The political empire of Trump has always been built on vibes, not facts. He was never a successful businessman — he sucked at it, actually — but he •played• one on TV. People voted for the character on The Apprentice, the character in the QAnon posts, the collectively imagined Second Coming cult leader with ripped muscles, the generic racist whose granting of permission to indulge in collective cruelty offered a kind of euphoric bonding.
The facts are never what gave him power.
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@inthehandsPaul Cantrell Totalitarian leaders never derive their power from facts. According to Hannah Arendt, the facts are a problem to be solved with propaganda, conspiracy theories, and terror. What's true is whatever the leader says is true, and may change from day to day. Fortunately for leader, his followers profess an odd mix of gullibility and cynicism, making it possible for him to make contradictory statements and not lose his power.
https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/-gullibility-and-cynicism-2022-01-09
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