How Trumpites Differ from Hitlerites

Donald Trump’s followers include many different groups and subgroups that have little in common aside from their devotion to him. Imagine many tiny threads woven together as strings that are woven together as ropes that are woven together as cable. Many of these groups consider themselves as downtrodden, persecuted, excluded form the mainstream of American life. They are concerned about separate sets of issues. But each of them needs a Savior, and through a set of random events, they all now consider Trump to be their Savior.

When they hear see news reports and see evidence of wrongdoing by Trump and his associates, prompted by Trump himself they discount that as false news and witch hunt. They empathize with their Savior, who like them is persecuted, who they see as a martyr for their cause(s). The more negative news and evidence is revealed about Trump, the greater his suffering and the greater their empathy toward him and loyalty to him.

When he makes contradictory statements and blatantly lies, they only hear and remember what aligns with their beliefs and their faith in him He was misunderstood. His words and actions were distorte by the media and by his other enemies. Sharing with one another directly and through the communication channels that they trust, they reinforce one another’s faith in him. They avoid and/or block people and news sources with contrary views. They narrowly define the reality that they want to believe in, and their belief gains strength from the affirmations of the like-minded and their shared sense of their true worth, their common persecution, and their common hope for salvation.

Anti-semitism is one of the themes that resonate with some of these groups. But they all believe in the special chosen destiny of their subgroup and take pride in their separateness from the rest of society and in their martyred persecution.

Other themes include gun control, abortion, immigration.

Those close to Trump who support him opportunistically for personal financial gain will abandon him when they realize that they have more to lose than to gain. But the masses of believers are unmoved by such developments. They can only be converted from their religious faith in their Savior by others who have been initiates and true believers.

Trump is not a genius. Much of this was unplanned and unanticipated. He adapts and learns from his followers how to intensify their loyalty.

Hitler had a single clear message that he delivered by radio and by loudspeaker — capitalizing on the technology of his day.

Trump has no single message, no clear message. He has no stake is any particular issue. He flourishes on the Internet where people self-select into small groups with common concerns and beliefs, where they read what they want to read, hear what they want to hear, and ignore the rest. He also flourishes in face-to-face rallies where he throws out many contradictory claims and, based on the audience response, he emphasizes this and discards that and embellishes. Both on the Internet and in his rallies he learns what to say and how to say it from the reactions of the audience. When he got excluded from Twitter, he needed rallies all the more, not so much to spread his word, but rather to learn what his word should be.

The most effective way to contain Trump would be to silence him — not to prevent him from disseminating his messages, but rather to prevent him from getting feedback from his audience. Let him have his freedom of speech, perhaps from a jail cell. But prevent him from getting audience feedback. The Constitution does not guarantee anyone interaction with an audience.