Spend a bit of time talking with tradesmen and you'll change your mind on that.
These people aren't stupid - far from it! I work with electricians all day and they're sharp as tacks. But most of 'em have been lied to so long they buy it all, hook, line, and sinker. Quite a few of them get drawn in by the social conservative outlook and then just go along with the rest of it.
Yes, but only about a third of voters are hard-core MAGA. There's a big group in the middle that pays less attention to politics, and swung for Trump mostly for economic reasons.
You don't have to be hardcore MAGA to buy the bullshit. You just have to have the right assumptions beforehand, a limited and biased source of information, and enough lack of interest to not question what you're told. When you're surrounded by similar people with one or two true believers in the mix, you have to make a conscious effort to hear the other side. A lot of people don't do that. "Economy sucks, oh it's Biden's fault? Figures."
These people aren't stupid - far from it! I work with electricians all day and they're sharp as tacks. But most of 'em have been lied to so long they buy it all, hook, line, and sinker. Quite a few of them get drawn in by the social conservative outlook and then just go along with the rest of it.