Why do millions of Americans vote for Donald Trump? In the latest episode of 30 with Guyon Espiner, author Mark Manson takes a stab at it.
The US presidential election race is close - it's very close. Latest modelling suggests an almost even possibility of either Democract Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump winning the White House on 5 November.
Just as in New Zealand, a cost of living crisis fuelled by high inflation has made the current administration unpopular with many people. And as in Europe, a lot of voters are worried about immigration - the pressure it places on public services and the cultural changes that come along with it.
There are other reasons voters have for wanting a change from the status quo, which vice-president Harris more-or-less represents.
But for many people outside of the US, it is hard to understand how Trump is acceptable as an alternative. He's said and done countless things which would have been instantly disqualifying for a candidate in the past. Why is he still electable?
American author Mark Manson has sold over 20 million books, including the best-seller The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F…. He is this week's guest on RNZ's 30' with Guyon Espiner and gave his view on the Trump question.
* 30 with Guyon Espiner comes out every week on RNZ, Youtube, TVNZ+ and wherever you get podcasts.
Trump has the support of tens of millions of Americans who want him as their president for a second term. Photo: ALON SKUY / AFP
Many people outside of the US don't understand there is a very large part of the population there that's very religious and very socially conservative, Manson says.
Over a few decades, many socially conservative, religious views have fallen out of favour in mainstream culture.
"In fact, they're kind of looked down upon. They're seen as taboo, they're judged quite harshly," Manson says.
"And so there's just this very large contingent of people in the United States who feel like the culture has kind of left them behind, doesn't take them seriously, doesn't listen to them, doesn't respect their ideas.
"And I think when you feel like you've been subjected to that for multiple decades, when a person comes along, when a politician comes along, and clearly doesn't give a f…, will say anything, will offend anybody, will not apologise for any of his views. I think there's something cathartic about that for a lot of people.
"I think it makes a lot of people not only feel seen and heard, but I think … there's a little bit of a 'getting even' feeling with them. And so they actually like it when Trump pisses off people living on the coast, when he says something offensive that everybody gets worked up about … or, you know, when he gets indicted for another court case.
"It feeds into that narrative that they've been overlooked and disrespected for all these years."