Supporters absorb former US president’s strategy of inverting accusations against him and turning them on his accuser. To his fans, Trump is the saviour of democracy

Snow was falling, lightly dusting the tables full of “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president” and “Fight for Trump” and other “Make America great again” regalia. Still, in subzero temperatures, people waited in a long and winding line on Saturday for a chance to see their greatest showman.

Donald Trump, the former US president, was about to hold the biggest campaign rally yet in New Hampshire’s primary elections, where victory would put him within touching distance of the 2024 Republican nomination – and trigger renewed warnings that democracy itself will be on the ballot in November.

But his ardent supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire, saw things differently – 180 degrees differently. In their view it is Joe Biden who acts like an autocrat and Trump who is the saviour of the constitutional republic.

  • @watson387@sopuli.xyz
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    3210 months ago

    I guess when they’re willing it isn’t brainwash, but they definitely live in an alternate reality from everyone else.

    • originalucifer
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      2610 months ago

      its projection.

      people have been pointing out how he wants to be a dictator, so he is claiming thats what biden arleady is. in this way, his idea doesnt sound as crazy as it.

      conservatives are master at projection, if they are claiming someone did something theres a reasonable chance they are doing it themselves.

      • Uranium3006
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        910 months ago

        it’s not a sophisticated trick, and it works because liberals are too cowardly to call it out

        • Introversion
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          1310 months ago

          And too many conservatives are too goddamn gullible to realize they’re being conned.

          • squiblet
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            610 months ago

            Why not… their religion tells them that it’s a virtue to believe as hard as possible in fantastical stories that have no evidence supporting them.

        • @Sunforged@lemmy.ml
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          210 months ago

          That’s not really the problem. The problem is liberals failure to deliver meaningful change to worker’s lives when they have majorities. The best they can do when they win at the ballot is deliver conservative bills in sheep’s clothing like Obamacare or Wall Street deregulation.

          The biggest difference is Dems ability to not run a deficit, but apparently that’s to abstract for voters to care about as it doesn’t materially impact them. Even then what is the point to a balanced budget when it includes military spending like this, a response like this when the free option is stopping an allies from continuing a genocide?

          So many bigger issues that “calling out” hypocrisy. Truly the only thing that can stop Trump is a good headline of how Biden “slammed” him.

    • @ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com
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      1110 months ago

      The brainwashing part is just to prepare their minds to accept whatever a trusted authority feeds it. Fox News did that part between 1990 and today. So yep, they are brainwashed, though it doesn’t remove personal responsibility of course.