Americans love celebrities.
They also love celebrity fraud.
How else can we explain why Trump’s hard-core Republican “base” continues to support him, despite his near-insane tweets and abysmal record in leadership, legislative success, policy formulation, and implementation.
It’s also worth noting that if die-hard Trump supporters really respect their leader, they should adopt his personal life and business practices into their own lives. If Trump supporters want to emulate him, they should follow his behavior and model their personl and business lives to follow Trump’s examples. All they have to do is follow this list below.
Consider the following:
Presidential cabinet turnover. Trump’s cabinet has had more turnover in the first two-and-a-half years of his presidency than any of his five immediate predecessors did in their entire first terms, according to Time magazine.
Business failures that generated huge, beneficial tax losses. According to The New Yorker magazine: “Based on Internal Revenue Service transcripts of Trump’s tax returns from 1985 to 1994, the New York Times report said that Trump’s core businesses racked up losses of more than a billion dollars in a ten-year period. During 1990 and 1991, the story said, Trump’s losses were so large that they “were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers in the I.R.S. information for those years.” More specifically, reporter John Cassidy of the New Yorker said: “As the economy weakened, in 1990 and 1991, Trump’s core businesses racked up losses of $517.5 million. And, between 1992 and 1994, as the economy recovered, they lost another $286.9 million.”
Bankruptcies. Trump has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy for his companies six times, according to ThoughtCo. These bankruptcies were strategic decisions based on personal gain. A study by the New York Times of these bankruptcies based on regulatory reviews, court records, and security filings, found that “in 2016 that Trump “put up little of his own money, shifted personal debts to the casinos and collected millions of dollars in salary, bonuses, and other payments.”
“The burden of his failures,” the Times found, “fell on investors and others who had bet on his business acumen.” In sort, his investors lost money while he pocketed the profits.
Lying. The media has been tracking Trump’s lies since he declared his presidency. To date, he has lied 10,111 times in 828 days since Jan. 20, 2017 when he took office, according to The Washington Post.
Lawsuits. Lots of Lawsuits. Trump and his businesses have been sued or sued others over 4,000 times, according to a very thorough story that appeared in USA Today. The article found that Trump’s businesses have been involved as either defendant or plaintiff in 4,095 lawsuits, ranging from campaign and copyright issues to casino and employment issues. His biggest category of lawsuits has been in the area of his defunct casino in Atlantic City, the Taj Mahal.
Like his deceased, corrupt lawyer Roy Cohen, Trump also hates to pay taxes. This is shown in the USA Today article which said: “Trump’s businesses have been involved in at least 100 lawsuits and other disputes related to unpaid taxes or how much tax his businesses owe, in addition to dozens of other court fights with government agencies. Trump’s companies have been engaged in battles over taxes almost every year from the late 1980s and into this year. In addition, at least five Trump companies were issued warrants totaling more than $13,000 for late or unpaid taxes in New York state just since Trump declared his candidacy in June 2015, according to state records.”
Marital infidelities. Trump had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2006. At the time, he was married to Melania Trump. They married about one year earlier and Melania had a child about six months before the affair. This is one affair we know about because Trump issued checks to silence her that was delivered by his then-attorney Michael Cohen. Cohen has since pleaded guilty to eight federal crimes, including making illegal
contributions to the Trump campaign on the same day he facilitated a $130,000 payment to the porn star to keep her from speaking about the affair, according to the Business Insider. In addition, this publication also found that Trump “has been plagued by allegations of affairs and sexual misconduct throughout his three marriages to Ivana Trump, Marla Maples, and Melania Trump.” Evangelicals apparently think all this is acceptable, as long as their for-profit megachurches get to keep their tax-exempt status and ability to run for-profit charter schools with public funds.
Trump represents American capitalism. No wonder so many Americans say the system is seriously broken.
Americans Love Celebrity Fraud
This list of business and personal abuses could be longer, but what is surprising is that about one-third of Americans still consider him a viable president who is, by default, the symbol of American leadership and a moral beacon.
How did one-third of our fellow citizens become so lost politically?
Here are some reasons:
The Quasimodo Effect. In the classic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the deformed hunchback serves as the curator of Notre Dame Cathedral, while he is simultaneously embraced by the local population as a grotesque, deformed curiosity. However, in the novel, Quasimodo is the hero who lovingly takes care of the cathedral and saves the gypsy heroine sentenced to death. Trump is just the ethically and morally grotesque figure. As a former reality show host, people watch to see what new irrational act he will get away with. In this way, Trump is akin to watching professional wrestling, complete with dirty moves, punches to the back of the head, swing folding chairs at opponents, and taunting the audience and his opponents.
Watching Trump melt-down in public. In the spirit of other media personalities with borderline mental
problems, such as Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck, people watch Trump in the hopes he will have a full, on-air breakdown. This is good for ratings.
Low self-esteem. People who love Trump have low self-esteem. They feel victimized and embrace the opinion that Christians are discriminated against by…. well, there must be someone. These are the same people who love their old non-LED light bulbs or believe they will be prevented from celebrating Christmas. But remember: Christmas sales start in a few weeks.
Trump rallies provide cheap entertainment and cheap therapy. The ranting at Trump rallies raises blood pressure and helps treat depression. The rallies also allow supporters the chance to get out of their man-caves.
Rallies allow Trump to continue to do nothing. Trump has held rallies and other carnival-like gatherings since his first weeks in office. Rallies, like golfing, are great diversions that allow him to show he cannot publicly lead any policy debates.
Trump is the uninformed person’s version of a rich person. Trump is a parody of Jed Clampett from the Beverly Hillbillies or the Monopoly Man. However, Jed was an ethical, honest character who serves as a role model for his 
family. Americans have a false view of money and wealth and evidently think that someone who has never released his tax returns and used bankruptcy protection to screw investors is the dominant version of American capitalism. This may also be the reason why so many Americans think Trump is an acceptable leader.
Trump represents American capitalism. No wonder so many Americans say the system is seriously broken.
The Bottom Line. Trump supporters cannot admit they were fooled. They cannot admit they made a huge mistake. Worse, they also are not knowledgeable politically. How else can we explain that many Trump supporters originally like Bernie Sanders and his authentic populist and economic message, but they were then tricked by a known fraudster and reality TV host Trump? It’s hard to admit you made a big mistake. It’s hard to admit these people were so easily fooled.
