How can Trump lie so much and be 'authentic' at the same time? Here's one explanation

[applegrove]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/05/politics/trumps-lies-authentic-to-his-supporters/index.html

by Gregory Krieg, CNN

"SNIP.......

Conducted by a trio of scholars from MIT and Carnegie Mellon University, "The Authentic Appeal of the Lying Demagogue: Proclaiming the Deeper Truth about Political Illegitimacy" argues that some of the same "norms" being mourned by Trump critics were actually, somewhat ironically, vital components in establishing the social and political environment that helped fuel his rise to power.

Here's how: Norms are establishment-defined expectations we have for how people should behave in a functioning society. Not lying, for example. So when anti-establishment voters see a candidate, like Trump, so blatantly and unapologetically breaking a norm, it's not only forgivable to them, it can actually be desirable as a protest against the system.

"You should never assume that just because a norm is publicly endorsed that it's privately endorsed as well," says one of the authors, Ezra Zuckerman Sivan, a professor and deputy dean of MIT's Sloan School of Management. "And so that creates the raw material for someone (like Trump) to essentially say, 'Hey, you know these norms that you're feeling are imposed on you -- they're not necessarily (legitimate)."

The key, Zuckerman asserts, is to understand that even plain lies will resonate with "anti-establishment listeners" if they're convinced of the sense that the speaker is channeling something fundamentally true.


........SNIP"

[applegrove]

1. So the rich take all the riches from growth for 40 years, middle class union people

feel the economy has abandoned them and they go scapegoat racist as dangled by a demagog. Totally predictable.

[guillaumeb]

2. Similar to the rage directed against "political correctness"?

Recommended.

[Volaris]

8. I I was just gonna say, the norms they don't like consist of

Don't use the N word, and don't beat and sexually exploit women.

Trump says those norms are illegitimate, and they're response is HELLZ YA!

They're cretins. Correctly-raised 5 year old boys have more emotional development, self-reflection and self-control.

[bettyellen]

11. Great point, such is their desire to subjugate others, that any means necessary is fine with them.

I have some “progressive” friends that agree- they have such hatred for the gov that they’re fine w “burning it down”. They were fine spreading lies from RT- whatever works. There was never any integrity there.

[Volaris]

12. With very very few exceptions, I'd agree with that summation.

[LAS14]

3. Interesting that this resonates with another recent article. Is this a new "thing?"

Wittingly or not, Mr. Trump’s representatives have used a subtle psychological strategy to defend his falsehoods: They encourage people to reflect on how the falsehoods could have been true.

New research of mine suggests that this strategy can convince supporters that it’s not all that unethical for a political leader to tell a falsehood — even though the supporters are fully aware the claim is false.

Daniel Effron

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/opinion/sunday/why-trump-supporters-dont-mind-his-lies.html

[Ferrets are Cool]

4. Wow, all I heard there was

the "wah, wah wah" from the teacher in Charlie Brown's schoolroom. Sheesh.

[VOX]

5. Another explanation: 45 could only happen where genuine education is NOT a priority...

Or is unavailable (or too expensive) altogether. The falling tree (Trump) is clearly heard by all the uneducated, fearful, racist, sexist, xenophobic whites in their insulated forest. Their unchallenged minds either lack the critical thinking skills to comprehend that they're being fleeced, or they're so soured by their own impotent rage that they go along with 45's insane shit, no matter how crazy it gets.

[applegrove]

6. Contrasted by the education those amazing Parkland students get.

US is feast or famine.

[VOX]

7. Precisely. Those kids are incredible, and far more mature than many of our lawmakers.

A little ray of hope there.

[Kirk Lover]

9. I've asked many a deplorable..."So I guess you like liars in your personal lives too, you like to

be lied to your face by people you know and you just accept it and you just take it....is that right"? I've yet to receive an answer.

[Doodley]

10. He's authentic because he says what they are thinking. He says the bigoted things that they think.

Even when he's lying, he is talking about their prejudices. He's playing to their anxieties, and expressing their anger. That is why he is authentic.