Trump is waging a war on all Americans— dividing us to control us

Name-calling and shaming isn’t effective against brainwashed followers

Everyone I know in my very liberal circle (especially on Threads) keeps asking the same question:

Why do people like Donald Trump?

For those of us who see through the malignant narcissist facade, the answer is obvious. These people must be fools, idiots, morons, racists, misogynists, and deplorables.

In our own biases or misunderstanding about how cult indoctrination works, we’re not seeing what the other side sees because Trump is not speaking to us.

Trump’s followers like him because…HE TELLS THEM HE LOVES THEM.

And he tells them often and with great passion in his rallies. Trumps sees them, where we dismiss them. And this is giving him the upper hand.

Who are they going to trust? The man who says he alone will protect and save them Or the snooty liberals who call them morons?

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According to Steve Hassan, author of The Cult of Trump, and a leading expert on cult indoctrination techniques, Trump is following the handbook to a tee. He uses these five brainwashing techniques:

1. Fear-mongering
2. Repetition of simplistic slogans
3. Us vs Them mentality
4. Misinformation
5. Praise and scorn
6. Praise and scorn

Trump is a man who scorns his sworn enemies— the imaginary leftist extremists who are eating cats, dogs, geese, and human babies— and praises his followers as the ones who will help him save our country from this vermin.

Who doesn’t want to feel special? Who doesn’t want to feel important? Who doesn’t want to feel chosen for greatness?

These folks are brainwashed, pure and simple.

And after years of eating a steady diet of FOX News poison fodder, these people feel a duty to defend the one who loves them— and who swears HE is the one under attack.

You cannot get through to brainwashed folks with logic. Remember, these same people will drink Kool-Aid laced with cyanide knowing that it will bring certain death. Meaning they are willing to die for the thoughts inside their heads that were implanted by a very sick and twisted megalomaniac.

What makes you think they are acting in free will?

What makes you think shaming them will get them to put down the poison?

What makes you think we are dealing with rational people?

For years, my fellow liberals and I have tried to TALK TRUTH. We’ve pointed out the lies. We fact-checked the biggest and grossest liar on the planet. We’ve cut off friends and family or spouted insane talking points. We called them names.

This name-calling and shaming isn’t effective against cult followers. In fact, it makes US the enemy and pushes people further apart. Brainwashed people aren’t thinking for themselves. If they were, they wouldn’t keep drinking the poison that is slowly killing our country.

Hassan explains that a brainwashed person takes on a separate cult personality, but that doesn’t mean we should write them off. Hassan himself was indoctrinated into the Moonies as a young student, and found his way out— thanks to his family’s support and love, and some very effective deprogramming.

There is hope for our fellow Americans…but that doesn’t mean they get off scott-free or that there aren’t consequences for doing the ungodly bidding of a deranged madman.

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My goal in the days leading up to the election isn’t to post on social media ridiculing Trump and his followers. That’s exactly what I did in 2016 and it backfired. I played into Trump’s playbook, and did his dirty work— confirming for his followers that I was one of the enemies who hated them.

No, my goal is to speak to my fellow liberals.

I beg of you, please stop calling names. Please don’t be used as a pawn in Trump’s psychological warfare. Please, understand that any of us— if vulnerable— could fall prey to this type of sophisticated mind control.

We are ten steps behind and need to approach this problem systematically.

• Stop taking this personally or letting them trigger us.
• Stop taking positions of smug superiority.
• Figure out what pushed millions of lost souls to align themselves with one of the most dangerous authoritarian leaders of our lifetimes.
• Organize our messaging and open up civil discourse so that we can rebuild a united United States of America.

We need to understand that this is complex and deadly psychological warfare.

Let me repeat. This is psychological warfare.

And the intellectuals will lose this war if they continue to use rational thoughts to combat the emotional minefields— or “mind-fields”— created by Trump and his MAGA foot soldiers.

Despite seeming like a buffoon, Trump is a natural at this specific type of psychological warfare. He may seem incoherent at times, but he lands the basic talking points over and over again.

Also, fear-mongering is the most effective tool for a cult leader or fascist dictator. Our human brains don’t exactly respond rationally when we are in survival mode or fight-or-flight. There is a lot to fear in modern times, but the sad part is how vulnerable scared people gravitate toward a sick conman who purposely creates discord and spouts violent rhetoric— rather than provide peaceful solutions.

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They say sticks and stone may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. Tell that to Trump who has weaponized name-calling into an art form that incites hatred, vitriol, and yes— even violence.

But we should not follow Trump’s example or let him push us to debase ourselves. The name-calling needs to stop.

Now more than ever before, we should be building civil discourse. We should not be pulled into the trap of dehumanizing our friends, family, and neighbors.

If we keep telling those who vote for Trump that we hate them— we send them directly into the arms of the man who LOVES them— but mostly LOVES CONTROLLING THEIR MINDS.

I’m not saying I’m an expert here. And there are days I am full of rage when I hear otherwise normal people repeating MAGA talking points. I get sick when I think of how my fellow Americans are willfully handing power to a man who becomes more and more deranged by the year— and also becomes more empowered by the lack of consequences for his deranged actions.

I don’t know how this election will play out, or what destruction will follow if we allow this man a second term. But from studying history, I do know this— things don’t end well for men like Trump.

Eventually, the tide turns. The masses rise up when the madman is handed so much power that he can no longer hide his malevolent intentions— even to his truest, most devoted believers.