Part of the phenomena has its origins on the polarization of the political system --- Trump uses to exploit venues detected by pollsters at his service: he emphasizes attitudes and opinions held by a segment of society to build and keep a base of support. It is one of the reasons why Trump’s atacks resonate in that segment of the public he is precisely aiming at with laser precision. Trump gives voice in the high stakes political arena to the concerns of groups of people that feel left behind by traditional political figures and parties. When seeing him acting Trump’s followers feel he is fighting for them on issues they care a lot. The frustration accumulated by decades by those segments of the public provides the context under which his heavy-handed tactics and expressions provoque a catarsis for troubled citizens that feel left out by the political process while their standards of leaving were diminishing. Trump’s discourse aims to tap on political passions (sometimes low-ones: resentment; hate; fury, and the like...).

Source author: Eric Suzán Reed esuzan@sre.gob.mx