Political Memes

Sure to an extent, but bombastic doesn't have to mean something with immediate material consequences. Attacks that actually and immediately hurt Americans could've easily waited until the fascists consolidated more power. It's telling that project 2025 says almost nothing about tariffs. Shitty rhetoric and threats to annex Greenland and Canada could've come without the tariffs, that last bit was just Trump being delusional. Hell, tariffs against Canada could've come without tariffs against the EU, and both of these could've come without tariffs against China. A more clever fascist would've manages to tick this box without rocking the boat during their consolidation of power.

I dunno, man. I feel like the material consequences don't really matter. Fascism is an anti-materialist ideology. Suffering will be blamed on 'the libs' for as long as it takes. Hell, I've seen prices of some consumer goods increase 25% this year alone, directly related to the tariffs, and still know people (family, unfortunately) who will swear up and down that the economy and prices have improved. Not even hardcore MAGAts (I know at least one despises Trump, specifically, to the point of not voting for him, despite being otherwise horrifically conservative), just your usual, run-of-the-mill rural or semirural Americans.

People who are trained to do so will almost always prioritize their beliefs over facts.

I remember the Iran thing pissing quite a few MAGAs off. That's what I eas referring to, drastic American action in places MAGAts don't really care about is not a popular proposition among MAGA because those guys actually believe in America First.

I promise you, they would all enthusiastically become supporters of war with Iran if it ever became a serious possibility. The "NO FOREIGN WARS" bit is tossed out as soon as the groupthink starts up. I've watched even non-MAGA conservatives do 180s on issues as soon as the propaganda spins up. I've seen people who were seriously considering volunteering in Ukraine at the start of the war, and vocal supporters of Ukrainian aid, turn into total opponents of Ukrainian military aid (despite still supporting Israeli aid).

Propaganda and community consensus are powerful things, and more powerful amongst conservatives than most.