It begs the question - were they always thinking this stuff and now feel entitled to say it out loud? Or are they being coaxed by propaganda generated by some of our nations enemies in order to break apart our country? Is this all one big state-sponsored psy-ops attack by a foreign country?

I don't know. But it sure as hell scares the hell out of me.

It's propaganda meant to put the stooges for the ultra wealthy in power so I wouldn't be surprised to see it elsewhere in the world. They have NO policies other than "cut expenditures for the wealthy" (taxes, regulations, etc) so they have to use propaganda outlets to foment a culture war that they can then "fight for you" to get your vote.

I do have hard feelings for those that succumb to the propaganda as they have to want some of these hateful things, but I REALLY LOATHE the propagandists. There is no word in the English language that properly conveys just how much hatred I have for them, people like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson. I don't like to wish death on anyone, but god would the world be a better place without them and people like them.

Religion

I am European. I seriously can’t understand why USA conservatives (referring strictly to republicans in this case) are so extremely regressive to the point of hurting themself.

Because Trump ushered in an era where the only "strong" Republican is one willing to hurt "Others". One who never apologizes when they're wrong, but instead doubles down. One who is willing to step on whoever it takes to get to the top, especially if the people being stepped on are "them".

The entire party is all Trump all the time, and the only way to survive in today's GOP is to either (a) Be Trump, or (b) be willing to openly ratchet up the cruelty. And while I disagree with people like Liz Cheney on just about every policy issue in existence, she at least tried to bring the GOP back to what it was before Trump, and look what happened to her and others who tried to do the same thing.

These Republicans are so regressive to the point of self-sabotage because the MAGA base is still large enough to dictate their political careers and they'll accept nothing less. MAGA may only be a portion of the GOP voting base, but that portion is large enough where it's nearly impossible for a Republican to win without them.

It's not all that different from some far-right political parties in European countries. Vox in Spain, for example, has nostalgia for the Franco regime and would just love to nullify people's divorces. I mean, talk about extremely regressive. How about Italy's extreme right-wing party? They successfully nullified some adoptions. Those are two examples I know from Europe, but I think there are other European countries with extremist political parties that are gaining traction.

Because they think it makes them look "tough" in front of other like-minded idiots. Thats the thing they care most about. Not compassion, or equality, or anything like actual fairness...just trying to look "tough".

The genuinely treat the constitution as a religious document akin to the Bible. The writer have thought of everything and made room for everything. Btw slaves were totally cool cause they were loved by their owners. This is what I gather from hearing my family speak

Well Trump said way back that not paying taxes made him a smart businessman. So he essentially acknowledged not paying taxes, but there was no real investigation into that and Republicans and supporters agreed he was smart for not paying taxes.

It isn't exactly a matter of wanting or not wanting to see it. You know the addage "any news is good news?" By posting content that keeps a person and their commentary in the forefront of people's minds, that person gains an audience. That audience will contain people who can be swayed by the snake oil, but who would otherwise be reasonable. Or in short, posting their content facilitates radicalization.

That said, while content from harmful influential people needs to be approached with caution, I don't see this as promoting Trump's action/behaviors. To me it reads more like a "not the onion" headline. I'd be disappointed if anyone felt that the death penalty was warranted for late tax filing, but I suppose it's possible.

Does Lemmy have a way to filter keywords? It would be helpful for people to be able to blacklist keywords so a user could choose to avoid seeing, for example, news about Trump or content with sensitive topics.

Trump is well aware, and possibly proud of, the fact that statements from him can lead to real world violence.

There's no "possibly". He is proud of it, and he's attempted to directly call for violence on multiple occasions since 1/6. Fortunately, it only actually worked the one time. But it did permanently force everybody to take his calls to violence seriously since he only needs one well-armed MAGA moron to do some serious damage, and his base has proven that there are plenty of people out there waiting for that call.

Yep, he's grasping at straws to stay relevant. If there's one thing he knows, it's how to manipulate the media. And right now the only way he can get their attention to post what he says, is if he says something truly outlandish and more "trumpy" than other political commentators from conservative outlets.