I wonder If Trump might be going a bridge too far with his cult followers.

[Mister Ed]

Can Trump get his cult members to pivot from fearing for their lives to willingly sacrificing their lives?

In an ongoing effort to propagandize and brainwash the public, Trump & company have very successfully exploited people's natural fear of death. Mortal fear is the most powerful tool in the toolbox of the propagandist, because there is no stronger human emotion than the survival instinct. If the propagandist can arouse the fear of death in his listeners, and then convince them that only he can protect them, then he will have them under his control.

In recent years, Trump has painted a lurid picture of the threat of hordes of "diseased Mexican rapists and murderers" swarming across the border. In his 2016 GOP nomination acceptance speech, he portrayed America as a terrifying hellscape of threats from all directions, repeating over and over again, "Only I can fix this." In his inaugural address, he spoke of the "American carnage" that he would soon halt. His message, again and again, has clearly been designed to arouse and exploit the fear of death.

Now that the American people are faced with the all-too-real and imminent threat to their lives presented by the Corona virus, Trump is suddenly and desperately seeking to tamp down the fear of death among his supporters. He downplayed the virus threat for months, until he could conceal it no longer. Now, in an effort to temporarily boost the economy and preserve his image, he proposes that the workforce should return to the workplace en masse in another week or so, creating a likelihood that millions may eventually die as a result.

Has he gone a bridge too far? Will the supporters in whom he has cultivated the fear of death revolt against him? Or is their devotion to their cult leader now so complete that they will gladly march to their death for him? That has certainly happened many times before in human history.

Perhaps those with a much greater knowledge of psychology than I possess can offer their thoughts. Otherwise, as Trump is fond of saying, "We'll see what happens".

[DrToast]

1. For many people it's not real until something they know dies

Sadly, that’s where this probably headed.

[sfstaxprep]

2. It Worked For Jim Jones

First he told them it was necessary to flee to Guyana to escape the U.S. Government. Then he told them to sacrifice their lives to save themselves from the U.S. Government.

[TygrBright]

3. There IS no bridge too far for the determined MAGAt cultists. n/t

[matt819]

15. Agree 100%

They will follow him anywhere. They will drink the kool-aid. They will die. Their loved ones will die. And they will place the blame squarely on Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and George Soros. And they have no internal conflicts over this.

[NurseJackie]

4. I've HAD IT UP TO HERE with "cult-leader" politicians and their adoring cult followers...

I've HAD IT UP TO HERE with "cult-leader" politicians and their adoring cult followers and other enablers and apologists and defenders. This is a very dangerous time that we live in.

[BamaRefugee]

7. I think you're supposed to discuss Bernie in the Primaries groups ;-)

[NurseJackie]

13. ...

[Atticus]

5. I asked a Trump supporter. He said "Ba-a-a-a! nt

[BamaRefugee]

6. Trumplickers will crawl on their knees, coughing up blood and spraying diseased sputum along the way

to vote for him in November.

Trump will authorize posthumous Medals of Honor for anyone who dies on the floor of the polling place.

There is no "Bridge Too Far". For them, it's a "Stairway To Heaven".

[rufus dog]

8. Never, ever, ever....

Underestimate the ignorance of the Repup base.

We are just as guilty at them when it comes to projection. We believe at their core the don’t hate, the will at some point do the right thing. We are now at life or death decisions. Do you want to bet your life they will come to their senses?

To this point they have had numerous off ramps. Taken none.

[unblock]

9. Except it's not people willingly giving up their own lives

It's not like he can muster up volunteers to satisfy the virus's thirst for human lives and then the virus will go dormant the way primitive people thought of angry volcanos.

Instead, he's talking about indiscriminately killing people pointlessly, whether they're willing or not.

The virus doesn't care if you support Donnie or not, if your from a red state or blue. Mostly it just cares if you have lungs.

[tblue37]

10. Many of them (40% of US) have bought the lie that the virus is no big deal and that

the distancing & shutdown responses are hysterical, politically motivated overreactions. IOW, they don't really believe their lives are in danger, but they do believe that if the shutdown doesn't end right away, they will never be able to buy toilet paper again.

[Mister Ed]

17. You know, that really rings true.

Trump's followers won't think they're marching to their death, as I had thought. They'll think that what they're doing is perfectly safe, because their cult leader has told them it is.

[2naSalit]

11. Could be...

Kool-aid time at Jonestown with the cult at this point.

[CanonRay]

12. He swings from

a hoax, to a national emergency to it's all over and his idiot followers blindly do just that. It boggles the mind.

[no_hypocrisy]

14. I see if more like a mass murder-suicide scenario.

They're not going to hell alone. They have been inflamed and hate us and they have all those guns. Plus, they be convicted for murder if they're already dead. And for the glory of their Leader.

[Midnight Writer]

16. If I had a dollar every time I thought Trump went too far, I would be rich enough to vote Republican

[treestar]

18. As one DUer has as a signature line

The Kool Aid is orange this time.

They've created their own reality based on Dotard's claims. They don't even need a physical Jonestown.