In Trump Republicans trust
Trump voters are more likely to believe the former president is telling them the truth than their friends and family or religious leaders, according to a new CBS News/YouGov poll.
(Axios, August 21, 2023)
That, of course, is the very definition of cult worship. After all, nobody in their right mind is likely to believe anything Trump says. And in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past seven years, here’s why:
This astonishing jump in falsehoods is the story of Trump’s tumultuous reign. By the end of his term, Trump had accumulated 30,573 untruths during his presidency — averaging about 21 erroneous claims a day.
(The Washington Post, January 24, 2021)
By all accounts, his lying has only increased since his presidency. Yet it seems the more Trump lies, the more Republicans believe him. Again, only cult worship that makes religious worship look hedonistic explains this phenomenon.
Trumpism is more about Republicans than Trump
Nobody should be surprised that Republicans trust Trump more than religious leaders. For starters, recent scandals involving religious leaders make Trump’s scandals seem genteel in comparison.
Besides that, some of us have been decrying this Republican idolatry for years. Case in point, I presaged the polls at issue in commentaries like
- “Trump for President? Don’t Be a Sucker!” on April 8, 2011;
- “(White) Evangelicals Supporting Donald Trump like Israelites Worshipping Golden Calf,” on January 20, 2016;
- “Evangelical Leaders Have Sacrificed their Souls at Altar of Trump” on October 15, 2016; and
- “Republicans Abandon Faith and Values to Hail Trump as ‘Chosen by God'” on March 6, 2019.
Of course, it’s bad enough that Trump is getting Republicans to buy his lies hook, line, and sinker. But he’s using those lies to get them to give him their hard-earned dollars. And their gullibility and dedication are such that he has fleeced them for over $500 million since losing the 2020 presidential election.
But iPINIONS contends that three things define this Trumpism:
- Republicans now see supporting Trump as a self-fulfilling article of faith. They’d rather pretend to believe every Trump lie than admit they were fools ever to believe anything he said.
- Republicans now see hypocrisy as a virtue, not a vice. And Trump’s lies are matched by his hypocrisy.
- Republicans, like Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, convinced Trump years ago that the more contempt he shows them, the more loyalty they will show him.
Enough said?
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