President Donald Trump's political supporters have long been described as cult-like, from their willingness to change their ideology based on Trump's whims to their reflexive distrust of established experts. In light of the Republican leader's politically devastating losses in the 2026 midterm elections, these same true believers are now angry at every voter who did not stand by their man, at least according to a recent in-depth study.

"Last week we assembled a focus group of Republicans who voted for President Trump in both 2020 and 2024, and who, except for some local elections, voted straight-ticket Republican in this year’s midterms," wrote polling expert Sarah Longwell in The Bulwark on Sunday.

"In my conversation with these voters, one thing became abundantly clear in their cacophony of cope: They were not blaming Trump," Longwell added. "Instead, they were blaming the GOP candidates on the ticket for being terrible. They were blaming social media for pushing Trump Derangement Syndrome. And they were blaming their fellow Americans, who they insisted were just too brainwashed and emotional to just hold their noses and vote for the terrible candidates that Republicans offered them."

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[–] 34 points 1 day ago* (2 children)

MAGA voters have had outsized media representation. How many sidewalk interviews have I heard with, "I'm not a racist but"?

Now that they are a vanishing minority, it's super annoying to hear about them.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    They are still among us, unfortunately. The floor is somewhere around 25 - 33% of them...short of systemic change to our education system it's not likely to change, and even then, it would be future generations, not the people living today - barring any kind of advancement where people could vastly upgrade their intelligence.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago

    barring any kind of advancement where people could vastly upgrade their intelligence.

    Maybe some kind of a helmet with a built-in vibrator and magnets to stimulate bloodflow to the brain?

    I kid, I kid. That would only work if it was combined with headphones playing audiobooks on 101-level ethics, history, and civics, interspersed with practical instructions on transformational psychology and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.

    Even then they might just view it as torture and would end up taking the helmets off unless they're locked in place like that, and I don't think the ethics board would certify it unless participation is voluntary...

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