I think it's really pretty simple. I grew up in Tennessee and Kentucky, two states where Trump has a lot of supporters. The fact is that Trump appeals to the worst side of people. Many of these people ARE racist and hateful. They feel powerless because they have been silenced. They're not confused. Trump gives them reason to believe they can be this way without condemnation. They won't say this openly. They'll latch on to any "political" reasoning he gives them. Hitler amassed millions of followers. Those people knew what they were doing too. That was only seventy years ago. There are a great many people in this world who are kind and loving and try to do the right thing. For most of us it's immediately obvious who Trump is and what his true intentions are. But, there are also a great many who are the other way. Trump appeals to them. Notice the front page posts of r/The_Donald. Nearly all of them are posts belittling and stripping the dignity from people who oppose Trump. This is what they truly want at the deepest level. They want to destroy the morale others who stand in the way of what they see as their rise to power, because all their power is based on taking it from others. They need someone to be the enemy. If you say anything that appeals to their decency they'll ban you and cackle about it, and justify it with some flimsy reasoning. Those of us with right minds can be baffled by how blatant their malice and hypocrisy is, because we learned so early on about common goodness. A lot of people are trying to view Trump and his supporters through the lens of culture and politics but I think its much simpler. Trump is basically evil and attracts others with the same disposition.