We expect the Democratic politicians, liberal commentators, and neutral observers who claim to be moderates or centrists to oppose the fascist dictatorship that Trump and his followers are attempting to impose. Instead, we have those who fail to realize or imagine the danger we face and lack the understanding of the tactics used to endanger us.
Dictator for A Day
Some of these moderates or centrists fail to imagine that Trump and his followers want to end democracy in this country and have been moving at lightning speed to do it. As disconcerting as it is to consider that some Americans want to end our democracy in favor of a dictatorship, we know it is true because they say it or indicate in other ways that they would support a dictatorship. Yet, too many moderates or centrists, perhaps finding the repudiation of democracy unfamiliar, ascribe every other possible motive to what is being done to destroy our democracy. They dissect the personality of Trump and his followers, or weigh the pros and cons of their agendas and initiatives.
During his campaign and inauguration, Trump repeatedly said that he only wanted to be a dictator for one day. He claimed that he would only need to be a dictator for one day to accomplish his plans to open oil drilling and build a wall on the border. Now, after his inauguration, he has added to the list of things he says he wants to accomplish. He has continued to seize powers not granted to the president by the Constitution, such as abolishing regulatory agencies, ignoring the courts, and changing laws enacted by Congress. And he bragged, during an interview, that he runs the U.S. and the world. Presumably, he has removed any time limit on his desire to be a dictator.
Trump’s supporters also agree that he should be a dictator for at least a day. A recent poll found that seventy-four percent of Republicans believe it is a good idea for Trump to act as a dictator. Mitt Romney admitted that “a substantial portion of the GOP doesn’t believe in the Constitution.” Many of Trump’s supporters have well-developed fascist or authoritarian beliefs about how society should function, although their personalities or upbringing may have contributed to these leanings. Those beliefs are consistent with the ideas Trump has been preaching since he entered politics 10 years ago.
Ideologies Driving Trump Supporters
Trump’s supporters complain about vanishing economic opportunities and governmental inefficiency. They are bothered by the equality and inclusion of nonwhites in American society, which they see as a reason for their diminishing economic opportunity. They are attracted to Trump because he promises to upend the predicted shift in the U.S. population from majority white to majority nonwhite. They fear that this shift is a sign that whites will be replaced by nonwhites and expect Trump to take the extreme measures needed to forestall this population change. This belief in the extinction of the white race by nonwhites, known as the “great replacement theory,” has been a cornerstone of white supremacist and fascist ideologies for almost a century. The neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville chanted this belief “Jews will not replace us.”
Trump’s supporters are also heavily drawn from the Christian nationalism movement. This movement has been imbued with white supremacists and opponents of democracy. They believe the nation cannot reflect true Christianity as a multiracial democracy. Other supporters include some of the wealthiest and most influential innovators and businessmen, who have also become opponents of democracy. The anti-democrats believe that experts should make decisions rather than voters, who may be ignorant about some of the issues they are voting on. They think that the country should be run like a company whose President has the power to make the full range of decisions that a CEO would be able to make. Like the older, sweat-shirted white supremacists, these newer button-down racists believe equality and democracy are making it impossible to govern. Often, they think that the best way to end this chaos and inefficiency is to accelerate the creation of more chaos and bring the entire system down. It should be noted that these Trump supporters do not believe in Trump as the leader so much as Trump the super chaos agent.
Finally, some social scientists say that at least a portion of Trump’s supporters are dissatisfied with democracy because they see the last vestige of their status – whiteness slipping away as the brown and black population grows. According to the historian Richard Hofstadter, the loss of status can occur when people feel they have been pushed out of their rightful place in society. His analysis of how status loss among some Republicans in the 1950s led to rabid anti-communism and rejection of democracy is still instructive. It shows that the quest for lost status can become nasty and vindictive.
Most of Trump's supporters' rejection of our constitutional democracy is neither frivolous nor trivial; some passing pique did not bring it about. It is based on firm beliefs grounded in a long-standing, albeit defective ideology. Despite these facts, many Democrats seem unable or unwilling to realize how serious they are or what they are willing to do to bring about a fascist dictatorship.
Trump’s Techniques for Manipulating Voters
Even the moderates and centrists who do recognize that Trump and his followers have been moving to install a fascist dictatorship do not seem to understand how they are doing it. Thus, these moderates and centrists cannot effectively oppose the takeover without this understanding. For example, Trump's tactics when he speaks seem beyond their knowledge. Their lack of awareness results in their inability to devise plans to resist forcefully and uncompromisingly. And another consequence is the mistaken belief that those Trump followers who succumb to his tactics are somehow deficient or innately evil.
Trump’s executive actions on tariffs during his first 100 days in office offer one example of how he manipulates the public. While some analysts may welcome the imposition of tariffs because they promise rejuvenation for specific industries, most analysts believe that across-the-board tariffs of the magnitude proposed by Trump will hurt the overall economy. Thus, the imposition of these tariffs is generally viewed with dread. Rather than simply imposing tariffs, Trump has arbitrarily placed tariffs on some goods, exempted other goods, placed additional tariffs, and rescinded other tariffs. Trump’s implementation of tariffs, followed by exemptions or reductions, amounts to a psychological desensitization technique. The imposition or threat of tariffs, followed by the removal of the tariffs, is desensitizing. Desensitization numbs the emotional response to the imposition of tariffs and rationalizes inaction about their onset because they are normalized.
Trump has also used psychological mechanisms to freeze opposition to his horrendous immigration policies. While most observers recognize that Trump tries to invoke fear of immigrants with wild exaggerations of their criminal involvement, few realize how he induces cognitive dissonance in his followers. When the public hears Trump present his inhumane policies for addressing immigration problems, many experience psychological discomfort because those policies conflict with their beliefs about how Christians and Americans should treat people. Trump frames his policies in a way that can resolve dissonance. For example, Trump often says, “we won’t have a country if we don’t…” do what he is advocating. This framing not only gains support for his policies but also freezes potential opposition by raising issues other than his horrendous policies.
Observers also realize that Trump frequently uses projection, a technique in which one’s negative characteristics are attributed to others. Trump, a convicted felon and sex offender, often alleged, without any evidence, that his political opponents were criminals. He has alleged that Democrats in general and the Bidens in particular are criminals. The use of projection is more than Trump’s psychological abnormality. It is also a way of sowing confusion and thus freezes any opposition.
Various commentators correctly argue that Trump is too erratic to plan and not intellectually talented enough to innovate, but he has picked up these rhetorical tricks somewhere. Despite his personality deficiencies, Trump learned from Roy Cohn when he was far more able and cognitively aware than now. Now, Trump is surrounded by a cadre of sycophants who seem to be guiding his decision-making more than in his first administration. We should not follow the mainstream media and think that the Trump regime reflects Trump's ideas and personality. If we do this, we will be surprised by what Trump does and what happens after Trump.
Conclusion
The failure to recognize the extent to which some Trump followers want to destroy democracy and install a fascist dictatorship should not be underestimated. Some Americans not only tell pollsters that they favor a dictatorship, but they also have solid ideological reasons for their position. Nonetheless, other Trump followers have been swayed by psychological techniques that should be exposed and countered. Moderates and centrists should not simply “tell the truth;” they must also expose those techniques and provide countermeasures. Countermeasures were developed and taught to prepare U.S. servicemen for attempts to disorient and brainwash them during the Cold War. Some of those same countermeasures should be deployed now for many of the same reasons. Surely, even moderates and centrists who seem bemused by how to effectively oppose Trump’s fascist movement can spare some of their electoral efforts to fight fascism.
Dictator for A Day
Some of these moderates or centrists fail to imagine that Trump and his followers want to end democracy in this country and have been moving at lightning speed to do it. As disconcerting as it is to consider that some Americans want to end our democracy in favor of a dictatorship, we know it is true because they say it or indicate in other ways that they would support a dictatorship. Yet, too many moderates or centrists, perhaps finding the repudiation of democracy unfamiliar, ascribe every other possible motive to what is being done to destroy our democracy. They dissect the personality of Trump and his followers, or weigh the pros and cons of their agendas and initiatives.
During his campaign and inauguration, Trump repeatedly said that he only wanted to be a dictator for one day. He claimed that he would only need to be a dictator for one day to accomplish his plans to open oil drilling and build a wall on the border. Now, after his inauguration, he has added to the list of things he says he wants to accomplish. He has continued to seize powers not granted to the president by the Constitution, such as abolishing regulatory agencies, ignoring the courts, and changing laws enacted by Congress. And he bragged, during an interview, that he runs the U.S. and the world. Presumably, he has removed any time limit on his desire to be a dictator.
Trump’s supporters also agree that he should be a dictator for at least a day. A recent poll found that seventy-four percent of Republicans believe it is a good idea for Trump to act as a dictator. Mitt Romney admitted that “a substantial portion of the GOP doesn’t believe in the Constitution.” Many of Trump’s supporters have well-developed fascist or authoritarian beliefs about how society should function, although their personalities or upbringing may have contributed to these leanings. Those beliefs are consistent with the ideas Trump has been preaching since he entered politics 10 years ago.
Ideologies Driving Trump Supporters
Trump’s supporters complain about vanishing economic opportunities and governmental inefficiency. They are bothered by the equality and inclusion of nonwhites in American society, which they see as a reason for their diminishing economic opportunity. They are attracted to Trump because he promises to upend the predicted shift in the U.S. population from majority white to majority nonwhite. They fear that this shift is a sign that whites will be replaced by nonwhites and expect Trump to take the extreme measures needed to forestall this population change. This belief in the extinction of the white race by nonwhites, known as the “great replacement theory,” has been a cornerstone of white supremacist and fascist ideologies for almost a century. The neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville chanted this belief “Jews will not replace us.”
Trump’s supporters are also heavily drawn from the Christian nationalism movement. This movement has been imbued with white supremacists and opponents of democracy. They believe the nation cannot reflect true Christianity as a multiracial democracy. Other supporters include some of the wealthiest and most influential innovators and businessmen, who have also become opponents of democracy. The anti-democrats believe that experts should make decisions rather than voters, who may be ignorant about some of the issues they are voting on. They think that the country should be run like a company whose President has the power to make the full range of decisions that a CEO would be able to make. Like the older, sweat-shirted white supremacists, these newer button-down racists believe equality and democracy are making it impossible to govern. Often, they think that the best way to end this chaos and inefficiency is to accelerate the creation of more chaos and bring the entire system down. It should be noted that these Trump supporters do not believe in Trump as the leader so much as Trump the super chaos agent.
Finally, some social scientists say that at least a portion of Trump’s supporters are dissatisfied with democracy because they see the last vestige of their status – whiteness slipping away as the brown and black population grows. According to the historian Richard Hofstadter, the loss of status can occur when people feel they have been pushed out of their rightful place in society. His analysis of how status loss among some Republicans in the 1950s led to rabid anti-communism and rejection of democracy is still instructive. It shows that the quest for lost status can become nasty and vindictive.
Most of Trump's supporters' rejection of our constitutional democracy is neither frivolous nor trivial; some passing pique did not bring it about. It is based on firm beliefs grounded in a long-standing, albeit defective ideology. Despite these facts, many Democrats seem unable or unwilling to realize how serious they are or what they are willing to do to bring about a fascist dictatorship.
Trump’s Techniques for Manipulating Voters
Even the moderates and centrists who do recognize that Trump and his followers have been moving to install a fascist dictatorship do not seem to understand how they are doing it. Thus, these moderates and centrists cannot effectively oppose the takeover without this understanding. For example, Trump's tactics when he speaks seem beyond their knowledge. Their lack of awareness results in their inability to devise plans to resist forcefully and uncompromisingly. And another consequence is the mistaken belief that those Trump followers who succumb to his tactics are somehow deficient or innately evil.
Trump’s executive actions on tariffs during his first 100 days in office offer one example of how he manipulates the public. While some analysts may welcome the imposition of tariffs because they promise rejuvenation for specific industries, most analysts believe that across-the-board tariffs of the magnitude proposed by Trump will hurt the overall economy. Thus, the imposition of these tariffs is generally viewed with dread. Rather than simply imposing tariffs, Trump has arbitrarily placed tariffs on some goods, exempted other goods, placed additional tariffs, and rescinded other tariffs. Trump’s implementation of tariffs, followed by exemptions or reductions, amounts to a psychological desensitization technique. The imposition or threat of tariffs, followed by the removal of the tariffs, is desensitizing. Desensitization numbs the emotional response to the imposition of tariffs and rationalizes inaction about their onset because they are normalized.
Trump has also used psychological mechanisms to freeze opposition to his horrendous immigration policies. While most observers recognize that Trump tries to invoke fear of immigrants with wild exaggerations of their criminal involvement, few realize how he induces cognitive dissonance in his followers. When the public hears Trump present his inhumane policies for addressing immigration problems, many experience psychological discomfort because those policies conflict with their beliefs about how Christians and Americans should treat people. Trump frames his policies in a way that can resolve dissonance. For example, Trump often says, “we won’t have a country if we don’t…” do what he is advocating. This framing not only gains support for his policies but also freezes potential opposition by raising issues other than his horrendous policies.
Observers also realize that Trump frequently uses projection, a technique in which one’s negative characteristics are attributed to others. Trump, a convicted felon and sex offender, often alleged, without any evidence, that his political opponents were criminals. He has alleged that Democrats in general and the Bidens in particular are criminals. The use of projection is more than Trump’s psychological abnormality. It is also a way of sowing confusion and thus freezes any opposition.
Various commentators correctly argue that Trump is too erratic to plan and not intellectually talented enough to innovate, but he has picked up these rhetorical tricks somewhere. Despite his personality deficiencies, Trump learned from Roy Cohn when he was far more able and cognitively aware than now. Now, Trump is surrounded by a cadre of sycophants who seem to be guiding his decision-making more than in his first administration. We should not follow the mainstream media and think that the Trump regime reflects Trump's ideas and personality. If we do this, we will be surprised by what Trump does and what happens after Trump.
Conclusion
The failure to recognize the extent to which some Trump followers want to destroy democracy and install a fascist dictatorship should not be underestimated. Some Americans not only tell pollsters that they favor a dictatorship, but they also have solid ideological reasons for their position. Nonetheless, other Trump followers have been swayed by psychological techniques that should be exposed and countered. Moderates and centrists should not simply “tell the truth;” they must also expose those techniques and provide countermeasures. Countermeasures were developed and taught to prepare U.S. servicemen for attempts to disorient and brainwash them during the Cold War. Some of those same countermeasures should be deployed now for many of the same reasons. Surely, even moderates and centrists who seem bemused by how to effectively oppose Trump’s fascist movement can spare some of their electoral efforts to fight fascism.
