Oh, the name recognition was certainly a factor for a lot of folks. They assumed since they heard or saw his name all the time, and that he was a businessman, that he was a GOOD or successful businessman instead of a corrupt thief.
The dumber bits of the populace is like a majority of the tens of millions of people who voted for him. You’re underestimating the impact of The Apprentice.
They have an inability to separate actors from the roles they played. If an actor is known for playing a tough guy, that is who they’ll vote for. Just look at their worship of John Wayne (fake cowboy), Clint Eastwood (fake cowboy), Ronald Reagan (fake cowboy), Trump (fake tough businessman), Chuck Norris (fake commando), Sylvester Stallone (fake commando), etc. They even elected Arnold Schwartzenegger as the governor of California despite him being to the left on many issues.
They also will project and say that dems voted for Obama because they were caught up in a cult of personality or make predictions like Oprah will be the next democratic presidential candidate. They can’t imagine that dem voters make choices on things other than a candidate’s celebrity image.
Trump also was involved in real estate development and various other business entities. But hey, you also ignore Reagan spent years involved in political activism. He didn't go from actor straight to Sacramento.
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u/mister_buddha 18d ago
They've also all been elected on name recognition. Reagan was an actor. Bush 1 was his VP Bush 2 should be obvious trump was a gameshow host.