may in large be dumb, but they aren't that dumb.

I think most of them understand that Trump is a wholly amoral, despicable con artist who would sell them out in a second if he could benefit from doing so. They are comfortable with him being president because they think he will ruthlessly "own the libbz" for them (since they can't actually fend for themselves despite all their blatherings about bootstraps and hard word) and he gives their horrible, frowned-upon worldviews a voice and a sense of mainstream acceptance.

You see, it's not that times have passed these horrible racist idiots by and rendered them and their values ugly relics of the past, it's that the nefarious LIBBZ have gotten the media to tell us that to make these poor victims feel bad about themselves and really they're a "silent majority" of horrible Chads, Karens, Cletuses and Brandenes. It's us who are out of touch, not them. It's us that are cheaters, not them. It's us looking for handouts, not them. And so on. The party of projection and white grievance.