Why trump is so fanatical against the "immigrants" (1 Viewer)

[Craig234]

It's really one simple reason IMO. People who want power, and need to get support from people despite doing bad things, generally try to find some issue they can use to get the people to support them.

Commonly, that's simple tyranny - think 'secret police' who will jail, disappear, torture, kill any dissidents. Ruling by fear. I could name any number of examples, from the Shai of Iran to North Korea to China.

Other times, though, they can't just do that. I don't see how anyone rational can doubt trump would LIKE to, but he can't do that, yet at least.

A common approach in that situation is scapegoats. The dictator of India whips up majority Hindu hate of the large Muslim population. Hitler whipped up hate of Jews. And trump whips up hate of migrants.

It's not just a guess - it's reported when he wanted to run in 2015 he had a polling firm identify the best issue he could exploit for support and it was immigrants. And of course in his first speech he went on about 'murderers and rapists'.

It's also a common theme of 'strongmen' to tell people they need him to protect them - so stories of murderers and rapists, and 'they're eating your cats and dogs', and much more, with the hyperbolic lies about 'worst of the worst' for people who have no criminal records is used.

IMO it's that simple. As trump wants to keep support despite his massive wrongs and crimes, he sees 'fighting immigrants' as his weapon to keep the power and not have people turn on him. He depends on his war on migrants for his power and wealth. So there are no limits.

It really is analogous to Hitler's demonization of Jews. The Holocaust isn't needed for the analogy. But it means any 'immigrant', anyone caught up in trump's campaign to terrorize the immigrants, stands in the way of trump and power and money, and there's no competition there, any more than there was for Hitler to show decency for Jews when oppressing them was such a basis of his power, or other examples.

To be fair, even perhaps our best president didn't let justice for Japanese-Americans prevent him creating concentration camps FDR created. It wasn't the same robust campaign of hate and he wasn't a dictator, but it was politically convenient. trump needs 'immigrant cruelty porn', at least he thinks he does, to keep his support. So we can expect to see more, likely his whole term.

 

[The AntiDonald]

In short, it's the only winning issue he has among his MAGA base. Just look at current polling. His highest numbers are with immigration. And they're not even that great. So, look for the issue to get more intense.

 

[j brown's body]

Fascists create an enemy, an "other" to unite "us," who belong.

The day Trump came down the escalator in 2016, declaring his candidacy, people laughed at his demagoguing immigrants (even though they had been crossing border for years to leave, not to come in) but I recognized this strategy from Nazi Germany and knew right away it could be successful.

It's obvious what he gets out of it. It's a mystery to me what anyone else does.

 

[Peacenik]

It's really one simple reason IMO. People who want power, and need to get support from people despite doing bad things, generally try to find some issue they can use to get the people to support them.

Commonly, that's simple tyranny - think 'secret police' who will jail, disappear, torture, kill any dissidents. Ruling by fear. I could name any number of examples, from the Shai of Iran to North Korea to China.

Other times, though, they can't just do that. I don't see how anyone rational can doubt trump would LIKE to, but he can't do that, yet at least.

A common approach in that situation is scapegoats. The dictator of India whips up majority Hindu hate of the large Muslim population. Hitler whipped up hate of Jews. And trump whips up hate of migrants.

It's not just a guess - it's reported when he wanted to run in 2015 he had a polling firm identify the best issue he could exploit for support and it was immigrants. And of course in his first speech he went on about 'murderers and rapists'.

It's also a common theme of 'strongmen' to tell people they need him to protect them - so stories of murderers and rapists, and 'they're eating your cats and dogs', and much more, with the hyperbolic lies about 'worst of the worst' for people who have no criminal records is used.

IMO it's that simple. As trump wants to keep support despite his massive wrongs and crimes, he sees 'fighting immigrants' as his weapon to keep the power and not have people turn on him. He depends on his war on migrants for his power and wealth. So there are no limits.

It really is analogous to Hitler's demonization of Jews. The Holocaust isn't needed for the analogy. But it means any 'immigrant', anyone caught up in trump's campaign to terrorize the immigrants, stands in the way of trump and power and money, and there's no competition there, any more than there was for Hitler to show decency for Jews when oppressing them was such a basis of his power, or other examples.

To be fair, even perhaps our best president didn't let justice for Japanese-Americans prevent him creating concentration camps FDR created. It wasn't the same robust campaign of hate and he wasn't a dictator, but it was politically convenient. trump needs 'immigrant cruelty porn', at least he thinks he does, to keep his support. So we can expect to see more, likely his whole term.

Surprised Donald doesn't make all immigrants in the country wear a yellow "I" armband.

 

[Lovebug]

Surprised Donald doesn't make all immigrants in the country wear a yellow "I" armband.

Yellow doesn't match Melania's complexion.

 

[Craig234]

Surprised Donald doesn't make all immigrants in the country wear a yellow "I" armband.

He's doing worse. Armbands wouldn't do much, but he's using a law to demand they all 'register'. If they do, they have to give info making them easy to arrest and deport. If they don't, it's a crime allowing them to be deported as criminals.

 

[Craig234]

Fascists create an enemy, an "other" to unite "us," who belong.

The day Trump came down the escalator in 2016, declaring his candidacy, people laughed at his demagoguing immigrants (even though they had been crossing border for years to leave, not to come in) but I recognized this strategy from Nazi Germany and knew right away it could be successful.

It's obvious what he gets out of it. It's a mystery to me what anyone else does.

As the pollsters said, many Americans support it. They respond to anti-immigrant messages. Pretty much every trump support I hear says 'Biden had open borders', and any like trump 'doing something'.

 

[Visbek]

It's really one simple reason IMO. People who want power, and need to get support from people despite doing bad things, generally try to find some issue they can use to get the people to support them.

Oh, it's simpler than that. He's a racist and a white supremacist, and has no qualms about using that to motivate the racists in his base.

Republicans and regressives have used this playbook for well over a century. It's just that after the civil rights protests in the 60s, overt expressions of racism were not acceptable, so they started using dog whistles. These days, racists think that stating "I'm Not Racist" is a magical phrase which exculpates them from their increasingly blatant racism.

 

[Visbek]

As the pollsters said, many Americans support it. They respond to anti-immigrant messages. Pretty much every trump support I hear says 'Biden had open borders', and any like trump 'doing something'.

Keep in mind that xenophobia comes and goes.

E.g. there were paroxysms of utter hatred for migrants in the US on and off throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It fueled the "Know Nothing" party, which quickly burned itself out; it powered the Chinese exclusion acts, which obviously failed to keep Chinese people out of the US; anti-immigrant sentiment powered Prohibition, whose advocates associated heavy drinking with Germans, Irish and other migrants; it led to "Operation Wetback" in the 1950s; it led to Pete Wilson attacking migrants... and then swiftly getting voted out of office as a direct result. That's how fast things can change.

For example, concerns about immigration soared throughout the 70s and 80s, peaked in 1995, fell until May 2020, and has risen since then (see below).

I wonder, what could have POSSIBLY happened in spring of 2020 that might make Americans more concerned about immigration?

 

[Peacenik]

He's doing worse. Armbands wouldn't do much, but he's using a law to demand they all 'register'. If they do, they have to give info making them easy to arrest and deport. If they don't, it's a crime allowing them to be deported as criminals.

Nothing else should be expected from a criminal than more crime.

 

[Feynman Lives!]

It's really one simple reason IMO. People who want power, and need to get support from people despite doing bad things, generally try to find some issue they can use to get the people to support them.

Commonly, that's simple tyranny - think 'secret police' who will jail, disappear, torture, kill any dissidents. Ruling by fear. I could name any number of examples, from the Shai of Iran to North Korea to China.

Other times, though, they can't just do that. I don't see how anyone rational can doubt trump would LIKE to, but he can't do that, yet at least.

A common approach in that situation is scapegoats. The dictator of India whips up majority Hindu hate of the large Muslim population. Hitler whipped up hate of Jews. And trump whips up hate of migrants.

It's not just a guess - it's reported when he wanted to run in 2015 he had a polling firm identify the best issue he could exploit for support and it was immigrants. And of course in his first speech he went on about 'murderers and rapists'.

It's also a common theme of 'strongmen' to tell people they need him to protect them - so stories of murderers and rapists, and 'they're eating your cats and dogs', and much more, with the hyperbolic lies about 'worst of the worst' for people who have no criminal records is used.

IMO it's that simple. As trump wants to keep support despite his massive wrongs and crimes, he sees 'fighting immigrants' as his weapon to keep the power and not have people turn on him. He depends on his war on migrants for his power and wealth. So there are no limits.

It really is analogous to Hitler's demonization of Jews. The Holocaust isn't needed for the analogy. But it means any 'immigrant', anyone caught up in trump's campaign to terrorize the immigrants, stands in the way of trump and power and money, and there's no competition there, any more than there was for Hitler to show decency for Jews when oppressing them was such a basis of his power, or other examples.

To be fair, even perhaps our best president didn't let justice for Japanese-Americans prevent him creating concentration camps FDR created. It wasn't the same robust campaign of hate and he wasn't a dictator, but it was politically convenient. trump needs 'immigrant cruelty porn', at least he thinks he does, to keep his support. So we can expect to see more, likely his whole term.

To be honest, I don't think Trump personally has any animosity against foreigners. Not like Hitler had against Jews. If Trump DID develop hate, he did so after he ran the first time. Trump DID show a hate against blacks early in life... but not against Hispanics. He also displayed disdain for poor people. And definitely against women.

IMO, the main reason why Trump CAMPAIGNS on hate against immigrants is that he understands that xenophobia is what gets him elected.

Bigotry has always been a big motivator in a large part of our population. And Trump learned how to exploit that to build his Cult.

 

[rickc]

Every since Limbaugh the right has been using hatred bigotry and fear to unite their base.

Trump came along and doubled down on the model. He gave voice to that segment of our population.

Gives those poorly educated white working class Americans something to blame their diminished lifestyle on. Distract them from the true cause. Republican policies starting with Reagan.

 

[j brown's body]

As the pollsters said, many Americans support it. They respond to anti-immigrant messages. Pretty much every trump support I hear says 'Biden had open borders', and any like trump 'doing something'.

Support for amnesty is Hugh too. Either way, people want the issue resolved. Trump is taking advantage of that but his actions are so inhumane and unjust that it repelling people.

Maybe what looks good on paper isn't so great in reality.

But, hey, the MAGA here love the brutality.

 

[Craig234]

To be honest, I don't think Trump personally has any animosity against foreigners. Not like Hitler had against Jews.

In any of the situations, the personal feelings seem almost irrelevant to their use for gaining power. Historians think Hitler made up a story about his history on it, and a Jewish person was a main buy of his paintings. Another analogy would be southern politicians who ran on racism - they may or may not have had personal feelings. Similar for McCarhy and Nixon and their 'commie' crusade.

 

[Craig234]

Good info from John Oliver on immigration