I remember when Trump first won, the American-centered part of the web I would occasionally stop by seemed completely infiltrated with MAGA trolls. You had this feeling people thought it was edgy and fun - the worst kind of cultural moment seemed to be happening.

This time around I’m not so much on mainstream social media. And when I do check them out, it seems hard to understand what the vibe is as most content is AI or from professional content creators.

The closest thing I see to Trump supporters these days seems to be the enablers who endlessly repeat how they won’t vote for Harris for some dumb reason or another - they simply cannot vote for a black woman president because it’s not progressive enough, and all that jazz. But I don’t ever see Trump supporters.

Of course they exist still. I have just chose social media platforms strategically to avoid toxic people.

So I’m wondering if the same enthusiasm for Trump that seemed to be boiling online in 2016 is still there today, and if this election only feels different because I’m self-selected into saner platforms. Or if it is really different this time around.

I get that it’s an incredibly difficult question to answer, but I would love perspectives from people who have kept up an active use of mainstream social media, or otherwise have some insights I lack.

  • Ogmios
    -4•22 days ago

    If you really want to know, I have maintained a presence on both left and right wing sites since the schism ~2016, as a life long liberal who felt they could no longer support the insanity over the past decade, but is still apprehensive of hardcore conservatism.

    To be blunt, the energy among the right is extremely high right now. The Puff Daddy case has them celebrating like crazy, because despite what people here like to say about them, ending the institutionalized sex trafficking is actually the most important issue for many of them. Along with that, they’re extremely happy that the democrats have such a weak candidate, as they see this election to be the largest potential obstacle to actually being capable of addressing said institutionalized sex trafficking. They are also quite hopeful that a Trump victory will provide the tools necessary to deal with administrative bloat within the government, specifically addressing the FIAT currency system which makes everyone poorer year after year, which has been another significant sticking point for them. There is also, apparently, a fair bit of action being taken to combat fraud as it happens in this election, which has everyone in high spirits.

    • @rsuri
      19•22 days ago

      So as I understand it, overarching priorities of Trump supporters are:

      1. ending sex trafficking
      2. stop making the poor poorer and
      3. fighting election fraud

      So they’re excited about a guy who:

      1. By his own admission/bragging, had a 15 year long friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
      2. Passed the largest corporate tax cut in history, and plans to eliminate income tax which is paid at a higher rate by high income individuals, replacing it with tariffs that fall disproportionately on the poor.
      3. Made numerous fraudulent claims and tried to submit a fraudulent slate of electors after the last election in an attempt to subvert the will of the voters.
    • .Donuts
      14•22 days ago

      I won’t shoot the messenger, but I need to know: what is the “institutionalized sex trafficking” you are referring to and how does it fit with being an important issue when you look at Trump vs Harris?

      Only one of them is in pictures with Epstein for a start. So how do they flip that around? Or are we talking Q stuff like pizzagate?

      Also important to know: why would Harris be the largest potential obstacle to be capable of addressing it?

      • Ogmios
        -3•22 days ago

        This video may help to shed some light on the issue for you. Basically, it’s been going on for much longer than most people realize.

        Edit: Regarding Harris, they don’t really take her seriously, personally. Rather, the concern is the entrenched powers in the civil service and media will collaborate to use her as a puppet, to defend the people they believe to be protecting the bad actors involved in human trafficking, such as Epstein, Diddy and John of God.

        • .Donuts
          2•21 days ago

          This doesn’t really answer any of the questions, but again, I’m not going to hold you accountable for their actions. Thanks for trying, at least.

          • Ogmios
            -3•21 days ago

            Ah, I may be skipping over some details that are considered common knowledge over there. So basically Epstein, and others he was involved with, and others like him, appear to have been offering their “services” to provide for the fantasies of the rich and the powerful, whatever they may be, while also collecting blackmail material on those same people for political purposes. This appears to have been connected to Mossad, and is believed to be largely responsible for allowing some of the more corrupt behaviours within western societies to persist.

    • @[email protected]English
      3•22 days ago

      There are points of political thought that don’t lie on the conservative <-> liberal line. Which is a shockingly short line to begin with, once you see it from the outside.

      • Ogmios
        -1•22 days ago

        The parts that concern me the most are areas where the political parties tend to walk in lock step, such as mass surveillance and monetary policy. The fact that Trump has had a rocky relationship with the GoP ever since he announced his candidacy for the 2016 election helps his image with others who are concerned about the “uniparty”.