Nearly half of Republican voters—and their messianic figurehead, Donald Trump—are openly embracing one of the darkest chapters of modern history, endorsing policies that echo the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II or, worse, the grotesque state-led oppression seen in totalitarian regimes. According to a poll—conducted by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI)—a staggering 56% of GOP voters support rounding up undocumented immigrants and locking them in military-run detention camps.
This chilling endorsement is not just a reflection of Trump’s authoritarian rhetoric but a damning indictment of his base, a faction increasingly divorced from democratic norms and unbothered by the stench of militarized xenophobia. These voters—claiming the mantle of “patriotism”—apparently believe that tanks and armed soldiers should police their imagined racial purity.
Even Robert P. Jones, the president of PRRI, admitted to feeling a kind of moral nausea at having to ask these questions in the first place, yet here we are. Trump’s playbook of exploiting baseless fear and resentment to target vulnerable populations seems to be working, with his supporters willing to abandon reason, humanity, and basic arithmetic (since there are far fewer undocumented immigrants than Trump falsely claims).
Trump’s ludicrous suggestion of deporting 21 million people—a number he manufactured out of thin air—is as impractical as it is draconian, requiring a network of camps and a military apparatus that reeks of fascist ambition. Worse, this same demographic cheers him on as he hints at using the military not just against immigrants but against his political enemies—activists, journalists, and anyone daring to challenge his authority—whom he ominously calls “the enemy within.”
What does it say about a political party when nearly half its members are comfortable aligning with policies that would necessitate military force, disregard civil liberties, and perpetuate human suffering on an industrial scale? This isn’t just ignorance; it’s a willful embrace of authoritarian cruelty. If these are the policies Trump and his supporters celebrate, then they are not conservatives—they are extremists masquerading as patriots, and they represent a grave threat to the ideals America claims to stand for.
𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗢𝗣'𝘀 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘁𝘆
Nearly half of Republican voters—and their messianic figurehead, Donald Trump—are openly embracing one of the darkest chapters of modern history, endorsing policies that echo the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II or, worse, the grotesque state-led oppression seen in totalitarian regimes. According to a poll—conducted by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI)—a staggering 56% of GOP voters support rounding up undocumented immigrants and locking them in military-run detention camps.
This chilling endorsement is not just a reflection of Trump’s authoritarian rhetoric but a damning indictment of his base, a faction increasingly divorced from democratic norms and unbothered by the stench of militarized xenophobia. These voters—claiming the mantle of “patriotism”—apparently believe that tanks and armed soldiers should police their imagined racial purity.
Even Robert P. Jones, the president of PRRI, admitted to feeling a kind of moral nausea at having to ask these questions in the first place, yet here we are. Trump’s playbook of exploiting baseless fear and resentment to target vulnerable populations seems to be working, with his supporters willing to abandon reason, humanity, and basic arithmetic (since there are far fewer undocumented immigrants than Trump falsely claims).
Trump’s ludicrous suggestion of deporting 21 million people—a number he manufactured out of thin air—is as impractical as it is draconian, requiring a network of camps and a military apparatus that reeks of fascist ambition. Worse, this same demographic cheers him on as he hints at using the military not just against immigrants but against his political enemies—activists, journalists, and anyone daring to challenge his authority—whom he ominously calls “the enemy within.”
What does it say about a political party when nearly half its members are comfortable aligning with policies that would necessitate military force, disregard civil liberties, and perpetuate human suffering on an industrial scale? This isn’t just ignorance; it’s a willful embrace of authoritarian cruelty. If these are the policies Trump and his supporters celebrate, then they are not conservatives—they are extremists masquerading as patriots, and they represent a grave threat to the ideals America claims to stand for.
https://substack.com/@patricemersault