I just had a heated argument with my brother about illegal immigration. He believes they're all asylum seekers, not illegals. By the end of the conversation, he was defending Democrats and blaming Republicans, which confirmed something I’ve been thinking: Trump’s biggest mistake was treating politics like a business.
Trump essentially executed a "hostile takeover" of the Republican party, rebranding it into something new. But the issue is, many people still associate him with the old Republican establishment figures like Mitch McConnell.
My brother, for example, doesn't see MAGA as distinct from Bush-era Republicans simply because they share the same "R" label. To him, it's all the same. And that’s the real problem—many "normies" can’t differentiate between Trump and figures like Lindsey Graham, especially when Trump publicly aligns with them from time to time.
This is a branding issue. A lot of people don't see MAGA as different from George H.W. Bush. So, whenever Trump speaks, they immediately fall back into the "Democrat vs. Republican" tribal mentality.
No, its because they are morons. When my 87yo dad who was a union steward caught on in 2020 but my 80yo mom refuses to this day to see the truth. She is in assisted living and watches TV all day. She's very shy and doesn't participate in any activities. Mom will literally tell you she hates Trump because, "He grabs them by the pu__y."
There is nothing that gets past her resentment of her life was not having a career. I've never heard her even say she wanted a career but know frkm the insistance of my having one.
She worked as a telephone operator as a teen, a hairdresser for about a year and my dad made her work in final assembly at a car manufactor (where she parked cars) until she had enough credits to get her soc soc.
And yes, in back in the day you had to earn it. If I remember correctly, you received one credit every three months of working and you needed 42 credits to receive a check.