In addition to these ideas on racism, a lot of people are missing that Trump is very skillfully using phatic expression to establish his position of authority,

In addition to these ideas on racism, a lot of people are missing that Trump is very skillfully using phatic expression to establish his position of authority, which cannot be countered with reason or logic. Trump may be using English words, but he isn't really expressing information to the people that are voting for him. Instead, this kind of phatic language is about posturing and dominance. I highly recommend reading this[1] blog post that explains how this difference is a language barrier. While it was written about the "intelligent design" drama, the basic ideas it presents apply broadly. Similar to how belief in "intelligent design" is more than just resistance to science, support for Trump is more than just latent racism. Incidentally, this is why John Oliver's "Drumph" name calling can work. It's not about what it sounds like, or even that it involves Trump's old family name. It works because it is speaking the same type of language (phatic expression) in a way that makes Trump look weak. It knocks Trump down a step in the social hierarchy. [1] http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2007/05/31/more-than-just-resistance-of-s/ http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2007/05/31/more-than-just-resi...