Can Trump's Hard-Core Fans Be Deradicalized?

When the president spews racism or violence, true believers respond with more. Experts say it resembles something like a cult or totalitarianism.

President Donald Trump’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina, this week made scholars of fascism sit bolt upright. ... Trump has long stoked bigoted grievances among his followers, but the Greenville rally saw him act as a more overt radicalizer than ever before. And with a portion of Trump’s fanbase now openly clamoring for the physical removal of several prominent Democrats of color, experts are questioning whether the country can repair the damage—even if Trump loses in 2020.

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It’s possible very little will bother his most devoted fans, Janja Lalich, a professor studying cults and totalitarian leadership, said. “There’s this intense devotion and the inability to question or criticize or doubt. ... They seem to be in a state of what we call cognitive dissonance, where what they believe doesn’t match reality. People in that state tend to cling to their beliefs over reality. They dig themselves even deeper. I think the things we see at the rallies, where people get into these cheers and adore everything he says, is very typical of what we see in run-of-the-mill cults. There’s what we might call blind obedience or blind followership.”

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Mary Beth Altier, an assistant professor at New York University specializing in radicalization, cautioned that some Trump supporters might act out should his rallies stop. “While people saying these things is awful and they may radicalize other people, if we quash their ability to say them, my research shows they may become more violent because they can’t express those grievances. It’s a catch-22,” she said.

And even if Trump leaves office, it’s no guarantee that Trumpism will end. “I think it’s only going to intensify,” Neiwert said, citing fears that Trump would not lead a peaceful transition.

It’s a concern Lalich shares. “I think he can still remain their leader. He doesn’t need to have office,” she said. “He’s already threatened that it’s going to be rigged and that his people will rise up. I think that’s not going to change very much because he has reawakened such hatred in this country.”

[link:https://www.thedailybeast.com/can-trumps-hard-core-fans-be-deradicalized?ref=scroll|

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Wonderful!