Trump may be losing control of his followers

[Beastly Boy]

15. I don't think he ever had control over them.

I believe the relationship between Trump and his minions is just the reverse - they created Trump. He assumed a public persona which appeased their misguided delusions every step of the way. Rather than planting notions in their minds, he took advantage of their already existing notions, and lied his ass off to reinforce every single one of them. Trump himself did not advance a single original idea, no ideology, no political strategy, no platform other than what he surmized from what he heard from his base. From "deep state" to "owning the libs", to rabid xenophobia, the talking points were all theirs, not Trump's. Trump didn't invent a single one of them. He merely reinforced every misguided notion that defined his base without even attempting to evaluate them in any way, thus validating his base's stupidity and arrogance. This is the reward his base gets for worshiping Trump. And Trump gets what he wants: being worshiped and getting richer in the process.

But the minute Trump stops stroking the collective ego of his base, the relationship is over. He is dependent on their good graces, not the other way around. He knows he made a mistake by encouraging his minions to get vaccinated. I don't think this will happen again.