I've Traveled Across the Country to Attend Trump Rallies

Saturday, September 14, 2024

Jen Golbeck: Here's What You Won't See On TV. The real action takes place while everyone is waiting for the rally to start, not during the actual speech.

Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 10:31 PM | 14 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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FTA:

Almost everyone wants to talk about 2016 and how they'd been waiting for someone like Trump to come along with the guts to say what they were thinking but they weren't "allowed" to say out loud. "Is he an -------? Sure. But he's our -------," one man emphatically told me, and those around him nodded in agreement. They love that Trump created a space to speak their minds, which, in many cases, means being able to spout racist, sexist, hate speech that was all but forbidden in public life just a decade ago.

These individuals fully embrace the former president's crass, offensive, disrespectful way of speaking, and imitate it, too. The mainstream media does not show the obscenity and profanity of these rallies, but it is everywhere and, for me, a defining characteristic of these events.

"---- BIDEN" flags are still for sale from most vendors (even though Joe Biden dropped out of the race weeks ago) and appear on cars across the parking lots near the venues. Families wear matching T-shirts reading, "The Hoe is worse than Joe." Kids wander around in "No more --------" visors with fake Trump hair attached, and browse bumper stickers that read, "I like big ----- and small government," or show a naked woman's torso with pistols resting on her hard ------- and the slogan "I

#1 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2024-09-13 08:35 PM | Reply

Don't get tanked at the tailgate, you'll miss the game.

#2 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2024-09-13 08:39 PM | Reply

Sorry, the quote got cut off, but that's all the site would let me copy & paste, but you can go there and read for yourself.

Yeah, isn't America going to be so much better when the Republicans take over and kill off woke culture?

#3 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2024-09-13 08:40 PM | Reply

Great reporting, and thanks for posting this, Gal. So much stuff in there. These two stuck out for me:

"No one I talk to believes there will be a peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses the election in November. Lots of people mention "civil war" (though no one volunteers to fight it), "civil unrest," or "the end of America as we know it" and "the fall of the American empire."

"The conversations I've had over the last three months have made it clear to me that there is a large, unified movement committed to the destruction of American democracy."

There is no doubt about either of those statements. I've heard the first one multiple times. I had two incidents the past couple of months where Trumpers told me that January 20th they're coming for me. I've also had friends that I've known for many years but support Trump tell me they're going to protect me and take me in when the Civil war starts - even though I'm not one of them.

The second one is the effect of what the MAGA folks want - but they don't understand that they're calling for the destruction of our Republic. They believe democracy is not getting them what they want - and Trump wants what they want and he won't bother with all the messy "democracy" stuff. I'm not sure they've figured out they''re calling for a fascist/White National Christianity/ Authoritarian government or maybe they just don't care.

#4 | Posted by YAV at 2024-09-13 09:03 PM | Reply

@#4 ... They believe democracy is not getting them what they want ...

Maybe because the billionaires that control fmr Pres Trump and Sen Vance want to soak the American worker for all they are worth to them.

#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-09-13 09:14 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

"I had two incidents the past couple of months where Trumpers told me that January 20th they're coming for me. I've also had friends that I've known for many years but support Trump tell me they're going to protect me and take me in when the Civil war starts - even though I'm not one of them."

Wow.

If Trump regains power what we are probably going to get is some combination of Orban's Hungary and Putin's Russia with Trump in the role of dictator and head oligarch. There will be fake elections, state run media and political prisoners. The SC's ruling on presidential immunity has green lit all of these undemocratic actions because if the president does them it won't be against the law.

#6 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2024-09-13 09:22 PM | Reply

Pushing The Limits
@PTLRadioShow
Trump supporter in Vegas today claims that "not only Haitian immigrants are eating pets, but they're also eating human beings"
x.com

#7 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2024-09-13 10:17 PM | Reply

@4 Yav Or maybe that's what they think they want. These seem to be people that believe or want to believe that white, Christian males are superior to POC, Jews, Muslims, women and they're terrified that they will no longer be the head MFC's. They believe that they're the smartest and most deserving. What they don't realize that after all the women, POC, non-Christian religious people lose their freedom, they're next.

#8 | Posted by Ronnie68 at 2024-09-14 10:50 PM | Reply

I read the article. That's some scary ------. They live in an alternate universe with no sense of reality or what actual American patriotism is.

Odds are some of them will justify committing violence. Again.

#9 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2024-09-14 10:54 PM | Reply

Now that, is frightening.

#10 | Posted by kmtahir2023 at 2024-09-15 06:58 AM | Reply

Been everywhere, like ol' Johnny Cash - youtu.be

#11 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2024-09-15 07:03 AM | Reply

Odds are some of them will justify committing violence. Again.

#9 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY

Except most of them are cowards.

I know quite a few activist liberals who protest and engage in civil disobedience. They know what the risks are and are willing to accept the consequences to make their point.

Conservatives from Jan 6 just assumed there would not be consequences. And are so angry that there was. They do not believe strongly enough in their cause to be willing to believe any consequences are worth it. Because their "cause" is really just self centeredness.

#12 | Posted by gtbritishskull at 2024-09-15 09:02 AM | Reply

Because their "cause" is really just self centeredness.

I've recently noticed that the only things Republicans are usually for usually regards legislation and policy that benefits themselves and those like them involved in their political processes, too often at the expense of those outside their political sphere's liberty, welfare and opportunity.

And most of their criticisms of Democrats revolve around the things they do to help those outside the political process, including many who don't have the luxury of political involvement because they're enmeshed in simply trying to thrive, survive, and prosper in a world largely stacked against them by the very people Republicans bend over backwards to use governmental policies and laws to help even further.

#13 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-09-15 09:21 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Each rally is a Nuremburg-inspired spectacle crafted to dull the intellect and build a feeling of bonhomie among the attendees that accentuates the "us against everyone else" mood. Entertainment and other messages help attendees feel especially "patriotic" but with a corrupt definition of the concept. Not a concept that encourages First Amendment rights, and national unity, but one that emphasizes messages of exclusion, replacement theory, Christian nationalism, gun mania, and xenophobia. Trump's fascist role models would be pleased.

#14 | Posted by Augustine at 2024-09-15 03:29 PM | Reply