this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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As Donald Trump dominates the GOP nomination race and some of his inflammatory comments find favor with the party faithful, CBS News measured how the public feels about his "poisoning the blood" language. A striking number of voters agree with this description of immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally, and among Republicans, associating the remarks with Trump himself makes them even likelier to agree.

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[–] PugJesus@kbin.social 164 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

"Most Republicans are literal fucking fascists."

I wish I could say I was surprised.

and among Republicans, associating the remarks with Trump himself makes them even likelier to agree.

But it's not a cult. /s

[–] takeda@lemmy.world 40 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Those people were always there but in a small enough number that they were themselves ashamed to admit it.

What trump did is he united all those people together into a larger group.

It is crazy, but before he won primaries in 2016, the GOP was actually opening to accept LGBT, and they believed they would lose without expanding their base. trump show that they didn't have to.

[–] PugJesus@kbin.social 33 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Bring back shame for these fucking cretins.

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[–] thantik@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I mean, hasn't it grown way beyond the definition of a cult by being like...half of the US? It's fucked up, sure - but aren't cults by definition generally "small"?

This is millions of people. I'm not excusing it, it's fucked. But I feel like "cult" only serves to place it in a light of "oh this is only a few crazy people"...nah...this is HALF of the USA. You should be gearing up to fight your neighbors if this shit lands. It's not some silly little group like the word 'cult' implies.

[–] PugJesus@kbin.social 17 points 9 months ago

I mean, one describes Mussolini as having a cult of personality, but that was still most of 1930s Italy following him. I think cult is still appropriate.

[–] timmy_dean_sausage@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's not half of the US population. It's around 30% of eligible voters (as of 2022). That's still a huge number of people (74 million), but it's a lot less than half..

[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

Yeah, it's only half of the people that actually vote, which turns out to be about 30% overall because 40% of us can't be bothered to vote at all.

[–] ech@lemm.ee 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I don't think anyone saying it's a cult is implying it's a small group. I'm not sure that's a fundamental feature of a cult to begin with.

[–] thantik@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Oxford Dictionary lists the definition of "Cult" as

a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.

And that's what I was taught it meant as well.

[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Really? This is the first result from the Oxford Dictionary:

A particular form or system of religious worship or veneration, esp. as expressed in ceremony or ritual directed towards a specified figure

https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=cult

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[–] frezik@midwest.social 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Or just not thinking of the implications. "Dilluting the blood" can given multiple interpretations, almost all of which are racist, but some more racist than others.

A suburban dad who lives across the street from some black neighbors may not think they should be enslaved or killed off, but does wish they would live somewhere else. He might interpret the phrase in that context. Then his daughter might start dating their son, and now he starts ranting at dinner.

He votes for Trump, but Trump is being pushed other people who very much do want to enslave or kill black people.

Even at its height, fascism never had a majority. It barely cobbled together a reasonable sized plurality. If it were just people who supported their policies as stated with few reservations, they wouldn't even have that. Slippery statements like these are there to attract the adjacent right wingers to support actions they never would otherwise.

[–] PugJesus@kbin.social 5 points 9 months ago (3 children)

A suburban dad who lives across the street from some black neighbors may not think they should be enslaved or killed off, but does wish they would live somewhere else. He might interpret the phrase in that context.

That's still fascism, man. Ethnic cleansing is core to fascism.

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[–] Rapidcreek@lemmy.world 106 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Trump’s mother and two of his three wives (who birthed four children) are immigrants

[–] ChemicalPilgrim@lemmy.world 48 points 9 months ago (1 children)

European immigrants. They're keeping their eye on the ball - racial purity.

[–] TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 37 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You guys didn't used to count people with names like Ivana or Melania as 'white'

[–] ComradePorkRoll@lemmy.world 36 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This is why Critical Race Theory needs to be taught in schools. Think of how far from fascism we would be if we all learned in primary school how "white" excluded the Irish, Italian, Jewish, etc. until it was useful to include them against people of color.

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[–] Carmakazi@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Nazi race theory changed multiple times throughout the war depending on which way the wind was blowing. It's a feature, not a bug.

Right now white supremacy is a somewhat disparate ideology, so they can't be too picky about who is and isn't white. That comes after they seize power and make headway in driving out or killing off the targeted opposition.

[–] cultsuperstar@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But they're white immigrants so that makes them okay.

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[–] asteriskeverything@lemmy.world 49 points 9 months ago

A striking number of voters agree with this description of immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally, and among Republicans, associating the remarks with Trump himself makes them even likelier to agree.

  1. They assume ALL brown people are immigrants AND illegal
  2. That second part is just more cult shit in the alt right cult barrel
[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 43 points 9 months ago (1 children)

"Poisoning the blood" is one of the most overtly Nazi phrases I've ever heard.

[–] CobblerScholar@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Might as well be the 14 words. Either way it means the same thing, if you call yourself a GOP Republican you are an enemy of the constitution and a traitor to its values. You may not believe that but the GOP leaders clearly do and if there are 9 people and a vocal white supremacist Nazi are a table you have 10 Nazis at a table

[–] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 29 points 9 months ago

That’s because republicans are fascist swine.

[–] hark@lemmy.world 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The problems didn't start with and will not end with trump. The republican party has been terrible for a long time now. Democrats insist that there are still decent republicans and that we can still work with them, but this is a fantasy akin to claiming there are good nazis and that they can be worked with in any reasonable capacity.

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[–] Olgratin_Magmatoe@startrek.website 15 points 9 months ago

During the rise of nazis in Germany, there were quite a few Americans who sympathized with the nazis, and there was even an American nazi party at one point.

WW2 just told them they needed to be quiet and stealthy. They didn't really go anywhere, and their influence over the GOP has only grown.

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I don't buy into any of that racist and nationalistic garbage, but isn't he then saying his own kids are less because of who he, Trump, chose as their mothers?

[–] PugJesus@kbin.social 33 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No, because the addendum implicit in the dog whistle is that it's only NONWHITE immigrants who are "poisoning the blood".

[–] superduperenigma@lemmy.world 29 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Don't forget the second addendum: once they take care of the non-white problem, they'll start making the definition of "white" more and more strict to keep the hate machine running.

Looking at you Catholics, Italians, Irish, Polish, and anyone else who isn't a white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant.

[–] dirthawker0@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Those divisions already exist. Back in 2007 I met a guy who belonged to some Christian sect and he didn't consider Catholics to be Christian, which blew my mind since Catholics were there first. Even back in the 60s Kennedy broke the mold of those who said the US would never have a Catholic president.

[–] djsoren19@yiffit.net 6 points 9 months ago

Because they existed a long, long time ago. As the straight white conservative male hegemony has lost power, the number of people they're allowed to hate has shifted accordingly. Now they're okay with any kind of Catholicism, any shade of white, and you can be a woman as long as you're okay with being sexually assaulted. If they ever managed to regain their stronghold majority in politics, there's no doubt in my mind they'd start turning on themselves as the old divisions started to come through.

[–] prole@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 months ago

Yeah but that's thinking too far ahead for Republican voters. The leopards would never eat their face.

[–] WarmSoda@lemm.ee 5 points 9 months ago

Doesn't apply to him. Because reasons. And stupidity.

[–] 108@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Do they know he is married to an immigrant?

[–] cogman@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

She's also white. Republicans don't care about white immigrants.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 13 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Honestly, out of the poll the thing that surprises me the most is that 71% of all participants think Trump will beat Biden if he's nominated. That's a huge margin.

[–] Jordan117@lemmy.world 31 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Note that this question (#13) was only asking "likely Republican primary voters."

To me, the most disturbing stat was #19, the 50-50 split among all likely voters between valuing "a strong economy" versus "a functioning democracy."

[–] Osa-Eris-Xero512@kbin.social 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Given that kind of false dichotomy, i wouldn't have been surprised at /any/ result

[–] osarusan@kbin.social 5 points 9 months ago

Yeah, talk about a loaded, dishonest question. When you're willing to poison the well that much, you can come to any conclusion you like.

[–] asteriskeverything@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

Sounds about white.

[–] Srh@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Most people joined the Nazi party because it got them a job. Fascism lures people in with economic false promises.

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[–] Makeitstop@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

Funny how they think Trump has the best chance and the Haley has the worst chance, when the survey itself shows that the opposite is true.

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[–] EdibleFriend@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

And those that didn't say they agree just don't want to agree with out out loud.

[–] GiddyGap@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago

As an immigrant to the US, I gotta say, I don't find this rhetoric very appealing. Quite repulsive, actually.

[–] Bonesince1997@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

All they have are threats and put downs because they lack ideas. Not that that matters, because they are a significant, dangerous lot that festers.

[–] doingthestuff@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I haven't heard the full quote, only the phrase. Can someone share what he said in longer context?

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 5 points 9 months ago

https://youtu.be/v283kLQbe1M?t=46

Starts at the time stamp, about 40 seconds in. You just have to listen for about a minute to get the context of "poisoning our blood" use.

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