Sadly, the way people vote is more complicated than you might believe. Trump is the symptom of malfunctioning system that doesn't give people good options in the ballot box.

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triceratops an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I'll say something controversial: Clinton and Harris were both better options than the guy who started his campaign mocking a reporter's disability. If voters had any sense it should've ended right there.

The rationalizing, the "corrupt DNC" arguments and everything else is a cop-out.

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AlexandrB 41 minutes ago | parent [-]

Here's a real controversial opinion: If Clinton had won, the eventual backlash would be much greater and have elected a far more odious figure than Trump. America is lucky that Trump is kind of a bumbling oaf that channeled populist rage.

	▲	bayesianbot 3 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Trump voters failed in their Democratic responsibility to vote for a serious trustworthy person. You can't just blame other voters or the other candidate with "well we would have been even more stupid after four years of Clinton!"
	▲	triceratops 38 minutes ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Maybe the backlash would've been in Congress, through the election of more extreme figures on the right and left.
	▲	bix6 31 minutes ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Disagree. Trump has done way more damage than Clinton ever could have. The backlash would’ve been similar to post Obama cuz the racists are also the sexists.
	▲	spiderfarmer 33 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		That kind of normalises Trump, which totally the wrong thing to do. You should not accept this as fact, nor should you tolerate this current regime. Doing so without protest is the biggest problem you have. Your defeatism is a self fulfilling prophecy.

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idbnstra 21 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

yes! we need ranked choice voting everywhere!

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rootusrootus an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That explains how he got almost half the votes on election night, but it does not explain the 1/3 that still to this day support him 100%. There is a pretty substantial underlying problem in play and Trump is the symptom, but the problem is deeper than a malfunctioning political system.

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mindslight 19 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

That explains how he got the votes on election night in 2016. A vote for Grump in 2016 was completely understandable. But he should have plainly been a one term president, after his abjectly terrible handling of Covid (for starters, we needed leadership rather than dividership). But unfortunately in our upside-down world, Covid actually handed Grump a big excuse for why his first term was such an abject failure. And if there is one thing Grump is good at, it's weaseling responsibility onto others - a quality that his followers greatly admire as it soothes their own consciences as well.

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lokar 24 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

It is almost unheard of in the US for an elected politician to poll lower than 30%, it seems to be a floor. This is for both parties, and all sorts of terrible behavior.

	▲	SideburnsOfDoom 13 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> almost unheard of in the US for an elected politician to poll lower than 30%, it seems to be a floor Alan Keyes apparently set the floor at 27%, which is not far below 30% https://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2005/10/lunch-discussions-145-... And lizardman's Constant is 4% https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lizardman%27s_Constant

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GJim an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Are you saying there was a worse option than Trump?

Really?

Because unless the alternative option was a diminutive Austrian with a dodgy 'tache, I find that rather hard to believe.

The reality is America voted for Trump (TWICE!) because they wanted him. The rest of the world knows this, and is now acting accordingly.

EDIT: Downvotes coming from the brainwashed MAGA crowd!

	▲	SideburnsOfDoom 23 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I disagree not because " brainwashed MAGA crowd" but because people saying "it can't be worse" are almost always wrong. Unless you're starving in the ruins of your house in one of the world's war zones, in which case you're likely not focussed on saying that. Pick any of the leader's third-rate third-tier henchmen or failsons for example of a worse option. Don't dismiss it out of hand. People in the UK voted for Brexit because "well it can't be worse, can it?" I don't disagree with the "The reality is" line.