I long ago lost interest in trying to understand Donald Trump. Instead, I have wanted to figure out his staunch followers.
I think we know enough about Trump already. His actions say he is a white nationalist. Another way of saying that is he is a nationalist who is a white supremacist.
On top of that, he is ignorant of how the federal government works or how foreign relations work. Conservative columnist George Will asserts that Trump not only does not know anything, but he also does not know what it is to know something.
Further, some prominent mental health experts say Trump has Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Some of these professionals say it is malignant narcissism, a combination of narcissism and psychopathic leanings. This malady makes him dangerous.
But there is one thing that Trump knows, and that makes him more dangerous than even the mental health experts claim. Trump knows people—not necessarily individuals, but the masses.
For years I have argued that con men and right-wing Republicans know something that progressives and Democrats do not. They know that enough of the people are gullible and easily misled. They make their living on this knowledge.
Trump is both a con man and a right-wing Republican. What con men, right-wing Republicans, and Donald Trump know is that if you want someone to know something—whether true or false—you tell them, and tell them, and tell them, and tell them so more.
In Kansas City last week Trump told his supporters, “Just remember: What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” This act suggested an answer to my question, how do I understand Trump’s followers.
On the surface this statement seems outlandish; it is a lot less so if you consider it communication between a cult leader and his followers. Several weeks ago Senator Bob Corker suggested that the Republican Party was in a “cult-like” situation with the President.
I am willing to declare much of the Republican Party a cult, as 84 percent of them approve of the way he is governing. One definition of a cult is a social group defined by its religious or philosophical beliefs and its common interest in (and obedience to) a particular personality. If Donald Trump is not a cult leader, he is bordering on it.
Some cults are religious in orientation, but others are not. Jim Jones and Charles Manson were two well-known cult leaders in recent American history; Jim Jones and his followers were religious, Charles Manson and his murderous followers were not.
Cult followers tend to believe what the leader says, neglecting contrary evidence. The NBC News Poll last May reported that three-fourths (76%) of Republicans believe Trump tells the truth “most of the time.” They think this even though several news agencies regularly keep tabs and report on his lies. The Washington Post said that through May 2018 Trump had made 3,251 false statements since he became president, an average of 6.5 a day. Nevertheless, among the 22 percent of Republicans who say Trump tells the truth only some of the time or less, over half still approve of his work as president.
Another bit of bad news is that only 54 percent of likely voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president. The optimist would view this as good news since it is more than one-half of likely voters. It would be even better news if they acted on their beliefs and worked to remove Trump and his supporters in Congress from office.