Redford (the Director) recalled when he first saw Charles Van Doren on the show,
"Watching him and the other contestants was irresistible. The actor in me looked at the show and felt I was watching other actors. It was too much to believe, but at the same time, I never doubted the show. I hadn't had evidence television could trick us. But the merchant mentality was already taking hold, and as we know now, there's little morality there."This is Shapiro, he's saying I'm voting for Trump because the alternative is worse; Shapiro knows he's a schnook and he fantasizes that Trump is too.
The conflict arises within Shapiro because he really knows that Trump is trying to save the West, but he has some asinine inner fear that in doing so, means re-opening Governors Island for "undesirables".