Joseph Sabino Mistick: Trump knows how to feed fears

With each report of a new Donald Trump indictment or target letter, the polls show Trump solidifying support. And some political commentators continue to announce this phenomenon breathlessly, amazed at Trump’s polls as his legal troubles get worse.

What they still miss, and what they should have learned years ago, is that much of Trump’s support has nothing to do with Trump; it is really about the frustrations and fears of his supporters. And they are not all wrong.

But Trump is a master at feeding those fears. He knows the right words and attitudes to whip up the resentment they continue to feel, that sense that they have been left behind, that nobody cares. He targets people who will bond with those words, people who do not care about the character of the man who is saying those words, but someone who seems to appreciate their plight.

Peggy Noonan, Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter and now a Wall Street Journal columnist, recently wrote about being approached at a party by a former New York officeholder and Trump supporter who cited the Abraham Accords and the economy, and said to her, “Surely you can admit he was a good president.”

Noonan said that because the man was “all wound up,” she spoke slowly. “ ‘I will tell you what he is: He is a bad man. I know it, and if I were a less courteous person I would say that you know it, too.’

“He was startled, didn’t reply, and literally took a step back. Because, I think, he does know it. But doesn’t ever expect it to be said.”

Most people, including some Trump supporters, surely know what Noonan knows. But Trumpers stick with Trump in spite of that, as he gets indicted, mocks the disabled, hurls juvenile insults wildly, denigrates war heroes and belittles our military, launches an insurrection, tries to fix an election, discloses government secrets to our enemies, cozies up to dictators and feathers his family’s financial nest. And he lies. He tells lies upon lies. New lies that contradict old lies.

Maybe the satisfaction some people get from supporting Donald Trump — even though they know he is not a good man — is not unlike the buzz some guys from the neighborhood got when they bought a hot suit out of the trunk of somebody’s car. They knew it wasn’t right, but finally, they had caught a break, evened the score just a little bit and stuck it to the man.

But, sadly, the stakes are higher here, for our nation as well as for Trump. When you cut through all the baloney — the misdirection and the lies and the false bravado — Trump is running for president to preserve his last chance to stay out of jail.

If he wins, he will change the rules, maybe even pardon himself. They do things like that in banana republics. It may be his only chance to survive all that is coming his way.