Understanding Trump's Appeal

It isn't difficult really.  For the first three years Trump was in power, nothing particularly bad happened.  The economy grew at a healthy pace; unemployment, inflation, and interest rates stayed low; crime stayed low; and no major wars broke out.  News junkies like you or me saw problems, but they just didn't affect most ordinary people's lives.

And yes, people are over-idealizing Trump's presidency.  It is not just that they airbrush out 2020 altogether.  They forget the little problems that happened, just like they happen with any President.  I had a coworker who claimed there were no mass shootings when Trump was President.  My boss blamed a missed trash delivery on Biden.  Our country also attributes a certain mystique to successful businessmen and thinks they are particularly good stewards of the economy.  And Trump developed an absurd image of hyper-competence from The Apprentice.  

As for threats to freedom and democracy -- well, they didn't happen last time, so a lot of people dismiss the whole thing as so much hysteria, and nowhere near as important as gas prices.  And if he praises Hannibal Lecter at a rally?  Well, everyone knows Trump says nutty things sometimes.  But at least when he was President gas prices were low.

You know what really would hurt Donald Trump?  His pledge to cut off funding for schools with vaccine mandates.  "Donald Trump wants to defund the schools!"  Why aren't Democrats shouting this to the rooftops?