"I'm in with the in crowd"
The cruelty is the point.
The Atlantic's Adam Serwer had the insight.
Isn't Trump's gratuitous cruelty a mistake, a "bug" in his overall presentation? No. It is a feature.
His supporters like a winner and the casual cruelty toward the people he dominates. He is picking on someone they dislike, and they are doing it together. Casual cruelty mixes a feeling of superiority with a feeling of belonging to a group--a big group with power. It feels good to be on the winning team.
The left has its version of bullies. It is a fringe group. As party policy it was rejected when Democrats chose Biden. Biden's "soul of America" talk was about unity. The famous "woke mob" of social media scolds has toeholds of power in academic circles and advocacy groups, but it largely reflects those micro-climates, not the Democratic Party institutionally or its base of voters. The bullying left condemns words and ideas it considers disrespectful to marginalized people.The right's bullying consists of joyful disrespect to the marginalized.
Here is a brief clip from Fox News. Host Jesse Watters is talking with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They are celebrating. Those "illegals" just got dumped on Martha's Vineyard. The asylum-seekers are collateral damage, not the target. Watters says "This is where the Obamas have a home, Oprah, Beyonce, even James Taylor." Three now-wealthy Blacks and a folk singer. They are the target.
Watch: CLICK HERE
They are snickering. The trick's on those uppity people in their rich-person island. My point here is not that the treatment of the migrants was so terribly cruel--it isn't--nor that the effect on the residents of Martha's Vineyard was so terrible--they handled it easily. It is, instead, the snickering and one-upmanship itself, directed at those uppity achievers. Obama, Oprah, and Beyonce were top of mind.
I have shared in this blog disturbing photos of the crowds at lynchings. It was a community celebration. Families posed for the camera.
Serwer wrote about Trump in his Atlantic article:
It is that cruelty, and the delight it brings them, that binds his most ardent supporters to him, in shared scorn for those they hate and fear: immigrants, black voters, feminists, and treasonous white men who empathize with any of those who would steal their birthright. The president’s ability to execute that cruelty through word and deed makes them euphoric. It makes them feel good, it makes them feel proud, it makes them feel happy, it makes them feel united.
Watters and Pompeo are in on the joke. They are in the club. Not every Republican likes Trump and his bullying, nor do all join in the snickering. Some reject it and wish Trump would go away. More go along, including most candidates. They stand in the crowd and cheer quietly. Or don't cheer, but stand in the crowd.