It's the soil that matters, not just the rotten harvest.

[betsuni]

4. Primary voters grassrooted him: Trump had more small donations in 2016 than Hillary and Bernie combined.

The Republican Establishment didn't want him.

Then he became the Establishment and transformed it into a member of an international crime organization the U.S. wasn't in control of or aware of the consequences. Won the popular vote in 2024 because people, like, wanted Season 2 of The Trump Show

The people did this. More fun to blame it on scary conspiracy theories about oligarchs under the bed and billionaires in the closet, but not what happened.

European countries with far less economic inequality than the U.S. also have problems with anti-immigrant racism and anti-Semitism, right-wing parties. It's not "economic anxiety" that turned people hateful. There has to be a rabbit in the hat before the magician can pull a rabbit out the hat.