Thought this was a solid summary of Trump's strategy, though in hindsight I think it made his fans look putting it nicely naive.....
<<<To answer this I read a number of books, including Steve Hassan’s “The Cult of Trump,” Matt Taibbi’s “Hate, Inc.”, and Scott Adams “Win Bigly.” All three books provided insight into why Trump enjoys the support he does. Hassan talked about high demand organizations (like Evangelical Churches) transferring support to Trump, Taibbi talked about the business models for media organizations leading to increased polarization of the electorate, and Adams talked about Trump’s persuasion skills (labeling him a “master persuader”).
But Dr. Mercieca’s book is the first one that describes the rhetoric Trump employed to really create an “us / them” dynamic with the electorate.
In terms of creating an “us,” according to Dr. Mercieca Trump used ad populum anti-political-correctness rhetoric to help forge a bond with his people, the wise-but-underappreciated men and women (“the forgotten”); he used paralipsis (“I’m not saying, I’m just saying”) to let his followers “in the know” what he really thought, but couldn’t proclaim; and he used American Exceptionalism to unite his followers with an America from the past.
In terms of creating a “them,” Trump used ad hominem attacks against anyone who criticized him; he used ad baculum threats against the media (“such dishonest reporters”) to help inoculate himself beforehand against criticisms of hypocrisy or any kind of fact-checking (“what you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening”); and he used reification to objectify others, such as immigrants.
Altogether Trump’s rhetorical techniques were incredibly effective at dividing the United States into those who were for Trump through thick and thin, and those who were against him no matter what he did or what he accomplished. In other words, “the cult of Trump” and “Trump derangement syndrome” are two sides of the same coin. As much as I may wonder why Trump supporters still line up behind him, they probably wonder why I'm so against him, and why I believe so many of the "hoaxes" against him.<<<
