General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: John Dean article explains Trump voters. REALLY! [View all]DDySiegs
(253 posts)I have been touting Altemeyer's The Authoritarians for many years. It explains so much about "conservatives without conscience".
One of my take aways from Altemeyer's work is that authoritarian followers do not believe everything their chosen leader says; much more importantly they believe the LAST thing the leader says. Others have noticed this characteristic - think of George Orwell's 1984 where when Big Brother suddenly decides to go to war with a country after having been its booster, public attitude changes from friendship to total enmity literally over night.
But Trump is the real "master" of this belief of the LAST word. He realizes, whether wittingly or unwittinly, that regarding his followers he can utter blatant lie after blatant lie, day after day, without concern of losing his followers. After all they believe every LAST thing he says.