I’d been thinking about this topic for a while, but a #NeverTrump Twitter poster inspired me to make a post about my take on “Trumpists” and “anti-Trumpists”.  It is not just a binary divide.

This is the Twitter exchange that inspired this:

So I do agree there is a difference between the Trump Cult and the Trump Voter.  I actually came up with 8 degrees of Trumpism and anti-Trumpism.  Of course totally subjective and based on my own experiences both in RL and on Twitter.  Here goes, my Stages of Trumpism countdown:

This actually starts with ANTI-Trumpism:

8. #TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome):  Someone afflicted with TDS is so anti-Trump that they are obsessed with him and his misdeeds.  They eagerly jump on any news or gossip item that portrays him in the worst possible light.  They think everything in the Steele Dossier is true, that there is a pee tape out there, that Stormy Daniels did spank Trump with a copy of Forbes magazine (and that her comparison of a certain something to a mushroom was accurate), that he has sworn an oath of fealty to Vladimir Putin, etc.

They will change long-held political views if they find out Trump supports them.  They will dismiss any elected official who isn’t bashing Trump on a daily basis as #Complicit. They are convinced anyone wearing a #MAGA hat is Evil Incarnate.  I wouldn’t be surprised if some atheists who have contracted TDS have converted to some kind of religion just so they can console themselves with the idea of Trump eventually burning in hell.

But I must admit TDS is more a syndrome than a group, as I’ve noticed it in both those who identify as #Resist and as #NeverTrump.

7. #Resist: Some who identifies as a member of the Resistance likely also identifies as Liberal or Progressive or Left-Leaning.  But there are Centrists and Moderates and some Right-Leaning Independents to. Some may be libertarians or apostate conservatives.  Most, but not all, are members of the Democratic party or are Independents who usually vote Blue.

They obviously did not vote for Trump. They oppose most of Trump’s policies, want him out of office ASAP, and oppose the Republican Party either because they would have anyway no matter who was POTUS, or because they think Trumpism has totally corrupted it and it is beyond saving, even if they do think it’s overall good for the country to have a center-right party balancing a center-left one.  They find Trump to have terrible character but they’d likely want him gone even if he were to have a sudden “Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus” conversion moment.

6. #NeverTrump: Those who identify as #NeverTrump likely also identify as Conservative or Right-Leaning.  Some are members of the Republican party, others used to be then left, or are Independent but usually vote Republican.  They never supported Trump, either in the Republican primaries or the general election.  Some may even have voted for Clinton in the general, though most voted for a third-party or write-in candidate, or didn’t vote at all.

While they oppose Trump and have spent the last 2 years hoping he will self-destruct enough to either resign, be removed, give up on running in 2020 or even be abandoned by his party, they do agree with some of his decisions that could be justified as “most R presidents would have done the same thing” such as his SCOTUS picks.

They likely disagree on foreign and trade policy more than domestic policy.  They find Trump to have terrible character and rage over his Tweets and public gaffes.  Some of them have shifted their policy positions reasoning that if Trump supports something, then maybe it’s not as great as they once thought it was.

One issue dividing the #NeverTrump camp is whether to repudiate the Republican party.  Many have, either permanently or as a strategy.  There was much debate over whether a “vote against all Rs” strategy in mid-term elections was warranted in order to put Democrats in power to check Trump, or not.  Many of them would consider voting for a centrist Democrat in 2020, but would likely draw the line at a Bernie Sanders (or worse) and then consider third party, write-in, or not voting for POTUS at all, again.

5. #TrumpSkeptic or TrumpCritic: To me the big difference between this group and #NeverTrump is a matter of semantics.  I’d not count someone as #NeverTrump if they actually did vote for Trump, even if they did so holding their noses and reasoning he couldn’t be worse than HRC.  Or if, after he won the election, they decided to give Trump a chance to prove he wouldn’t totally disgrace the office of POTUS.

I have to count myself in this group in order to be honest.  No I didn’t vote for Trump but I figured, maybe he won’t be a total disaster and at least put together a good Cabinet and implement some good policies.  I did this for a year (I also had a lot going on my personal life that made me put politics on the back burner anyway).  Then I gave up.

4. “Balls and Strikes” or “Good Trump / Bad Trump”:  I like to call this group “Trumpires” but I don’t think that’s a trending Twitter hashtag.  People in this camp are either Republicans or Independents who usually vote R, and identify politically as conservatives or center-right. They will likely claim not to be supporters of Trump himself in terms of his character, and express disapproval of the way he conducts himself in office, his Tweets, etc.

They like many of his policies, though not all, and will admit he has botched the execution of many of them. They will support Trump when he does good but express disapproval when he does bad.  But they expect to vote for him in 2020 unless he implements some really catastrophic policy, or some “smoking gun” is found in the Mueller report or elsewhere.

IMHO this group has suffered a lot of attrition in the last 2 years at least where professional pundits and politicians are concerned, and most have become Trump supporters for all intents and purposes.  A few have gone the other way into Trump critical mode.

3. Trump supporter / MAGA-lite:  Republicans who agree with the vast majority of Trump’s policies and don’t have that much problem with his personal character, and overlook evidence of his corruption as “no different than any other politician”, but they may at times roll their eyes at an especially incoherent Tweet or statement.   On the rare occasions they do disagree with Trump on policy, they tend to blame his advisors for giving bad advice to him.

While they support Trump, would say they “approve” of his job performance if asked by a pollster, and plan to vote for him again in 2020, they’re not especially attached to him as a heroic figure who’s engaged in creative political destruction, or that particularly focused on “owning the libs” or rooting out all dissent in the party.  They would pass up an invite to a MAGA rally as they’re too busy actually living their lives outside of politics.

2. #MAGA: Now we get to the red hat-wearers, the ones who not only support the overwhelming number of his policies but DO see him as a heroic figure. They would love to attend a MAGA rally, own a lot of MAGA gear, and would faint with excitement if they got a chance to actually meet Trump in person.

They have and will change long-held (or short-held, considering how often Trump modifies his positions) views based on what Trump says and does.

However, they also don’t spend every waking minute thinking about Trump, they have other non-political interests. They watch FOX News but they don’t have it on 24/7.  They want certain people in the FBI investigated and/or fired, were on board with impeaching Rod Rosenstein, would join a “lock her up” chant at a MAGA rally, but don’t really spend too much time hating on HRC.

But they are still very protective of Trump and are quick to defend him from any accusations.  They agree with him that the media is the “Enemy of the People” and that the Mueller investigation is a “Witch Hunt”.  They cheer when he does something that “owns the libs”, such a suddenly refusing to let Pelosi’s Congressional Delegation use military transport, right after they had already boarded a bus to the airport.  They’d cheer if he declared a State of Emergency to build The Wall. And if attacked by Trump critics, they will fire back, calling them RINOS and worse, but they’re not quite as enthusiastic as…

1. #Cult45: Some would not make a distinction between this group and #MAGA but I do.  These are the real Trump cultists mentioned in the Tweet that started this all.  Much like their counterparts with TDS, they are obsessively obsessed with Trump but in the positive direction.  Not only that, they are obsessed with hatred for Trump’s enemies. If anyone dares disagree with or disparage him, they want them destroyed and will attack them with all sorts of obscene insults.

They want the FBI disbanded.  They think of illegal immigrants as invaders and wouldn’t shed any tears if they starved to death or got shot by a border guard trying to cross into the US.  Some might even cheer the “defeat of the enemy invader”.

Many find FNC or even Fox Business Channel “too liberal” and watch OANN instead.  They eagerly embrace conspiracy theories regarding the “Deep State”, George Soros, FISAgate, etc. Their first thought when the pipe bomb story broke was that it must be a false flag conspiracy.  They think there is actual cause to arrest HRC and will happily rant about her e-mails and Benghazi and uranium and…

Most disturbingly to me, some actually truly believe that Trump was chosen by God to be the POTUS, and that it is not only treason, but a sin worthy of damnation to disparage their Dear Leader in any way.   That truly makes #Cult45 a cult indeed.