The Atlantic: “The events of January 6 were the actions of only a few thousand of the most rabid Trump supporters, and in the days immediately afterward, some observers, including Trump allies, were quick to point out that they did not represent the mass of Trump faithful. But in the weeks since, the two factions have converged. During the Senate hearings, Trump’s attorneys argued that his impeachment was somehow a slap in the face of the 74 million Americans who’d voted for him to be reelected. Conflating the two groups might seem like a cynical ploy and unfair to those who merely voted for Trump, if not for the fact that polling shows this larger group has mostly come to accept and even applaud the insurrection.”

“Lining up behind a man who fomented this assault on the country’s government would require a sort of political nihilism – and in fact such a thing is common among Republicans. Two-thirds of Trump voters said that the 2016 election was ‘the last chance to stop America’s decline.’ In September, 83 percent of Republicans in a YouGov poll said the American way of life was under threat. Driving through eastern North Carolina this summer, I saw billboards that read SAVE AMERICA. VOTE REPUBLICAN. Trump’s incessant false claims since November 3 that the election had been stolen only reinforced this apocalyptic thinking, by seeming to confirm that what rightly belonged to Trump and his backers had already been seized from them. A group of voters that believes the fate of the country sits in the balance is a group that will be willing to countenance attacking the bedrock of the nation – democratic elections and peaceful transfers of power – in order to defend it. They will also be more likely to subscribe to far-flung conspiracy theories like QAnon, which offers the illusory hope that there is a shadowy plan afoot that will save the country from whatever they perceive as a threat.”