If you need further evidence that the MAGA boys and girls are living in a separate universe than the rest of us, look no further than Tuesday's Trump rally in West Virginia, where supporters chanted "Lock her up," as though it were still 2016 and Hillary Clinton's emails were the biggest story dominating the news cycle.
Hours after Trump's campaign chairman was found guilty in one court and his personal lawyer pleaded guilty in another, his rally is chanting "Drain the Swamp" and "Lock Her Up!"
It's like a parallel universe.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) August 21, 2018
Trump, predictably, didn't mention that just hours before, his campaign manager Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight felony counts and his longtime personal lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud, campaign finance violations, and—bonus—implicated Trump himself in the Stormy Daniels payoff.
It was a great day for the #Resistance, but, in West Virginia, you would have no idea that we moved one step closer to the end of the Trump presidency. Instead, the U.S. President and Fox News' #1 fan talked about the murder of an Iowa woman by an undocumented immigrant, those damn football players and their damn kneeling, and, of course, coal. He failed to mention, however, that immigrants commit less crime than natural-born citizens and the alleged murderer this case was, according to his lawyer, here legally; that NFL players are protesting white supremacy and police brutality, not the National Anthem; and that the reason coal miners are out of work is job automation, decreasing demand from China, and the rise of natural gas. The crowd loved it.
Trump's grasp on reality is lost (at best) and that's a problem, because all those people in West Virginia? They listen to him. And they vote. They might not vote in their own interest—as Trump's continued popularity among the very populations getting fucked by his trade war shows us—but they vote.
Unlike some people around here, I'm not convinced impeachment is the best way to end this waking nightmare. Trump's fans are devoted—he still has a shocking 87 percent approval rating among Republicans. They don't care about the dramatic immoral things he's allegedly done, like cheating on his wife with a porn star or assaulting women or colluding with Russians to steal the election. They definitely aren't going to care about campaign finance violations. Plus, if Trump is impeached and removed from office, not only will Mike "No Co-Ed Dinners" Pence be president—a guy who, unlike Trump, actually knows how to get shit done—Trump will just scream "FAKE NEWS! WITCH HUNT!" as he's being hauled away in handcuffs and a significant portion of the American public will be convinced that this is all a deep state conspiracy fueled by George Soros, Jews, and Hillary Clinton's emails.
If Trump gets pushed out by Congressional impeachment, we won't be less divided than we are now; we'll be more divided. And if we ever want the two Americas to come together, our best hope is taking Trump out the old fashioned way: by voting that fucker out of office.
