It may appear like conservative wypipo have lost their minds since Trump was elected in November, but, if we are being honest, they ain’t been right in the head since 2016.
Remember the Travel Ban and how folks bent themselves into intellectual pretzels to rationalize an Executive Order that was blatantly unconstitutional and high-key racist? Or what about that anti-Black, antisemitic Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. that resulted in the assault of DeAndre Harris and the death of Heather Heyer? His supporters swore up and down that race had nothing to do with it when Trump said there were ‘very fine people on both sides.’
Then, of course, there is what happened on Jan. 6, 2021.
When full throated, unapologetic (and questionably dressed) Trump supporters stormed the capital, that seemed to scare people who put up with his brand of politics but were not overzealous. Democratic norms were shattered that day, and that shook some folks to their core. Things got quiet for a bit after the 42nd president officially left office. There were a few years where it seemed like things might get back to something that resembled normalcy.
Then, like Jason Voorhees in a bad Friday the 13th sequel, he came back. Dude is unkillable. He ran for President again…and no one stood in his way. He didn’t do a single debate. He did not really engage with the Republican Primary process, and he won the nomination without breaking a sweat.
That’s when the MAGA faithful came back outside.
Trump flags, once folded and put in the attic, were unfurled and place on flagpoles. Across America, Trump 2020 billboards, long forgotten, were updated, keeping the name but adding 2024.
But it is different this time. The Trumpers are more aggressive than 2016. Even more brazen than 2020. Their guy lost an election, but he did not stay gone. He accomplished what few have ever tried…and he won in a resounding fashion.
This guy didn’t just win in Kentucky and Alabama — he flipped states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Of course he won in Sioux City, Iowa , but he also won over a lot of people in New York City.
This made his supporters fearless. They don’t have to only tell their white friends who agree with them that they support him. There is now almost no stigma associated with voting for a man who was indicted and found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in a court of law.
There is no hiding now. These people are everywhere. There was once a time when individuals who lived in California or New Jersey could say, “Yeah, there is a crazy man in office, but at least no one who lives close to me voted for him.”
That’s not true anymore. His supporters are everywhere, and they are emboldened.
Burn your sage and find your way to the chu’ch house. You’re going to need all the help you can get to make it through next four years without needing anxiety meds. And even if you can sidestep a Xanax prescription, you might have to visit the sanctified house of Mary Jane every now again.
Hold tight. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.