felt their lives were going well, voted for the entrenched politician, Hillary. Those who felt things hadn’t been going well, voted for the political outsider. Those who thought the future looked good, voted for Hillary, the status quo. Those who weren’t so positive about the future voted for the new guy.
As for his sexual exploits, one only has to go back to B. Clinton to silence that argument.
Trump also _appears__ as a strong leader, something Pres. Biden, and certainly Harris didn’t.
I’m very concerned about the next four years, not so much for how much damage he will cause within the US, but how much more damage he will do to the US reputation internationally. But the question was why would someone vote for him.
