'Con artist': Analyst argues Trump has ulterior motive for priming MAGA men

A Salon columnist issued on Monday a stark warning to male voters ahead of Election Day: that former President Donald Trump may be more interested in their wallets than their votes.

Amanda Marcotte on Monday addressed Trumpworld's "divorced dude energy" by drawing a parallel between the Republican presidential nominee's campaign and what she described as his followers' anti-woman sentiments.

"This downward spiral of self-destruction isn't subtle," Marcotte wrote. "Being a misogynist boor may offer temporary gratification, but in the long or even medium term, it will just make men's problems worse."

Marcotte's analysis comes as Trump allies share bitter complaints about dark rhetoric they say could lose him the election as mainstream Americans distance themselves from his increasingly narrow messaging.

On Sunday, an Iowa pollster known as the "harbinger of doom" for her accurate election predictions said Trump has so isolated older women voters that he could lose the historically red state.

Marcotte argued Trump should be losing male voters too.

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"What Trump is offering men is not concrete or material improvements to their lives," Marcotte wrote. "It's just vibes."

The ultimate goal may not be victory on Election Day but securing the loyalty of rubes primed and ready for MAGA hucksters to whom Trump can sell worthless merch, Marcotte argued.

"Trump's base of insecure and ignorant male voters isn't just useful electorally but offers up a steady supply of marks for shady MAGA-related hustles," Marcotte wrote. "Trump took time out of his 'busy' campaign schedule in August and September to roll out a cryptocurrency scheme, with partners whose profiles were comically on-the-nose: Chase Herro, who calls himself a 'dirtbag of the internet' and Zachary Folkman, who sells 'how to pick up women' classes online."

Marcotte added, "Trump is a con artist."

The columnist pointed to Trump's aligning himself with crypto world bros who openly boast of the "scam" they pull on investors in order to "make so much money."

"Crypto and MAGA are made for each other because both prey largely on male insecurity with false reassurances to their targets that they're secretly the smart ones for buying into this snake oil," Marcotte wrote.

"Tricking men into voting against their self-interest using cheap appeals to toxic masculinity is very on-brand for him."