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Some will say it's that he's not a politician, that he speaks his mind , that he keeps his promises, cares about the average American, blah, blah, blah...

I have family members that have been reeled into this Trump cult so I know from first hand observation the REAL reason Trump's supporters are so obsessed with him.

Here it is ....     Donald Trump gives his crowd permission to be the very worst of themselves.  Let me say that again. Trump gives his followers permission  to be  their very worst selves.   My mother, for example, is a wonderful woman. Very loving, great mother, always been there for her children.  However, like all of us, mom has some less than sterling beliefs. Mom is a xenophobe. We have known it for many years.  We've heard the comments at the dinner table about the "damned foreigners" that are taking over the country.  We have seen her face get red when she hears an Indian or a Middle Easterner talking in their native language at Walmart. "Why do they wear that garb?" she will say if she sees  someone in their native dress.   

What started out as being confined to conversations at the dinner table has now manifested itself as weekly proud rants on Facebook. Mom, like many other Trump followers, now feels a freedom to be who they are and say publicly what they have only said in private for years. Because of Donald, they feel empowered . They feel their beliefs, no matter how nasty, have been validated by their President.  Donald's rhetoric strikes a real chord in the hearts and minds of his followers. He validates what they have thought and felt behind closed doors for decades. He has freed them from the bonds of decency and civility and has given them permission to be the be the worst of themselves.  Empowerment, validation, and freedom to openly express their deepest, darkest feelings is the emotional equivalent of a drug and they find it intoxicating , exhilarating and irresistible.

This is going to hit too close to home for many. Responses thus far are indicative of that.  

Your family is much like many of ours.  They are afraid of a changing America that isn't familiar to them.  That fear causes them to ignore their morals.   Hatred is a uniter Trumpism is built on, and it counts on displaced American frustration for support.  They use the less fortunate to distract from the real reason people are struggling and suffering in this nation.

I knew that it would and I thought long and hard before posting it. I've seen it proved by observing and talking to (and arguing with) family, friends, and even colleagues. I know what I'm saying is as real as gravity.  The country's demographics continue to change and the population continues to become less white and more brown. Some older white guys have become fearful of losing their "stuff" and their way of life from "back in the good old days."   This fear leads to anger and frustration and even hatred. They begin to cling to conspiracy theories and idolize con men people like Trump who tell them it's okay to feel the way they feel.  Sorry, but it is what it is.

Truth is 70% of white Americans have more in common with the black and brown communities than they do with these elitist oligarchical leaders they worship.  I would go out on a limb and say that number is 95% for those of us who live in Appalachia.

You are absolutely right!  I have written numerous articles in local newspapers trying to hammer home this very point. The people in SE KY have much more in common with the minority communities than they do people like McConnell ,  Hal Rodgers, and Donald Trump.  I concur with you that it's 90+ % .  Yet, for generations they have voted against their own self-interests in favor of the top 1%. It's mind-numbing.

Charles Booker is attempting to make some in-roads with the Hood to the Holler movement.  I hope can help unite this state against the politicians that have mired us all in a socio-economic swamp.  The same apathy that minorities have been treated with is directed at white Kentuckians as soon as they pull that lever (e.g.,  the miniscule effort to help replace the death of tobacco and coal (they feigned to protect) while they rose to political power and allowed Big Pharma to pump drugs into the state). 

Kentuckians need to wake up and realize the damage their Republican leanings have caused our state and this nation.