In a speech this last Wednesday (July 25th), Trump uttered some of the most dangerous language yet spoken by an American president, innocuous as it may seem at first blush. He told a crowd of supporters – he doesn’t speak to any other kind – that they must question their reality.
“Just remember – what you’re seeing, and what you’re reading, is not what’s happening.”
Donald Trump to supporters, July 25, 2018.
At the time, Trump was speaking about the trade war and its effects. It came after he told the crowd that the United States economy is doing better than it ever has before, which is patently false. Trump is using a well-studied and cynical method of psychological control called “gas-lighting.” Rawstory used a very typical definition in its story on the matter:
A person who is gaslighting an individual or group that they have chosen to target does so by getting them to doubt their own memory, perception, and reality. Through persistent lying, misdirection, and contradiction, the gaslighter attempts to delegitimize the victim’s beliefs by confusing and destabilizing them.
Do not doubt that Trump’s supporters get psychologically rewarded for giving-in to the manipulation, Trump bestows upon them unique positive feedback, telling them that they are too smart to be “fooled” by all the others out there in the “Fake News Media” who seek to manipulate them, giving them self-esteem and status that they might not have otherwise have had.
Gaslighting is a method of behavior particularly common among socio-pathic and narcissistic personality types, the type that view others as nothing but tools to serve ones own needs. The key to stopping the behavior is A) knowing it exists, B) knowing a person often attempts to use it, and C) paying enough attention to the environment to know when something is pure manipulation and not giving meaning to anything with such sweeping language, i.e. “the economy has never been better,” and “just remember, what you’re seeing and hearing is not happening.” Both statements are so broad so as to be near meaningless in any context.
Obviously, it is an uphill climb when confronting a true Trump supporter because Republicans have had to suppress science and objectivity for some time (long before Trump), thus introducing a well-studied scientific topic has its own dangers inherent to it. Trump supporters might automatically feel it must be some sort of trap, indeed, Trump might be the first one to jump and label it a liberal “elite” ploy to keep them from the truth.
The single greatest mistake Hillary Clinton made in her campaign came out in one word – “deplorables.” Yes, it came out in a context which had many subcategories, and yes, much of it was true, yet it still “shut out” a large number of people as “unworthy” and “to be judged,” as if she were saying she wouldn’t want their vote even if they would consider her. It also gave Trump voters an identity. the “bad people” (in the swamp folks opinion) and gave them license to look elsewhere, non-traditional news sources for their information, since they were not welcome by the mainstream. The comment made Trump’s inclination to gaslight those around him that much easier.
To end with some good news, the public does seem to be responding to Mueller’s investigation. I saw a figure on MSNBC that noted 53% of the country has faith in the Mueller investigation, while only 30% does not, and though those numbers should likely be even firmer in Mueller’s camp, they are firm enough to get done what needs to be done, the thorough investigation and evaluation of the Russian meddling.
More good news? Sure.
As of today, 538 has Trump’s overall approval rating at 41.5% (combined in all polls) with disapproval at solid 53%. If you look at the running history of the poll, Trump is near the ceiling in his approval, meaning that no matter the psychological tricks used, Trump will never fool more than 40-45 people out of 100.
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