Other Factors: Why Many People Overlook Donald Trump’s Character, Lying, and Deception

[Lee65]

Why Many People Overlook Donald Trump’s Character, Lying, and Deception

A significant portion of the American electorate remains loyal to Donald Trump despite widespread acknowledgment of his dishonesty and controversial character. Multiple factors-psychological, cultural, political, and historical-help explain this phenomenon.

Psychological and Group Dynamics

• Trump’s appeal is partly rooted in a “cult of personality,” where his followers display intense loyalty and psychological susceptibility to his persona6. This dynamic fosters a sense of group identity and belonging, making it difficult for supporters to break away even when confronted with evidence of dishonesty or moral failings36.

• Over time, repeated support through various controversies creates escalating personal commitment. Leaving the group would require supporters to admit they were wrong before, a psychologically difficult step3.

Moral and Factual Flexibility

• Research shows that many supporters do not necessarily believe Trump’s falsehoods are literally true but support them because they align with their political goals or emotional truths25. This phenomenon, called “moral flexibility,” means people justify falsehoods if they feel these statements serve a greater purpose or reflect their grievances2.

• Supporters often view Trump’s lies as “truthy”-they correspond to what they feel or suspect is true, even if not factually accurate5.

Redefining “Character”

• Historically, American voters have sometimes defined “character” not by honesty or integrity, but by perceived strength, effectiveness, and the ability to “get things done”4. Trump’s forceful persona and claims of achievement fit this older model, making traditional critiques of his character less effective with his base4.

Cultural and Political Factors

• Economic, cultural, and racial anxieties play a role. For some, Trump is seen as a champion against perceived threats to their way of life, making his personal flaws secondary to the larger battle they feel he represents3.

• Trump’s willingness to break norms and say whatever he wants is admired by some supporters, who see it as evidence of strength and a willingness to fight for them, regardless of the truth5.

Summary Table: Key Reasons for Overlooking Trump’s Character

Factor	Description
Personality Cult	Intense group loyalty and psychological identification with Trump63
Moral Flexibility	Support for lies that align with political or emotional truths25
Redefinition of Character	Emphasis on strength and effectiveness over honesty4
Cultural/Political Grievance	Focus on perceived threats and loyalty to group identity35
Admiration of Rule-Breaking	Envy or approval of Trump’s ability to defy norms5

Conclusion

Many Trump supporters are willing to overlook or rationalize his character flaws, constant lying, and deception because these traits are seen as serving a greater political or cultural purpose, reinforcing group identity, and embodying a style of leadership they value. The phenomenon is complex and rooted in both individual psychology and broader social forces23456.

Citations:

1. https://newlinesmag.com/argument/the-mass-psychology-of-trumpism/
2. https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/03/04/facts-ignored-truth-flexible-when-falsehoods-support-political-beliefs
3. https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/12/07/despite-drift-toward-authoritarianism-trump-voters-stay-loyal-why/
4. https://time.com/7014479/donald-trump-character-history/
5. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/11/trump-voters-like-lying-deception-feature/
6. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trumps-personality-cult-plays-a-part-in-his-political-appeal/
7. https://www.psypost.org/the-psychological-puzzle-of-donald-trump-eye-opening-findings-from-20-studies/
8. https://www.concordmonitor.com/My-Turn-Why-Voters-Overlooked-Trump-s-Legal-and-Ethical-Issues-57965473
9. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/ib-knowledge/management/neuroticism-deprivation-and-racial-bias-trumps-unique-authoritarian-appeal/
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumpism
11. https://abcnews.go.com/538/voters-chose-trump/story?id=115827243
12. https://link.motherjones.com/public/35444637
13. https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/political-messaging
14. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-a-new-home/202407/what-donald-trumps-most-loyal-followers-may-have-in-common
15. https://www.fairobserver.com/world-news/us-news/its-simplistic-to-assume-trumps-devoted-voters-are-irrational/
16. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-social-emotional-brain/202410/why-voters-support-trump-despite-his-alleged-misdeeds
17. https://www.psychiatrist.com/news/the-psychology-of-political-polarization/
18. https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/1106/1400174-trump-supporters-loyalty-legal-cases/
19. https://therapygroupdc.com/therapist-dc-blog/the-psychology-of-political-violence/
20. https://www.ifkw.uni-muenchen.de/lehrbereiche/reinemann/projekte/chapter-8-hameleers-et-al.pdf

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Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share

[Harrisfan]

We hear this every 5 mins on here

[Lacessit]

The slogan MAGA resonated with many Americans. With it, Trump built a rusted-on support base, and hijacked the Republican Party.

 

After World War 2, Britain was basically broke. Its colonies had become nations who were not going to provide resources to the Mother Country anymore. The fall of the British Empire was succeeded by the American Empire.

 

America spends more on defense than the next nine countries on the planet. $968 billion, vs $620 billion for those countries combined. It's a measure of American paranoia when it is defended by two mighty oceans, with friendly neighbors north and south.

 

Trump is hoping with tax cuts and tariffs he can make America great again. It's too late, tariffs are just another word for a tax which hits the poorest hardest.

 

The British Empire lost economic dominance after WW II due to debt, now it is America's turn. Many Americans are in denial of that fact, clinging to Trump's promises.

[frank83628]

6 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

We hear this every 5 mins on here

The obsession with DJT is like never witnessed before in history, normal rational adults reduced to bulging veined, frothy mouthed, psychotic screetching freaks at the mere mention of his name.

[rough diamond]

28 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

We hear this every 5 mins on here

Then don't post so often!

🙂

[spidermike007]

 

I refuse to put on winter tires because:

• It’s my car, my choice, my freedom.

• The effectiveness of winter tires is not proven, except by studies carried out by the manufacturers (like I’m supposed to trust them).

• My neighbor Bob had an accident even after putting on winter tires.

• Some drivers are already on their 3rd set of tires, which proves their ineffectiveness.

• We do not know what the tires are made of.

• The tire manufacturers scare us with winter just to enrich themselves.

• In fact, I read on the internet that the tire giants invented snow and spread it at night when you sleep.

• If I have winter tires, the government can track me in the snow.

 

This year, I say no to winter tires!

[Harrisfan]

1 hour ago, frank83628 said:

The obsession with DJT is like never witnessed before in history, normal rational adults reduced to bulging veined, frothy mouthed, psychotic screetching freaks at the mere mention of his name.

It's worse than climate change talk. I think 24/7 news and tech has highlighted how unhinged and radical the left is.

[rough diamond]

12 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

I think 24/7 news and tech has highlighted how unhinged and radical the left is.

Why does that statement only apply to the "left"?

[frank83628]

7 minutes ago, rough diamond said:

Why does that statement only apply to the "left"?

You just have to look at the threads here, especially the Trump ones

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, rough diamond said:

Why does that statement only apply to the "left"?

Right wingers delude themselves they are sane, then go out and buy gold sneakers and bibles made in China.

[rough diamond]

1 hour ago, frank83628 said:

You just have to look at the threads here, especially the Trump ones

That does not answer the question which BTW was not addressed to you!

[Harrisfan]

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Right wingers delude themselves they are sane, then go out and buy gold sneakers and bibles made in China.

Huh? 

[save the frogs]

has a president ever been scrutinized so intensely?

now all of a sudden everyone is an armchair sigmund freud handing out a psychoanlysis.

stalking is right. 

 

 

 

[flexomike]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 

I refuse to put on winter tires because:

• It’s my car, my choice, my freedom.

• The effectiveness of winter tires is not proven, except by studies carried out by the manufacturers (like I’m supposed to trust them).

• My neighbor Bob had an accident even after putting on winter tires.

• Some drivers are already on their 3rd set of tires, which proves their ineffectiveness.

• We do not know what the tires are made of.

• The tire manufacturers scare us with winter just to enrich themselves.

• In fact, I read on the internet that the tire giants invented snow and spread it at night when you sleep.

• If I have winter tires, the government can track me in the snow.

 

This year, I say no to winter tires!

Something wrong with the water in LALA land, this post makes no sense at all, when was the last time it snowed in LA

[candide]

4 hours ago, frank83628 said:

The obsession with DJT is like never witnessed before in history, normal rational adults reduced to bulging veined, frothy mouthed, psychotic screetching freaks at the mere mention of his name.

And it's not like MAGA posters like you would have spent years criticizing and smearing Biden at every moment!

Oh wait! 

[frank83628]

6 minutes ago, candide said:

And it's not like MAGA posters like you would have spent years criticizing and smearing Biden at every moment!

Oh wait! 

I highlight double standards and hypocrisy, which is what you all post every 10 minutes for the last 9yrs

[Tug]

3 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

It's worse than climate change talk. I think 24/7 news and tech has highlighted how unhinged and radical the left is.

Yes oh wise one we must ignore the financial chaos created by this one man we must ignore the clown car cabinet picks and the rule by decree and the corruption the adulation of and the betrayal of everything America stands for yes oh wise one how could I possibly be so mistaken I should just let it happen and not speak up ehh fat chance bucko

[TheAppletons]

3 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

I highlight double standards and hypocrisy, which is what you all post every 10 minutes for the last 9yrs

 

  Excellent point Dmitry.

 

  Enjoying Thailand while you avoid the war?

[frank83628]

5 minutes ago, Tug said:

Yes oh wise one we must ignore the financial chaos created by this one man we must ignore the clown car cabinet picks and the rule by decree and the corruption the adulation of and the betrayal of everything America stands for yes oh wise one how could I possibly be so mistaken I should just let it happen and not speak up ehh fat chance bucko

I notice you just brushed aside the false claine you made about the funeral, and move onto the next trump hatiing thread... you have zero credibility and at 76 you like argking with my grandfather,but he isn't sad

[placeholder]

I was going to write that "herd mentality" explains it, but I decided that wasn't fair.

Now I'm leaning towards blaming "lemming mentality".

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, placeholder said:

I was going to write that "herd mentality" explains it, but I decided that wasn't fair.

Now I'm leaning towards blaming "lemming mentality".

take a day off, man.

you're already far ahead on the leaderboard.

 

[metisdead]

A flaming post and the replies have been removed.

[placeholder]

9 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

take a day off, man.

you're already far ahead on the leaderboard.

 

Sorry. But I feel that I owe it to your reformation to continue. Some day you'll thank me.

[MicroB]

39 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

has a president ever been scrutinized so intensely?

now all of a sudden everyone is an armchair sigmund freud handing out a psychoanlysis.

stalking is right. 

 

 

 

 

Part of the reason is because he has a disgruntled niece who is a psychologist. You might be hacked off if you had a rich uncle who told your brother to let his disabled kid die.

 

The precedent was set by Kenneth Starr's investigation of Bill Clinton, with a public shocked by lurid details of a private nature. Clinton wasn't the first President to have engaged in adulterous affairs ; FDR, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, all had affairs while in office.

 

But the Starr investigation wasn't about a suddenly Puritan congress; utter rubbish, when you look at tneir personal biographies. It was a Partisan move to undermine a Presidency on the global stage. Before, to the outside world, American politics seemed free of extremes. The two parties both held similar positions, and nearly always, in international affairs, the oppostion party stood behind the presidency.  Of course, at the domestic level, there was always key differences, but the International community doesn't care about American domestic politics.

 

Since Starr, American politics has since degenerated, certainly in terms of Common Decency. And that's a finger pointed at both sides of the aisle.

 

Of course the same happens in other countries. With Italian politics, we have long come to expect it, since Berlosconi. Brexit made Britain into a kitchen soap drama, and a laughing stock. French politics has seen Presidents actually slung in jail.

 

Clinton's affairsl yes, conduct unbecoming of a gentleman, but essentially private. The language employed against George W Bush was outrageous. Barack Obama; politicians openly questioning if he was really an American. Biden; polticians calling him a paedophile.  So the 47th President being called a sex pest/perv into all of that.

 

Another speculative reason about why him? He's an actor. He has, over many years, created a TV persona that is an entire fiction (he was never an entrepreneur, dabbling in all different creative industries. He made his money in bricks and mortar, an industry based largely itself on fictions about how much a property is worth). He was never previously a public servant. The only time the general public knew about the real DJT was through one of his divorces. Ordinarily, affairs in the open ought to sink a politician, because it suggests dishonesty, disloyalty, carnal lust. Hence politicans like to keep a lid on these things. The public already knew about these things, so that's priced in to the vote (he can't be harmed if he was caught shagging the Press Secretary. Melania was looking a bit haggard at the Pope's funeral).

 

In The Apprentice, he creates an impression of someone with a sharp eye for detail, who makes strong decisions (You're Fired), who is very focused and who is warm hearted. The real person hasn't been in the public eye for 30 years, and all the things we would normally know about a politician in a 30 year political career are playing catchup. He makes weak decisions, he flip flops, he doesn't stay focused and often he is mean spirited.

 

Of course, there are comparisons to other actors turned politicians. Ronnie Reagan was probably under estimated, and likely misunderstood (he took a surprisingly liberal stance on some issues). Zelensky is probably under rated. He came into office as a former comedian, actor and director. If you look at his piano routine (playing a piano with his testicles), you would rightfully dismiss him as a political lightweight. But in the Ukrainian election, he had a runoff against essentially the Ukrainian Candy Oligarch. And they do say, cometh the hour, cometh the man. You dig a bit more into his background, and you find he is a trained lawyer (like Putin), so solid intellectual foundations for a Presidency.

 

Sometimes, actors make pretty good impressions, on film, of the sort of politician or speech  that you want to see or hear. Charlie Chaplins speech was entirely improvised

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BKKKevin]

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, MicroB said:

Part of the reason is because he has a disgruntled niece who is a psychologist.

 

I'm sorry I asked !!!!

 

[rough diamond]

20 minutes ago, placeholder said:

I was going to write that "herd mentality" explains it, but I decided that wasn't fair.

Now I'm leaning towards blaming "lemming mentality".

I don't think I want to follow the Trumpeters down that road/off that cliff edge!

[rough diamond]

7 minutes ago, MicroB said:

Part of the reason is because he has a disgruntled niece who is a psychologist.

Did anyone bother to read struggle past that first sentence?

 

[jvs]

 

[rough diamond]

17 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Sorry. But I feel that I owe it to your reformation to continue. Some day you'll thank me.

He won't even tho' you are correct!