Ever since Donald Trump first ran for president, we’ve been hearing the same thing from Democrats and old-schoolers in the GOP: Trump Republicans aren’t real Republicans.

Now we have proof of that.

But new research shows that the so-called “base” of the Republican Party isn’t just a poor fit for the GOP. It goes further than that. It’s the polar opposite of what the party has traditionally stood for.

This research shows that people who spread conspiracy theories are, in fact, most likely to call themselves conservatives. But they’re not defined by conservatism. What sets them apart are two distinctive traits:

They are not conscientious.

They like chaos.

The researchers had thought such factors as time on social media, support for Trump, distrust of the mainstream media, or support for the conservative agenda might define the base. But none of them did. “Instead, using statistical analysis, we found that the only reliable explanation was a general desire for chaos — that is, a motivation to disregard, disrupt, and take down existing social and political institutions as a means of asserting the dominance and superiority of one’s own group.”

Parties and parasites

This penchant for chaos and lack of conscientiousness is breathtakingly ironic, because it comes within a party that has long championed two ideals: Personal responsibility and law and order. Being responsible is largely the same as being conscientious — which is exactly what “the base” is not. And chaos is the opposite of order, which explains why those who staged the Capitol insurrection had no qualms about attacking police.

Law and order? Try lawlessness and chaos. That’s what these so-called “Republicans” want. They’re not really Republicans, but opportunists. Leeches. In the last century, they latched on to the Democratic Party and infested it with their chaos, burning crosses and lynching Black people. In the new century, they attacked the Capitol. Then it was the Democrats who kept people from voting; now, it’s the Republicans.

This isn’t about parties. It’s about parasites.

What is the attraction of chaos, though? Why should anyone want to tear things down, rather than build them up — especially institutions built over 2½ centuries? And people who call themselves patriots, no less.

But to them, patriots are rebels who fought the government — whether it’s the British government of King George or the modern U.S. government. It doesn’t matter. The government is the enemy, and the patriots are the victims. It’s that shared sense of victimhood that leads them to want to blow everything up, to create chaos, to break the rules and conduct guerrilla warfare.

They don’t want to win elections legitimately. They want to overthrow the government. They don’t care about policies and they haven’t got the slightest clue about how to govern themselves. Nor do they want to. They want the chaos to continue, because it’s how they thrive.

Chaos-monger in chief

For evidence, look no further than Donald Trump. During four years in office, the chaos-monger in chief had no interest in making policy and accomplished very little. But he did continue to sew chaos by making outrageous statements, scoffing at tradition, and filling the courts with chaos agents meant to disrupt the existing order.

It’s a lot easier to tear something down than build it up. Building things up is something conscientious people do, and these people are not conscientious. They’re worse than the welfare “deadbeats” they love to criticize. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them are on welfare themselves. But of course, if they are, they’ll blame the government for putting them there, because they seldom take personal responsibility for anything. They’re the victims (or so they think). And their plight is the fault of others, specifically, Democrats and “socialists” — a term they apply to everyone they don’t like.

Is it any surprise they refuse to wear masks or get vaccinated against COVID? They say they’re worried about side effects from the vaccine and want the “freedom” to do as they choose... even if it means infecting others and spreading a deadly disease. Perhaps, dare I say it, especially so. No, I don’t think they consciously want the pandemic to continue, but their subconscious inclination toward chaos drives them to do just that.

When Trump wanted to claim credit for the vaccine (one of his few legitimate accomplishments), the chaos crowd booed him. Why? Because he was a sellout in their eyes, at least on that issue. On that issue, he was not — as he usually is — a chaos agent, a rebel without a cause. It was Trump who gave them an excuse to embrace the chaos, who affirmed both their victimhood and their rebellion against cancel culture and political correctness.

And, further, against ideas such as decency, respect, and equality.

Perpetuating problems

People have marveled how so many working-class Americans relate to a millionaire playboy. But that’s not what they relate to. They relate to his false victimhood and his desire to blow up a system they see as unfair... to them. Much of their victimhood is a figment of their imagination, but it serves a purpose. It’s a rationalization that gives them an excuse to spread more chaos.

The chaos isn’t necessarily a means to an end. It’s an end in itself. Where many people find it exhausting, even debilitating, they find it exhilarating. They don’t want to solve the immigration problem or end the pandemic or win the imaginary war on Christmas or outlaw abortion or anything else. Traditional Republicans want these things, but the chaos faction, the base, does not. They want to keep complaining about them so they can keep playing the victim and keep sowing anarchy.

It’s become their identity, their raison d’être.

Why do you think Trump keeps complaining about the 2020 election instead of working to elect Republicans in 2022? He does not care about electing Republicans in 2022, even if he winds up getting a second term two years later. A Republican Congress only helps a president who wants to accomplish things. Trump does not. The only thing he wants to accomplish is perpetuating his own victimhood, because it keeps him in control and allows him to keep sowing chaos.

Think about it. If Trump cared about Republicans, he wouldn’t have threatened to run as an independent if they spurned him in 2016. He wouldn’t have sabotaged the Georgia Senate races. He wouldn’t trash-talk and try to undermine Republicans who don’t share his desire to play the victim and spread chaos.

Progress? Solutions? Don’t make me laugh. That’s the last thing the purveyors of chaos want.

They want anarchy. They want rebellion.

They are truly rebels without a cause, and the effects, whenever they succeed, are catastrophic.

Stephen H. Provost is the author of three books on the Trump era, the “Trumpism on Trial” series focusing on Trump’s methods, his relationship with the media, and evangelicals’ embrace of him. All three books are available on Amazon.