Faced with the deep and dogged support of so many Americans for Donald Trump, and the accompanying threats to our democracy, I’ve come to the conclusion that people’s emotions are far stronger than facts. Donald Trump has been a master at identifying and exploiting the emotions of anger and resentment that so many feel.
We all feel neglected and disrespected at times, but Trump and his advisers have encouraged the anger associated with those feelings to create followers who are immune to facts. How else can the Big Lie of a stolen election still haunt America after it has been rejected in over 50 lawsuits, and flatly dismissed by most of Trump’s own inner circle?
As a Midwest native, I understand the anger of rural Americans at the elites of both coasts who show their imagined cultural superiority at every opportunity. I share the frustration and anger at the federal government under both parties because they have avoided so many critical issues or made them worse: unbalanced men mowing down unknown children, elderly, and minorities; a degraded environment; a health-care system that leaves America far behind most industrialized countries; a pandemic that killed millions more than necessary; an unsustainable economy built around artificially cheap gasoline and flimsy credit.
Anger, especially that built on fear, is a very powerful emotion. Once a seed is planted and grows, it can gobble up opposing facts, dismember and digest them like a giant, Venus fly trap, leaving a stronger and more malicious plant than before.
Appealing to anger and fear has been a fertile strategy for politicians of all persuasions throughout history. I remember two very powerful TV ads aimed directly at our deepest fears. In 1964, after Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater suggested he might use nuclear weapons in Vietnam, Democratic opponents aired the “Daisy” commercial: a small girl haphazardly picks and counts the petals on a daisy followed by a similar, military countdown leading to horrifying footage of a nuclear bomb blast. The voiceover states, “These are the stakes … We must either love each other or we must die … Vote for President Johnson.”
In 1988, an ad appeared that analysts say began “a new era of racial politics.” Although George H.W. Bush’s campaign denied involvement, a devastating 30-second ad highlighted one Black criminal’s misdeeds, connecting them to Governor Dukakis’s crime policies. A Massachusetts weekend furlough program resulted in a convicted murderer escaping and committing another heinous assault and rape. The ad capitalized on people’s fears, anger, and negative racial stereotypes. The implication was that under a Dukakis presidency, white people would live in fear of being assaulted by Black criminals in their homes.
But demagogues (those who “appeal to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than using rational argument”) rely entirely on fear and anger. Rather than using them as a motivator on one issue, they are at the heart of all issues. Rather than one cynical tool in the politician’s toolbox, fear is the entire toolbox.
Demagogues find and exaggerate people’s fears on every issue. They don’t need actual, practical goals for government because people’s fears overwhelm and obscure rational thought. (In 2020, the Republican Party didn’t even bother to put together a platform that establishes its goals beyond supporting Trump and his “America-first agenda.”)
Donald Trump’s mastery of this technique is stunning in its breadth. He says Democrats want “open borders,” stoking fear that America will be overrun by foreigners of the wrong color who will steal jobs from those already on the economic margins. Extending health care to most or all Americans will result in “socialized medicine,” a fearful outcome, even though most of the wealthy countries in the world happily make it work. Even our former allies, and cooperative neighbors like Canada and Mexico, are targets because they are part of economic and security agreements that don’t treat America fairly, so our once-strong support network around the world should be questioned and probably abandoned.
But Trump’s master stroke as a demagogue has come with his election defeat. He foresaw a possible loss and planted the seeds of fear in 2016 after he lost the popular vote, stating that millions had voted illegally. His election lie turns our democracy’s greatest strength — the peaceful transfer of power — into a source of fear and anger for his supporters. So far, fear and anger have won the battle over the election facts, proving that our own darker impulses are the greatest threat we face.
Allen Woods is a freelance writer, author of the Revolutionary-era historical fiction novel “The Sword and Scabbard,” and Greenfield resident. His column appears regularly on a Saturday. Comments are welcome here or at awoods2846@gmail.com.