Trumpism Is Dying

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Some very good news for democracy

I’m not big on hopium but friends, the spell is breaking. Trumpism is losing.

Not all at once, not cleanly, and not without first leaving wreckage everywhere it touched. But the mystique is fading. The lie at the center of this whole political project — that strongmen are history’s winners, that corruption is strength, that bullying is leadership, that liberal democracy is too weak and decadent to defend itself — is finally colliding with reality. In just the last month, reality hit Trumpism hard.

Start in Hungary, where Viktor Orbán — Donald Trump’s favorite European autocrat, ideological soulmate, and proof-of-concept for how to dismantle a democracy from within — was thrown out after 16 years in power. Orbán is not just another right wing politician but the model for so many other corrupt autocrats. He spent years showing aspiring authoritarians how to pack institutions, demonize dissent, monetize nationalism, and wrap naked corruption in the language of patriotism. He hollowed out democratic norms, turned the state into a patronage machine, aligned himself with Vladimir Putin, and made Hungary synonymous with the kind of “illiberal democracy” that is really just a prettier term for managed decline. This week, Hungarian voters said they had had enough, delivering a landslide to Péter Magyar and ending Orbán’s long grip on power.

That loss matters far beyond Budapest because Orbán was not operating in isolation. He was part of a transnational political ecosystem that connects the American right, European authoritarianism, and Russian interests into one mutually reinforcing project. Trump endorsed him, JD Vance campaigned with him, the Kremlin desperately needed him, and Trumpworld celebrated him. Orbán became the international mascot of the idea that democracy was for suckers and that a clever enough demagogue could loot a country while persuading half the public to cheer. His defeat was a rebuke to the entire Trumpist fantasy that the future belongs to men like him.

https://saltypolitics.substack.com/p/trumpism-is-dying

[enigmania]

1. Yes!!!

[Wednesdays]

2. TSF's political demise won't happen if people don't go vote.

So please, everybody...get out and vote. Get everyone you know out to vote this November.

[PatrickforB]

3. I cannot resist the play on words...is progressivism, then, the 'hopium' of the masses?

On a more serious note, my wife and I watched Rachel last night and felt real hope. She had a whole segment about Orban and followed it with stories of resistance against these concentration camps. It was very good.

And then after Trump attacked the Pope, I'm seeing some real light shining through the darkness Trump has imposed. I participated in the Pope's peace prayer vigil. We prayed the Glorious Mysteries on the Rosary, millions strong, and lifted our prayers for peace. It was powerful. And, as someone who is a devout follower of Christ, I am seeing Christians everywhere - the real ones - not these blasphemous Deus Vult dominionists, but the people who really try to follow the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, standing up in protest against the darkness of oligarchy, kakistocracy and fascism.

The fall of Orban was, as you point out, truly significant. The misbegotten (and I believe archonic or demonic - depending on how you think about it) authors of Project 2025 touted Orban's regime as THE model for conservative governance. Basically squeezing the working people until they are wage slaves living in fear of everything, and brainwashed by North Korean level propaganda, while the rich elites live high on the hog with more than they will ever need.

Now cracks are appearing in that facade of fear, and those who tell us the Trump government is here to stay so we should be afraid are now silent. Oh, they will try to steal the upcoming elections, and we must still fight tooth and nail for this republic, but the tide has turned.

Can you feel it?

[chicago guy]

4. Not in rural America

While I do believe that trump followers have are fading away in some areas. They are still strong in rural communities. In central Wisconsin they are very vocal and believe that trump is doing a great job. I can’t for the life of me understand how these country folk figure that he is good for them.

[progressoid]

8. Indeed.

I blame the media they consume.

[Aristus]

17. 'Country folk' love to see themselves as hard-headed, practical, shrewd,

no-nonsense, horse-tradin’ salt of the earth people.

Because all that sounds so much better than dumbfuck illiterate rednecks.

[niyad]

5. Not quickly enough!

[AZ8theist]

6. I don't give a shit about "Trumpism" dying.....

But I am going to celebrate BIGLY when the treasonous, imbecilic, vile pig HIMSELF is FUCKING DEAD.

[Fil1957]

7. Yesterday my favorite MAGA on Facebook was both sidesing Trump defiling Christianity. I let him have it saying

among other things Trump constantly lies, is a felon, adjudicated rapist, alleged pedophile and some have said that he's the Antichrist among a few other things. BTW these folks are Christians as you'd expect. I am not.

I thought after that my MAGA might unfriend me. But he didn't, and didn't even respond to my post. However, one of HIS MAGA friends gave a rather lackadaisical response as a sort of defense. It was pretty weak tea actually.

I'm starting to think that many hardcore MAGAS are getting tired of his bullshit and are no longer able to convince themselves he is their god king.

[Aussie105]

9. Trumpism is fading - I wonder why?

Perhaps the Bigly Tough bluff & bluster and the undelivered promises from Trump are having an effect?

Even the thickest voter must be keeping a vague tally of negatives and positives generated by this administration.

Smarter people worked out that Trump was crass and bloviating way back in The Apprentice days.

[QueerDuck]

10. But the hate and bigotry and racism and misogyny and homophobia remain.

This is, and always will be, the underlying fuel for any movement like MAGA. Even here in liberal blue Maryland, I do not feel safe.

[Skittles]

14. yup

Obama's election was like a bright shining light that made these bigots emerge from under their rocks - then Trump made them feel LOUD AND PROUD.....current events may make them creep back under those rocks but they'll still be there, awaiting the chance to emerge again.......guaranteed.

[3Hotdogs]

11. Why is Trump declining in popularity? Maybe 15% of Maggots were pissed about the Second Coming.

The rest have filled their tanks in the last week.

[calimary]

12. Yep! We can ALL take a lesson from this.

Trends fascinate me. The changeable nature of the public, and what an impact that has on how people think, shop, interact, AND vote. That last paragraph is the juiciest of all!

[Danascot]

13. Gas and groceries nt

[dalton99a]

18. +1

[yankee87]

15. Trumpism yes, fascism no

There will also be an appetite for fascism from the 1% and the bottom 40%. Remember, even as the republicans put us into the Great Depression, still got 40% of the vote. Also, the 1% own almost all the media and apps. I don't believe they will go down without a fight.

[Martin Eden]

16. Behind "Trumpism" are billionares who own vast swaths of our technological and media landscape

The fascist oligarchy confronting us runs deeper than one cultish demagogue.

Trumpism proved that far too many American voters are fools, easily conned by propaganda that pushes their emotional buttons of bigotry and grievance.

Trump will die, but the threat to our democracy does not die with him.