With Trump supporters continuing to blindly champion their MAGA leader – even as he compares himself to Jesus Christ, gets a giant golden statue of himself at Mar-a-Lago, and says he doesn’t think about the financial situations of Americans “even a little bit” – do you ever wonder what’s going on inside their heads?
In a new ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ interview, Mehdi speaks with Dr. Cindy Harmon-Jones, a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at Western Sydney University, who recently published a new academic study dedicated to answering that very question.
Harmon-Jones, an expert in cognitive dissonance, tells Mehdi she wanted to understand why Trump supporters stand by him despite the allegations of sexual abuse and other criminal behavior. Her study found three common justifications offered by MAGA movement members.
Mehdi and Harmon-Jones also discuss just how Trump-specific this cult-like support is, what might convince long-time supporters to finally turn their backs on the president, and why people fell hook, line, and sinker for this lawless, lying president in the first place.
“There is quite a bit of research showing that when people feel like they’re under threat, they will turn to authoritarianism,” Harmon-Jones says, particularly “conservatives or right-wing-type people.”
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