The Politics of Our Time by John B. Judis

Author:John B. Judis [Judis, John B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Psychology of Trump’s Support

Trump’s rallies during the campaign and his presidency, punctuated by chants of “USA! USA!” displayed the irrationality that explicit nationalist movements can inspire. The gatherings resembled at times high school pep rallies before a big game with a rival team and at other times angry religious revivals. When Trump would mention illegal immigrants, his followers would shout back in unison, “Build the wall!” He would then ask questions as if he were conducting a responsive reading in church: “Who is going to pay for it?” And they would shout back, “Mexico!” Trump fans also followed his lead in demonizing his opponents—from Jeb Bush to Hillary Clinton.

Trump supporters displayed a credulousness similar to the Tea Party and characteristic of crowds or mobs. They appeared to believe that Trump would get Mexico to pay for a wall and that he would deport 11 million illegal immigrants. Clinton was thought to have already been indicted and wearing an ankle bracelet, to be suffering from Parkinson’s disease or even from AIDS, which she supposedly caught from her promiscuous husband.

Trump’s followers also venerated him in a way that is very characteristic of the leaders of nationalist movements. Instead of being offended by Trump’s self-centered boasting, they saw it as confirmation of his larger self. Freud writes of the masses and their leaders in the wake of World War I, “Even today the members of a group stand in need of the illusion that they are equally and justly loved by their leader; but the leader himself need love no one else, he may be of a masterful nature, absolutely narcissistic, self-confident, and independent.”

Some supporters simply denied as “fake news” reports of Trump’s sexual escapades; others focused on the reactions to them as “political correctness.” But most of his followers, including religious conservatives, simply let these and other apparent moral failings pass them by. After the revelation of Trump’s affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, Robert Jeffress, the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, told Fox News, “Evangelicals know they are not compromising their beliefs in order to support this great president.” That is characteristic of the way supporters regard their heroes. Few Americans allow John Kennedy’s sexual escapades to blot his image. Similarly, few people even know that Martin Luther King plagiarized his PhD thesis or take seriously the reports that he frequently cheated on his wife. Those details became irrelevant, just as Trump’s affairs became irrelevant even to his most pious followers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.