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It’s no secret that when it comes to facts, supporters of Donald Trump aren’t overly fond of them. That’s how he became so successful within the GOP — pandering to people who don’t care about the truth. They are people who, as Ted Koppel perfectly described to Sean Hannity recently, believe that ideology and what they want to be real matters more than actual facts.
That being said, there’s still a difference between believing in things that aren’t completely accurate that can be slightly subjective, and believing that outright, easily debunked lies are actually true. When it comes to believing in the latter, Trump supporters take the cake.
While most of us are probably aware of this information, I thought I’d put together this list to serve as, what I think, will be a great tool to use in proving how delusional most of the people who support Trump actually are.
1. They think the economy has improved because of him: Despite the fact he hasn’t signed a single piece of major economic legislation, and the current economic data we’re seeing is clearly a continuation of the success we saw for the vast majority of Obama’s time in office, the Republican view on the economy has doubled since he took office. The exact same economy only 31 percent of Republicans felt positive about at the end of Obama’s presidency, is now viewed as heading in the right direction by 61 percent of Republicans.
2. The same people who think Obama is a Muslim also believe Trump’s a devout follower of Christ: This one pretty much speaks for itself as it relates to the hypocrisy, ignorance, and, in many instances, the racism of “Christian” Trump supporters.
3. The majority believe “millions voted illegally” without a single shred of actual proof: A poll from a few weeks ago found that 55 percent of Trump supporters believe his idiotic conspiracy that the only reason he lost the popular vote is because “millions voted illegally” for Clinton.
4. They think illegal immigration is out of control and they’re mostly criminals: There’s a reason why Trump made vilifying illegal immigrants a big part of his campaign — the lies he told about them are what people who ultimately ended up supporting him want to believe. Problem is, net migration from Mexico is practically zero and stats show that illegal immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than actual citizens.
5. Majority believe he should have the power to overturn judicial rulings: Let the ignorance of this one sink in for a moment. Around 51 percent of Trump supporters are so clueless as to how our Constitution works that they feel as if the Executive Branch should have the power to overrule the Judicial Branch. Not only does that belief completely nullify our entire system of “checks and balances” but it would effectively make every president a dictator.
6. They actually believe Trumpcare will make health care better: During Trump’s campaign he promised his health care plan would be cheaper, better, cover more people, and protect people with pre-existing conditions — the bill he supports does absolutely none of that. If the bill the House passed becomes law:
- Around 24 million people will lose insurance — many of whom will be people who voted for him.
- Premiums, especially for Americans 50 and older, will increase dramatically.
- States can opt-out of protecting people with pre-existing conditions.
- Coverage will get worse.
- Medicaid will get gutted.
The only thing Trumpcare accomplishes, besides everything awful I just listed, is it provides huge tax cuts for the richest among us.
7. Large majority don’t believe Barack Obama was born in the United States: While this survey was done in 2016, there’s no reason to think the numbers on this issue have changed much since then. In that PPP survey, 59 percent of Trump supporters didn’t think Obama was born in the United States — only 23 percent said he was. Meaning 77 percent of Trump supporters either don’t believe, or aren’t sure, our 44th president was legitimate.
8. They truly believe there’s a “war” against gun rights: Before Obama even took office, the GOP, fueled by the NRA, began pushing the idea that he was some anti-gun radical who was, at any moment, going to confiscate everyone’s guns. This paranoia led to one of the most preposterous things I’ve ever written about, the Jade Helm conspiracy. More than just a few conservatives all across the country believed a military exercise was actually a secret ploy by Obama to declare martial law and seize guns. A large theme throughout Trump’s campaign was that Clinton wanted to “abolish the Second Amendment.”
Even now, despite the fact that Obama did practically nothing during his eight years in office to go after anyone’s guns, Trump continues to act as if his administration will end some non-existent war on the Second Amendment.
9. They believe the stock market went down and the unemployment rate went up during the Obama administration: Even though it is absolutely indisputable that the unemployment rate drastically fell during the Obama administration, while stocks set numerous records, that’s not what many Trump supporters believe. According to PPP, 67 percent of Trump supporters believe the unemployment rate went up during the Obama administration, while 39 percent believe the stock market went down.
This is another perfect example of easy-to-verify facts of reality that many Trump supporters simply don’t believe are real.
10. They actually believe he’s honest and trustworthy: I thought I’d save the dumbest thing they believe for last. Not only is it foolish to believe practically anything Trump says, in most instances, his supporters believe him over, well — anything. You can present piles of evidence disproving something he’s claimed isn’t factual, while he doesn’t provide a shred of evidence to support what he said, and they’re still going to believe him. A guy with a well-documented history of claiming things are “rigged” whenever he loses, pushing ridiculous conspiracies without any proof, and denying he’s said things that he’s on audio or video saying is the person most of his supporters believe is “honest and trustworthy.”
There are plenty more I could have added, but I think most get the point.
Looking at this list, it’s easy to see why Trump did so well. When you’re a pathological liar who’s willing to tell people who don’t believe in reality what they want to hear — no matter how dishonest it is — that’s a dangerous combination. And it’s exactly what Donald Trump did on his path to the White House.
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