He's using his pep rallies as "focus groups" for his talking points...

with predictable results.

I remember-sorry I don't have a video clip-how he introduced the whole "Obama/Clinton founded ISIS" line. It was at one of his recent rallies. He was trying to use a teleprompter IIRC, but then he goes off script. He starts his usual babbling and you can almost see his face light up in "I have a good idea" mode when he blurts out that "Obama founded ISIS."

Now the crowd didn't immediately react, perhaps in shock and disbelief, but there was a smattering of applause, and I can imagine Trump looking at all the faces in the crowd, wondering what they just heard, but then starting to beam with realization. So he says it again, louder this time, with more force to it. The crowd starts to cheer and applaud. Then he seems to realize that he's not really running against Obama, so he repeats it again, this time adding Clinton's name, saying "Yes Obama and Crooked Hillary Clinton founded ISIS."

This accomplishes two things, at least. One, it gets his fawning supporters off on another tangent, always eager and willing to believe something evil about the President and Hillary Clinton. To them it has become fact, incontrovertible, non-arguable fact. Secondly, it cements it in his mind. It's the simple old memory trick to repeat something three times (or more) to make the memory last. It becomes fact in his mind, too. And he's off for several days on his bogus bullshit, wondering why the press is hammering him about what in his mind is established fact. In the end, he'll drop it; not because he realizes it is bullshit lies, but because he starts to realize that it isn't working for him, even though he cannot grasp why.

He does this all the time. Of course, his rallies are totally non-scientific means to select focus groups. They are already supporters, there will be no critical look at his words. But in his version of the bubble, his rallies ARE "the American people," as he mistakes the ability to gather a few thousand supporters for the actual ability to garner support from the broader electoral base. He takes in the cheering and accolades and believes that's what everybody thinks of him. If the American people don't think that, in his mind it is only because of the media mis-representing him and his words/actions. His basic thought process never gets past "How can they NOT love me?"

Yeah, narcissism at it's ugly finest.