Why won't Trump supporters admit they've been conned?

[d_r]

4. You should read John Dean's book

It helped me to understand this. I thought it was because of cognitive dissonance and not wanting to lose face - no one wants to admit they are a sucker so they double down to rationalize it.

But Dean and Altemeyer extend upon that. I don't know if I can do it justice, but their point is that in addition to this cognitive dissonance, one group of people who are loyal trump followers are authoritarian followers. This group of people is very vulnerable to being conned - religious charletons have recognized this for a long time. Because the authoritarian followers isolate themselves from other points of view, they are easily suckered by con men who tell them that they are right and reaffirm those views. They are quick to welcome in someone who acts like he agrees with them because it supports their view of self. Con men recognize this and use it to sucker them. And because they have such compartmentalized thinking and are likely to reject evidence that violates their views, they simply become suckers.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-positivity/202009/john-deans-authoritarian-nightmare