Give Trump his due: Biden folded after a disastrous debate, but Trump is like the Energizer Bunny who just "keeps going and going". Nevertheless, after much thought, I'm ready for the autopsy of the Trump Phenomenon, or what I call the "Trump Paradox"; i.e., a draft dodger saluted by patriots, a silver-spooned New Yorker loved by working-class Southerners, and a decidedly non-Christian grifter embraced as a Savior by many of my Christian friends. How? Why? Here's what I've concluded (as an addendum to my book, Cults on Trial, detailing the traits and tactics of cult demagogues).
It is indeed an astounding phenomenon. Despite mountains of proof that Trump is an unrepentant pathological liar-- from conservative judges/courts, respected media sources, former Trump aids/staff, Republican Vice-Presidents and Senators, and Trump's own self-contradictory mouth-- a faithful forty-nine percent of voters still stand with him! And some even say he is "God's Chosen", though Trump's entire history is the antithesis of what I know, as a pastor and Christian author, of Jesus. So what is the reason? The answer is, it's NOT "reasonable". It's emotional.
The Trump Paradox is rooted in an irrational, deep-seated subconscious Fear. Fear of our changing culture. Fear of strangers with dark skin. Fear of conspiracies, including liberal baby-eaters and immigrant cat-eaters. Fear of the future. Fifty years ago, Alvin Toffler defined "Future Shock" as the psychological condition emerging in the face of "too much change in too short a period of time". Into this cultural sea change wades the brash "strongman" Trump, as if his sword of hyperbole can hold back the Tide of Fear. And yet, it kinda works. For some, he projects blind courage that soothes their fear. This runs deeper than the ordinary desire societies have for a strong leader. Trump's fearlessness is not an act. It stems from these realities: 1. Having never been anything but rich and in charge, he never experienced existential fear. 2. He's a psychopath and malignant narcissist, and by nature they are masters of cocky insouciance. By comparison, his toppled opponents DeSantis and Haley never conveyed such pathologically-fearless "strength". Mike Pence projected a deep insecure neurosis and thus never garnered even 5% support despite being a man of Christian character.
The lack of character is what paradoxically empowers Trump. His path to power is never detoured by a moral compass; he never hesitates to fabricate whatever it takes to fan the flames of fear, especially racially-rooted fears of The Other. Then his antidotes are sold with a passion greater than the best of the snake-oil salesmen of the past. This is attractive in a deeply primal tribal way.
But it's an illusion. He will not save you. Trump is not the invulnerable Superman caricatured in his absurd muscled-up trading cards. He doesn't possess the intelligence nor fortitude of character to be a genuine superhero. I beseech readers to tolerate yet one more metaphor in my mix of analogies: Trump is Humpty-Dumpty. He's perched proudly on his Wall, but his smooth outer strength and insouciance is eggshell thin; he has no inner reservoir of wit or values to save himself when a crack begins. Kamala Harris thumped his shell hard in the debate. He cracked and now he teeters. He is Humpty and the Great Fall is nigh. Soon the public will see inside the shell, where it's yellow, gooey and insubstantial. Autopsy complete.
-Rev. Dr. Lance Moore is a Court Investigator, Ordained Minister, and Author of the recently-published book, Cults on Trial : A Cross-Examination of Jim Jones, Charles Manson, Hitler... and Donald Trump" available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVLHJ9BB
His bio and more info is available here: www.LanceMooreBooks.com
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