Much has been written about Mr Trump’s appeal to those nostalgic for an imagined past, unsettled by shifting social norms, or wary of rapid change.
He has also proved adept at harnessing anti-establishment sentiment.
Some enthusiastically embrace Mr Trump, particularly within the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement. Others judge the alternative to be worse. For voters who regard abortion as murder, backing for Mr Trump often follows regardless of misgivings.
What has struck Civis recently, however, is the potency of the echo chambers — the way news and opinion are amplified across media, especially social platforms.
The two political camps now inhabit separate realities, each with its own "facts" and narratives. The Epstein files illustrate this, as they are interpreted in astonishingly different ways.
We are all susceptible to selective perception and cognitive dissonance, absorbing what confirms our worldview and filtering out the rest.
Emotion, upbringing, prejudice, tribal loyalty and self-interest routinely overwhelm objectivity.
Civis found this on Fox News eight days ago. While it beggars belief, it would have been lapped up by fervent Trump supporters.
"It has now been confirmed that Donald Trump has spent nearly two decades trying to expose the evil actions of Jeffrey Epstein, starting as far back as 2006, when the future president was already assisting Florida police.
"‘Thank goodness you’re stopping him,’ Trump told a sheriff when word of the 2006 investigation of Epstein got out, adding, ‘Everyone has known he was doing this’, while also telling authorities to focus on Ghislaine Maxwell, who he described as the creepy financier’s ‘evil’ ‘operative’.
"That investigation led to a slap on the wrist for Epstein, who thought he was out of the woods legally, and might have been had it not been for that pesky Palm Beach neighbour named Donald Trump.
"That is because eventually, Trump would become president, and, during his first term, the federal investigation by his Department of Justice into Epstein would be revived, the monster would be arrested, and, well, we all know what happened next.
"Even if Epstein did take the coward’s exit, killing himself and denying his victims and the public a trial and full accounting of his crimes, Trump eliminated the threat. No child would ever be a victim of Epstein again.
"Fast-forward to Trump’s second term and his White House has produced millions of pages of documents surrounding Epstein, even though the president, quite correctly, had expressed fears that innocent people could be harmed by the release."
Yes, you read that correctly. Mr Trump shines through this appalling saga not as a villain but as a thoughtful hero.
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Civis has been asked about the term "chump change," used a fortnight ago in a column on the Dunedin "Town Belt Active Trail Trial."
Civis felt a bit of a chump for using the phrase, not knowing its origins.
Collins Dictionary notes that the term is informal and chiefly used in the United States and Canada. Its usage rose sharply from the mid-1990s, then eased off in recent years.
"Chump" originally referred to a short, thick lump of wood. By the late 1800s, it had entered slang, as in "dumb as a chump of wood" — much like "as thick as two short planks".
In the early 20th century, "chump" came to mean someone victimised by a crime, and thieves and con men spoke of "chumping the suckers" or "chumping a car".
By the late 1960s, "chump change" had emerged from African-American and gangster slang to describe the small sum a chump or sucker would accept.
The term gradually entered mainstream usage to mean a small or insignificant sum.
