Patrck Dorinson started his March 20 Newsmax column by complaining that Hillary Clinton and others claim that “MAGA supporters are a cult blindly following Donald Trump like zombies.” He then attacked those making such Comments as “elitist snobs” who “aren’t the least bit interested in what motivates millions of people to follow Donald Trump come Hell or high water.” He made his pro-MAGA case while sounding an awful lot like a cultist:
The “Make America Great Again” movement can be explained by four key points.
First, populism is not new in America. It has been hiding in plain sight throughout our history and occasionally has taken hold in our politics. The Tea Party is a recent example.
But the Tea Party was taken over by grifters and consultants and effectively died.
The second point is that Donald Trump seized the moment, took something that already existed, and gave it new life and purpose.
Third, Donald Trump took all the frustrations of those who have long felt they were forgotten and gave voice to it.
And what a voice it is.
Fourth, he gave it what it needed most and what the Tea Party never had.
He gave it a real leader.
Why now? And why Donald Trump?
First and foremost, he cares about regular folks because deep down he is one of them.
He doesn’t come from old family wealth like the Rockefellers.
His father was the son of German immigrants, who built a business from scratch.
While a New Yorker, Trump is not from the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He is from Queens, and he acts and sounds like it. He is Archie Bunker in a tailor-made suit.
He doesn’t talk down to his followers. He speaks to them in a language they understand.
He is loud and brash, and that shocks elitists but delights his supporters.
And unlike previous Republican candidates who would show up to a political battle with the ruthless Democrats carrying a tennis racket and a rulebook, he knows it’s a back-alley brawl and brings the appropriate weapons and attitude.
Yeah, nothing cult-y about that at all. Dorinson concluded by invoking “The Grapes of Wrath”:
As Ma and Pa are reflecting on all they have been through, a clearly despondent Pa Joad says:
“We sure have taken a beatin’.”
And then Ma Joad says:
“I know. That’s what makes us tough. Rich fellas come up and they die, and their kids ain’t no good and they die out.
“But we keep-a-comin’ We’re the people that live. They can’t wipe us out. They can’t lick us. We’ll go on forever Pa because we’re the people.”
Politicians come and go and eventually Donald Trump too will be gone from the stage.
But as Ma Joad said, “We keep-a-comin.”
“We’re the people that live.”
And that’s why in the end the people will win.
Dorinson wasn’t about to mention that Trump is a rich fella whose kid-in-law got billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia for no apparent reason other than that his dad was the president.