Member-only story
Embrace of ‘the Big Lie’ Is One Reason Why Trump Must Never Be President Again
Former president convinced millions of Americans to believe dangerous conspiracy theory
A core part of the twisted political ideology known as Trumpism is reality denial. Former President Donald Trump told 30,000 lies in his time as president. One of the core parts of this strategy was getting his followers to believe his version of the truth. There was no wrong or right, only what Trump believed. And if Trump said it was true; then it became true in the eyes of his followers, even if all objective facts stated the opposite.
That is the case with the coronavirus. Even as hospital wards start to fill with unvaccinated patients, red state dwellers continue to refuse the vaccine and put their lives in jeopardy.
About one year after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, it’s interesting to note that reality denial plays an important role in that movement too.
The Capitol attack was motivated by the Stop the Steal movement. That movement was motivated by the idea Trump lost the November 2020 elections by fraudulent means. And that’s where the problem begins. That idea is simply not true.
Trump and other Republicans know this, but they don’t care. All they care about is…
