Trump's followers believe Trump because he has conditioned them to believe no one but him. They believe that the democratic rules have already been violated by corrupt Dems. They see Trump as a truthteller & his fight as democratic. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/us/politics/trump-vote.html?smid=tw-share

Which is why you don't let a dangerous demagogue take power. The language strategies he used to gain power are the very same he's using to subvert democracy.

Trump uses three strategies to ingratiate himself with his base.

And three strategies to divide him & his followers from everyone else (these three are typically a recipe for war rhetoric):

I re-wrote the conclusion a few times because I kept going back and forth about the seriousness of Trump’s threat to democratic stability. It’s hard to believe until you see it & even when you see it it’s still hard to believe.

Trump keeps proving that my fears are justified.