The recent midterm elections delivered a stinging defeat to Donald Trump and his allies, offering millions around the world a moment of pure schadenfreude. As Trump denies any responsibility for the Republican losses, observers find humor in watching his most dedicated supporters endure his increasingly erratic behavior.
A Spectacular Loss Brings Relief
The last couple of days have been very bad for Donald Trump. In his usual style, he is denying that the Republican loss at the midterms has anything to do with him, but the outcome is undeniable. While there are fears that Democrats will not use this decisive moment to take meaningful action, the spectacle has been undeniably fun to watch.
Seeing so many conservatives lose in such a spectacular way has blessed millions across the globe with powerful schadenfreude. It is a much-needed moment of relief, an experience of positivity to rejuvenate our ailing nervous systems. Sometimes you just need to see some terrible people have a terrible time.
Supporters Endure Body Talk
For Rebecca Shaw, the icing on the cake has been watching Trump supporters watch Trump describe other men's bodies in detail. The hardcore fans, the ones dedicated enough to stand behind him on international television, were recently forced to smile and applaud as he described Republican senator John Husted in ways that would not be out of place in a Heated Rivalry novel.
Trump said: "I examined his ass … and then I looked at his shoulders. I looked at his feet. I looked at his hand. I looked at his jawline. Studied him. He's got a jawline."
In even more wonderful news, in this instance, sex did not sell – Trump's man crush suffered a crushing defeat in the midterms. But Trump is still president, and we don't know where things will go from here. We have to find humour where we can in this world, and the fact that these Maga people must appear to enjoy him sexually objectifying strong men is really funny.
Football Boredom Adds to the Comedy
These are people who have spent years insisting on the narrowest, straightest possible definition of masculinity. At a rally in Oklahoma last month, they stood as Trump randomly talked about "big, strong, handsome Oklahoma studs" he had seen outside, and brought a couple of them on stage to examine, as if they were horses.
The tests of their loyalty keep getting better. In addition to his ongoing tour of man-meat monologues, last week Trump came out and said football was boring – in front of a crowd of Trump supporters who undoubtedly mostly love football. In a country struggling to afford fuel and groceries, where many find comfort in the sport, his bald-faced indifference to the people who idolise him is extremely funny.
A Question of Loyalty
Trump's supporters have spent years deriding men who aren't as cartoonishly masculine as they would like. Now they have to stand behind a soft-handed, lame-duck president who thinks football is boring, and who can't stop talking about spectacularly built men and ballrooms. They have been clapping and smiling and hopefully dying a bit inside.
I don't know what Trump will be like from this point forward, or what parts of the anatomy he might move on to over the next two years. I do know that these people have already seen what years of this man and his party has done, how pathetic he is, the horrible things that have happened under his watch. Yet they've continued to show up. I suspect many of them will continue to stand with him long after the midterms.
