We’re living in a nutty time. Alongside the Loch Ness monster, the second gunman on the grassy knoll, free healthcare, Elvis in the land of the living, people believe in the darndest things. Modern iterations of the same phenomena include a “two-state solution” in Palestine, a wildly popular Trump, “undocumented” immigrants, a successful Marxism, etc. How can this be? Do adults actually believe in the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus?
In an aside, attaching “undocumented” to immigrant hides the reality. This person – “undocumented” – is a citizen of another nation who trespassed our border and our laws to plant themselves in our country. This person is illegally present in the country, period. “Undocumented” is synonymous with “illegal”. “Illegal immigrant” clears the air. The people who patronize us with “undocumented” are deceptive or they actually believe the unbelievable.
One guy, Robert Malone, MD, on Joe Rogan’s podcast, deposited his pet theory of “mass formation psychosis” (mfp) as an explanation for a broad belief in the unbelievable (see #1 below). I don’t know whether I accept the idea, but it certainly is intriguing. Malone used it to explain much of the mania during the pandemic. It could convincingly be applied beyond Covid and right into 2024 and our roiling election-year controversies.
So, what is it? Mfp is a psychotic condition on a mass scale in a time of deep divisions when events seem monumental yet poorly understood. Someone or some explanation arises, goes viral, and the impressionable group runs the danger of being detached from reality. The resulting behavior is often delusional to the point of derangement, or a state of mass hypnosis. As Malone says to Rogan,
“When you have a society that has become decoupled from each other and has free-floating anxiety in a sense that things don’t make sense, we can’t understand it, and then their attention gets focused by a leader or series of events on one small point just like hypnosis, they literally become hypnotized and can be led anywhere.” (see #1 below)
Welcome to 2024. Are Republican primary voters in the grip of mfp? How else to explain the popularity of Donald Trump in the party, in spite of the clear evidence of his toxicity? He romped to a 20-point win in South Carolina after his other big wins in Iowa and New Hampshire. Nothing holds promise of derailing his rush to the nomination. It’s odd given the fact that, post-2016, Republicans appear lining up for a four-peat of the miserable performances in 2018, 2020, and 2022. A very powerful constant in the previous three election cycles is Donald Trump as the face of the party. No one scares suburban voters and women more than the prospect of Trump in the White House. Yet here we go again.
How did the party get to this juncture? Nothing provides more proof of the presence of mass psychosis formation in Republican ranks than an enduring faith in Trump’s electability. The previous losses didn’t penetrate the rational faculties of their brains, or the fact that a semi-functional nursing home patient is competitive with Trump. Clinging to the unreal, South Carolina GOP voters in exit polls believe Trump is more electable than Nikki Haley (87% to 57%), in spite of national polling showing Haley slaughtering Biden by double digits (see #2 below). Trump’s advantage over the senescent Biden is within the margin of error.
A record of repeated failures won’t shock these people into reality, and neither will foul behavior diminish their fervor, even among people who profess the need for moral rectitude. Trump recently went before religious broadcasters (Christian), laced his talk with the promiscuous use of “hell” before many pastors, and was met with laughs and cheers (see #4 below). No admonitions, not a lick.
His responses to rivals are not arguments but insults. We were reminded of his chronic incivility when he referred to Nikki Haley as “birdbrain” and tried to be derisive by ridiculing her ethnic name. This is par for the course for Trump.
At a rally in South Carolina, Trump mocked Haley’s husband for not being around to support his wife. He scoffed, “What happened to her husband? Where is he?”, and added, “He’s gone.” In fact, he’s deployed in service to his country. This isn’t the only time that he’s reached for the use of invective in an effort to be humorous, with the target being people in uniform, and a loved one of his opponent.
There’s more. John Kelly, Trump’s former chief staff, confirmed earlier reports of Trump bad-mouthing those who suffered in war defending our country (see #5 below). In the inner sanctum of the oval office according to Kelly, Trump referred to John McCain and H.W. Bush as “losers”. John Kelly again: “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’” More incidents will remain on the cutting room floor for lack of confirmation.
Before you dismiss Kelly, remember that he was a widely respected commander prior to his association with Trump. Suddenly, he’s on the outs with Trump and the object of abuse by Trumpkins, who just yesterday held their hats at their hearts when a soldier was laid to rest. Trumpkins are required to sacrifice their personal integrity in an allegiance to a lout. It’s another example of believing in the unbelievable, in the righteousness of a man who exploited five deferments to avoid military service in time of war.
The coarse disrespect from his mouth is a green light to churlishness in his supporters. It’s a pattern now common in all his campaigns from the beginning in 2016. For instance, during a 2016 New Hampshire rally, he was lambasting Ted Cruz, a rival for the nomination, when a woman in the audience yelled, “He’s [Cruz] a pussy”. Trump feigned a criticism and then happily repeated it to laughter and applause. This is unthinkingly dismissed as “Trump being Trump”, and the behavior rubs off on his followers.
Achieving laughter through invective is a recurring Trumpism of those seeking the brass ring in his wake, like Kerry Lake who has the ambition to be one of Arizona’s senators. Trump bashes McCain – “[McCain is] not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured” – so Lake piles on with, “Boy, Arizona has delivered some losers [McCain], haven’t they?” She prefaced that doozy with, “We don’t have any McCain Republicans in here, do we?” She answered, “Well, get the hell out!” Out Trumping Trump is considered an asset in this twisted little eco-system. (see #6 below)
Believing that it is endearing and won’t cost you elections, by someone who’s already lost one, is an amazing feat of delusion. She’s the reason for an uptalking lefty occupying the governor’s mansion – in a state where the previous Republican governor won reelection by double digits – along with the Trump fealty claque in the party primary who put her on the general election ballot in the first place.
No wonder the party is plagued with over-the-top Trump worshippers in office in the likes of Lauren Boebert, Majorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, J.D. Vance, and others. They embrace flamboyance as a substitute for civility, good judgment, and seriousness. Clowns now rule the roost in the party.
The previous losses don’t seem to penetrate the fogged-up part of the logical brain. Cults of personality don’t have coattails; it’s in their nature. The down-ballot for Trump has been a disaster. He may win in a squeaker in November but expect a Democrat Congress to quickly impeach him. I don’t relish the sight of the bloody aftermath of that imbroglio. And to think that it is all due to people believing in that which ought not to be believed. The Democrats believe in a successful Marxism. Republicans believe in a popular Trumpism.
RogerG
Sources:
1. “What Is Mass Formation Psychosis? Robert Malone Makes Unfounded Covid-19 Vaccine Claims On Joe Rogan Show”, Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 1/2/2022, at https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2022/01/02/what-is-mass-formation-psychosis-robert-malone-makes-covid-19-vaccine-claims-on-joe-rogan-show/?sh=4077085d1d4c
2. “Exit Polls: Exit Poll Results for 2024 Presidential Primaries and Caucuses”, CNN, at https://www.cnn.com/election/2024/primaries-and-caucuses/exit-polls/south-carolina/republican-primary/0
3. Thanks to Philip Klein for his analysis regarding the electability question in “South Carolina Results Show Why It’s Hard to Run on Electability”, National Review, 2/24/24, at https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/south-carolina-results-show-why-its-hard-to-run-on-electability/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=blog-post&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=top-bar-latest&utm_term=fifth
4. Trump’s speech at the convention of the National Religious Broadcasters can be viewed at https://youtu.be/x1xKn6LR5gY?si=8bAv8muBXKRwXpjI
5. “Exclusive: John Kelly goes on the record to confirm several disturbing stories about Trump”, Jake Tapper, CNN, 10/3/2023, at https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/02/politics/john-kelly-donald-trump-us-service-members-veterans/index.html4
6. “‘No Peace, B****,’ Meghan McCain Tells Kari Lake”, Haley Stack, National Review, 2/21/2024, at https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/no-peace-b-meghan-mccain-tells-kari-lake/