Today marks the start of Donald Trump's second state visit to the United Kingdom. He’s being kept away from any large crowds to avoid the planned protests, and hence to avoid damaging his incredibly fragile ego. We all know the whole thing is designed to try and persuade him to lift tariffs, give Britain a slightly better trade ‘deal’, or stop him pulling out of NATO. It certainly isn't because he's popular over here. In my view, we are shaming ourselves by inviting him, but I suppose this is what diplomacy is all about. After all, he was elected in 2024.
The entire Trump phenomenon is a mystery to most people in Europe. How could such a grossly stupid, criminally inclined conman ever become president of the United States? I am sure we've all asked ourselves the same question every time he appears on TV.
The answer to that puzzle is in the minds of MAGA supporters who went to the polls in their millions, twice! A YouTube channel called Comedian Destroys gives an insight into what goes off inside that strange space under the red hats, perhaps showing how Trump won in 2016 and 2024, and why, even now, as he single-handedly dismantles the most powerful nation on earth, he still enjoys the support of around 40% of the voters, well over 60 million Americans.
The channel carries interviews conducted with ordinary MAGA voters (you can tell by the headgear!) at various times during Trump rallies across the USA. I promise that you will be amazed at the responses of what on the surface appears to be functioning adult human beings, if a little OTT in their attire. They are universally incapable of any kind of rational thought.
This one is typical, but there are dozens more:
One man thinks Trump has done so much for ordinary Americans, but can't think of one example on camera, not one. Another believes Trump is a "genius" and a "problem solver."
What emerges from them are some of the daftest comments imaginable. Their utter stupidity and total inability to see how ridiculously contradictory their claims are is just stunning to me. Trump is apparently completely selfless. He has been wrongly pursued by the authorities for years and years and for reasons that are never clearly explained. The justice system is a "joke."
Meanwhile, according to another video, Joe Biden "worships the devil" and is "responsible for child sex trafficking." He apparently deserves the death penalty.
There are at least two instances of people utterly convinced that in California, children can lawfully be aborted up to four weeks AFTER they were born! When pressed, they suggest the interviewer ‘do some research’ as if they themselves have carefully investigated these incredible and wholly without foundation claims.
In this clip, a man literally says, "you can't fight fire with water." Others think Trump is the only man who can avoid WW3, and he alone can "save the world." Illegal immigrants are coming into America to "destroy" it:
The depths of their ignorance and idiocy seem to have no limit. And when asked if Trump could do ANYTHING to lose their vote, the answer is an emphatic NO. In short, even if he was found guilty by a jury of the most heinous crime, they would STILL vote for him!!! Nothing will persuade them he's anything other than the new Messiah.
Why so? The answer to that question can perhaps be found in this article in The New York Times about the Charlie Kirk killing and the “poisonous internet.”
Here's some key points (with added emphasis):
"Today’s internet for most Americans, but especially for those like Mr. Robinson [Kirk's alleged killer], who came of age on social and streaming platforms, is an immeasurably potent vibes machine. One powered by a complex fuel of negative emotions — hatred, rage, hopelessness, nihilism, grievance, cynicism, paranoia, discontent and addiction. It’s a machine more than capable of constructing false realities and corroding our lived experiences.
"Intent, meaning and sincerity are near-valueless concepts in this realm, while things like knowledge, understanding and good faith — critical elements to any healthy public sphere — have been gradually distorted beyond the point of recognition, or abandoned completely.
"To exist in this machine is to exist in a realm dominated by what the writer Anton Jäger termed “hyperpolitics,” for the “low-cost, low-entry” politics with little ties to political institutions or clear political outcomes. To be a young person on large areas of the internet, in other words, is to exist in a state of perpetual conflict, where every action, every event, is coded with political significance, couched in irony or presented in a combative posture, starting from the moment one goes online.
"It’s rapidly driving a generation mad. (And the rest of us, as well.) Governor Cox [Utah governor where Kirk was murdered] made a blunt declaration at Friday’s press conference. “Social media is a cancer on our society,” he said. “Go outside and touch grass.”
Why do some Americans pump out all these fantasies and lies about their political opponents (on both sides)?
It's for money. That's it. Their living depends on it.
A YouTube channel with a million subscribers can make anything from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars per month, so perhaps up to $1,000,000 per year, depending on video views, viewer retention, audience demographics, and so on. Charlie Kirk's channel had 4 million subscribers. He could have been earning $2 million a year!
I also think a lot of these 'influencers' don't believe a word of what they're saying but simply do it to get rich and for no other reason. Patriots they are not.
