Are some T supporters just... brainwashed?

[grumpyduck]

Brainwashed is a strong word, and I'm not using it lightly.

However, thinking about the political stuff my Republican friend has been sending me now and then for a couple of years, there's been a pattern. The vast majority hasn't been pro-T: it's been anti-Democratic. It hasn't been about good stuff the GOP is doing, it's been about bad stuff the Democrats "are going to do." It hasn't been about GOP policies, it's been about how bad the Democrats are. It hasn't been about supporting the GOP, it's been about fearing and hating the Democrats.

BTW, I said "some" because we know some politicians just want to stay in power (or are afraid of his tweets), as do some government officials and corporate muck-a-mucks who just want the money.

[onecaliberal]

1. They hate the same people and it's just not any more complicated than that.

[Heartstrings]

2. I'm seeing that as well....

It’s not so much how great he is but more we just need to “own the libs”, and stop the baby murderers....

[drray23]

3. some is not the adjective I would use. Try "all".nt.

[lagomorph777]

13. +1 If you have a fully functioning brain, it's impossible to be a Turd supporter.

Brain "washed" may be somewhat of a misnomer. More like brain "dirtied."

[Gothmog]

4. trump supporters are stupid

[Mariana]

5. A lot of his support is religious in nature.

Many Christian churches are preaching that he was sent by God to save the country from the heathens, and that opposition to Trump is the same as opposition to God. I think some of his supporters consider him to be at least a semi-divine figure, and that criticism of him or even questioning what he says or does is essentially blasphemy.

[bullimiami]

6. yes. some are without a doubt. sad state of affairs.

brainwashed by church or fox or stupidity left them vulnerable to another huckster.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Unfortunately, most political advertizing stays strictly with the negative.

A typical political ad goes something like this: Do you realize my opponent used to pull the wings off flies when he was a child? Yes! It's true! How can you possibly vote for someone like that??

Rather than anything actually substantive about what the person running has done that's pertinent to the election in question. Which is why I am so glad I don't have a TV. I see almost no political advertizing, and my life is much the better for that.

[Baked Potato]

8. Traumatized too.

[jmg257]

9. Surely. They get the 'news' from other brainwashed idiots on twitter. Its a huge

conspiracy circle-jerk, where trump can do no wrong.

Anything questionable is blown-off as something just to make trump look bad.

[Cirque du So-What]

10. They're certainly bigoted, which is in itself a form of brainwashing

It begins at home and is reinforced in a variety of situations during the important developmental years.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

11. Absolutely.

Going down my Facebook list there's a sizable number who are essentially caught up in a mindless cult of personality with Trump.

Not bad people, but absolutely zombified, hook line and sinker.

[kimbutgar]

12. Brain washed so much they are brain damaged

Brain washed so much they’re brain damaged in the pre frontal cortex (the part of brain of empathy and reasoning). They are gone from reality. I call them the goners.

[andym]

14. Yes. Of course. It's really dangerous

There is a right-wing propaganda machine: from Rupert Murdoch's newspapers and Fox News to Rush Limbaugh and his copy-cat right wing talkers, to Breitbart, to various Facebook and Twitter accounts (Trump himself). Once in the bubble it's difficult to escape. They need deprogramming.

[NewJeffCT]

15. The effects of listening to Rush for 30 years

and watching Fox for 25 years has an effect on many people.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

16. All are either brainwashed or amoral psychopaths.

When a person is unable to take in a rationally process information from several independent sources and rely only on a very narrow, fixed set of sources, that to me is a form of brainwashing and also qualifies as cult behavior.

Those who are only in it for power or money are amoral assholes and probably undiagnosed psychopaths to some degree.

KY......

[Midnight Writer]

17. GOP is using sophisticated advertising techniques to target particular personality types.

Advertisers have been honing these techniques since WWII and they are quite effective on certain people.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Their brains washed out. . . . nt

[Flaleftist]

19. And it is always bullshit that can easily be fact-checked if they had an iota of common sense.

Considering that, brainwashed seems an appropriate term to use.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

20. Only like 99%

[mnmoderatedem]

21. if not brainwashed by trumpism, they are by ideology

I see a number of reasonably intelligent people who support trump just because they want to own the libs and for no other reason.

[spanone]

22. ?some?

[Trumpocalypse]

23. This is what right wing radio and

FAUX News has been selling for over 30 years. Trump is just a symptom of that.

[Tribetime]

24. They don't know how to plan their day without watching Fox News

[NameAlreadyTaken]

25. It's a cult, created by RW media

[bdamomma]

28. and their

grand cult leader will kill them too with Covid.

tRump only cares about tRump.

[Spazito]

26. They are afraid of everything and angry that they are afraid...

trump 'tells them to be afraid and then tells them who to blame for it, to paraphrase part of Andrew Sheppard's speech from The American President. The speech was fictional, the content was not, imo.

[bluestarone]

27. Someday they will BLAME GOD

Because he told them to vote for RUMP! (just ask the religious right)