Don't call Trump supporters "gullible." [View all]
Calling Trump supporters "gullible" just plays directly into Trump's hands. It both makes his supporters feel attacked and buys into the idea that they are innocently believing Trump's lies. Deep down, his supporters psychologically need to have those two things. They need to be "attacked," so they can feel free to "counter-attack." They need people implicitly accepting that they innocently believe the lies they're being told.
They don't really believe the lies for the most part. There's a difference between believing a lie and simply accepting it because you want to accept it. Trump supporters aren't being gullible. They're being deliberately riled and enraged into complicity. They're in a feedback loop where they are deliberately accepting lies and lying to themselves to build up anger for a fight.
To get there, many Trump supporters, probably the majority, have consciences they need silenced. Calling them gullible helps them get that. On the flip side, calling Trump supporters gullible makes those of us who are against Trump feel good. We're angry, and we want to "attack." It's self-defeating, but that's what we feel like doing.
Trumpies need to be ambivalent; we need to be cool, judgmental, and expect the best from them. They are not being themselves. They need to hear their consciences talking to them. They need to feel their fear of ruining everything. That means we need to tell them to stop being so angry for a minute and think. Why are they angry? Maybe it's Iago.
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