Our Future: Amidst Chaos, Trump's Support Stays High Amongst His Followers

A trend I've noticed that's been an undercurrent for much of the coverage throughout Trump's presidency so far is the bafflement many people seem to feel over how shockingly consistent his core base has remained. While his poll numbers have dropped since he took office, these shifts are most prominent among moderates and Democrats, with most self identified conservatives sticking with the president. Which, for many, is hard to comprehend given how insane and volatile his presidency has been so far.

Regardless of how low his numbers are even now, the amount of shake ups, controversies, and failures that have haunted his term so far would have been enough to shake even the most dedicated supporters of nearly any other politician. Despite this, most of those that stood strongly with the president back in November still stick by him now.

To be honest though, this trend wasn't something that ever really surprised me, and while I understand the confusion a lot of people have over it, I think it stems from a misinterpretation of why his base supports him in the first place. If you try to make sense of the trends in Trump's ratings in the same way that you would any other president or politician, then you'll be lost. Trump has never been remotely close to a normal president.

More than anything, I think it's necessary to try to understand the support Trump has garnered from a more spiritual perspective. In reality, I don't think the majority of people that strongly support Trump care much about policy, or really his ability to fulfill any of his actual presidential responsibilities for that matter. Rather, they care about how the image of Trump as president ties into their vision of the American identity.

I'm sure most of them would like to see the wall built along with the slew of other extravagant caricature-level policies he promised on the campaign trail, but what's more important is simply the concept of those policies in question and what they stand for. That is, a strong, independent, capitalist America, where the traditional image tied with American nationalism is kept intact.

Of course, this image could have never been successfully sold to so many people if it wasn't for the way in which the rest of our culture responded to his rhetoric, and I think it became very clear on the campaign trail how aware of this dynamic Trump was. In fact, for a campaign based on selling America as broken country, crude and hostile language was essential for success.

Take for example his infamous Mexican rapist line: the majority of Americans would be appalled by such a statement, yet for those who believe in the racist propaganda that conservatives have been building for years against immigrants, it presents a fresh sense of tenacity from a politician to say things as they are. When the mainstream America responded with disgust, it only made his rhetoric more vital to this demographic. Then, when Trump then used this dynamic to make the media and the mainstream American establishment out to be corrupt and deceitful, he became what seemed to be the only hope for America's redemption to his base.

Most people who strongly support Trump don't feel the way they do because they believe he's actually been a successful president, because most of them never expected him to actually be president in the first place. If anything, I'd expect many of them are pleased with the chaos that has gripped the White House for months now. Nothing that has happened so far during his presidency has particularly contradicted the image he created for himself, and given that he's created a dynamic where criticizing anything he does is seen as heresy among his base, I don't think any scandal could shake much of his core. Many truly see him as a bastion in a sea full of tight lipped corruption and lies, and so the tumultuous term he's had is only the natural product of a true patriot fighting for America.

In fact, I think the only way Trump could lose support at this point is if he actually tried to be presidential. It's unlikely after all that's happened that he's going to gain very much support back. Yet at the same time, if he actually attempted to be a normal president, one that played respectability politics and actually acted presidential, the entire image he's built would collapse. His nationalistic, whirlwind outsider persona would be shown to be the sham that it is and the cult-like following he's built would likely abandon him. How much longer he can continue to play with fire before his presidency falls apart on its own, however, is another question.

Kyle Mangione-Smith is a filmmaker and student living in Boston.