Aside from the incessant daily lying, the shape of Trumpian falsehood production combines authoritarianism and evangelicalism.
Chrissy Stroop does some good work on the hegemonic aspect of the Trumpian base, and demonstrates how easy Trump’s grifting rallies fit into the structure of religious fundraising. The crude information chaos created by Trumpists fits some easily translatable distractions meant to drive both diversions on the left and reinforcing ideological reinforcement on the right.
- mentions 2. Cultivating distrust of institutions might seem like a bad idea for someone who wants to govern, but it's quite effective if your goal is personal rule based on personal loyalty. The U.S. Right has tellingly sown distrust in the very possibility of good governance for decades.
- mentions 3. Disinformation combined with manipulative and corrupt means of gaining the personal loyalty of a population is an insidiously effective means of controlling people. I've laid out detailed thoughts on why alternative facts work for authoritarians here:
- mentions 4. The pattern here is eminently recognizable to those of us who grew up in what we might call microcosmic disinformation ecosytems, whether in a right-wing religious enclave community or just in a family with a narcissistic parent. The two things often go together.
- mentions 5. Authoritarianism is abuse. And as I wrote in 2017, "Fundamentalism is authoritarianism in microcosm, or on the margins. Fascism is essentially fundamentalism in power." Evangelicals have been doing "alternative facts" since before it was cool.
- mentions 7. It should thus surprise no one that white evangelicals back Trump the way they do. And yet so many pundits are simply unwilling to face that sometimes Christianity is terrible. Sometimes it's all about power and control, and in our context white supremacist patriarchy.
- mentions 8. See also: Hoosier good ol' boy @VP Mike Pence, as Indiana governor, trying to establish his own state propaganda outlet. This is 100% #HowToEvangelical.
- mentions 9. And for more evidence and personal "testimonies," if you will, to the authoritarian nature of conservative, mostly white evangelicalism, check out the hashtag #ExposeChristianSchools.
- mentions 11. To get back to @ThePlumLineGS's article, another key point is this: "If anything, Trump’s attacks [on FOX] have given the network a way to hype its largely nonexistent independence from him." A little pushback from FOX on Trump just further fosters our disinformation climate.
- mentions 12. And this: "The whole point here is the open declaration that something meant to be a news network should function as his personal 24/7 propaganda and disinformation outlet. It’s a double-fisted declaration of impunity." Trump is openly, deliberately, attacking rule of law.
- mentions 13. That's all for this one. If you appreciate the political analysis I bring you via Twitter and my own writing, I would greatly appreciate you supporting me via @Patreon with a few dollars a month if you can afford to. Sharing the link helps too! https://t.co/QUu0V1bqTT?amp=1
- mentions 14. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a great #LaborDayWeekend. Remember to take care of yourselves in the marathon fight against Christian nationalism and American fascism.
- End thread.
The Southern Border Crisis is an example of atrocities, much like the recent attacks on LGBTQ communities in places where progress has already been made.