“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”
“They have abortion in the ninth month … the Governor before, he said ‘the baby will be born, and we will decide what to do with the baby.’ In other words, ‘we’ll execute the baby.’”
“People don’t go to her rallies — there’s no reason to go. And the people that do go, she’s bussing them in and paying them to be there … People don’t leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.”
As you probably recognize, these quotes are from Donald Trump’s performance at the recent Presidential Debate on Sept. 10. Predictably, social media users have latched onto these admittedly comical outbursts, quickly making them the subjects of jokes and memes at the former president’s expense.
It’s easy to make light of Trump’s assertions as the intense, but ultimately nonsensical, ramblings of a bitter and resentful old man. It’s also naive to think that each one isn’t calculated and purposeful.
Trump certainly knows what you and I know — that many of the outlandish claims he makes are either exaggerated or completely untrue. He knows that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, aren’t eating people’s cats and dogs. He knows that there are no physicians in this country executing newborns fresh out of the womb. He knows that Kamala Harris isn’t paying her supporters to look interested and engaged at her campaign events.
Trump is not as crazy or dumb as his opposition would like to believe he is. He was smart enough to get himself elected in 2016, after all. He knew back then what he knows now — he can get people to believe just about anything, especially something that will scare them into voting for him, if he says it loudly, confidently and consistently enough. It’s all part of his terrifyingly effective political strategy of weaponizing misinformation.
Fear is an incredibly powerful motivator. It causes people to cast reason aside, instead forcing them to cling to what they think is safe and secure. Trump plays on this universal human weakness with his undeniable talent for knowing when to keep things ambiguous — like his continuous refusal to commit to vetoing a national abortion ban — and when to assert something as concrete and inevitable. He’s managed to convince a significant subset of suburban voters that they ought to be concerned about “migrant crime” and the nefarious intentions of immigrants in their communities — and that he is their only hope of protection.
Even the two recent attempts on Trump’s life are fuel on this fire. Both Democratic and Republican leaders rightfully denounced the displays of political violence from earlier this summer and Sunday afternoon — there should be no place for violence of any kind in the United States, certainly not as means for political gain. In spite of this, Trump chose to use the incidents to rally his supporters against anyone who might be out to get him.
Following the apparent assassination attempt on Sunday, he released a fundraising email blast warning about “people in this world who will do whatever it takes to stop us.” This comment is reminiscent of his 2021 statements about the “stolen” 2020 election which he used to manipulate the events of Jan. 6.
This is not a newly developed tactic of controlling narratives, either. In the aftermath of the July shooting, Trump made targeted, unfounded claims against the sitting president and vice president seemingly intended to reduce faith and trust in the current administration. In an August interview with Dr. Phil, he directed at least part of the blame for the shooting at Biden and Harris, suggesting that they wielded their personal political power to weaken his Secret Service detail. In doing so, he is actively manipulating the public into a distrust of government in general, but specifically the two most important people in the country — and the opposition party’s nominee. He’s reinforcing their place on his running list of people and groups that Trump supporters should fear — all under false pretenses.
Also included on that list is the mainstream media and journalists. In one of the more strategic and cunning choices of fears to instill in his supporters, Trump has been cultivating this deep sense of distrust since the start of his first campaign. He’s effectively squashed most possible avenues for calling him out on his lies in a way that his audience will believe.
Just like in 2016, Trump is counting on voters to take what he says at face value. He does not want the American people doing their own independent research. He’s depending on us staying fearful, easy to manipulate and misinformed.
This election season, and elections in general, can be fittingly compared to “The Parable of the Ship,” an analogy used to describe leadership in Plato’s “The Republic.” The story can be boiled down to this — there are two types of people who captain a ship. One of them has complete and total mastery of the ship. They know all its ins and outs, they’re an expert and honorable sailor and by-and-large, they’re the most qualified person you could have found for the job. The other type is exceptionally good at convincing people that they should get to be the captain of the ship.
Which type do you think Donald Trump is?
Grace Longworth is TPN’s assistant copy chief and terrible company at Thanksgiving dinner. You can write to her at [email protected].