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 Originally Posted by boost
I think you have most of the pieces right, and that you're the most right when you say that his actions make his core beliefs clear.
That's the crux of it.
What I think though is that he doesn't have any core beliefs in the sense you're using the term. I think he's extremely talented at reading his audience, and he uses them as a sounding board. Then he delivers on what gets the best response.
That can certainly be true. Though I approach that which caution since it is gonna be more rare for somebody like him and in this circumstance to be insincere than sincere.
The twist though is that this is just the first step. It creates a mental link between "Trumps decision" and "my preference" with his supporters. This is what is scary. This is what makes the "I could shoot someone in the middle of Times Square" quote so troubling. This is how cults of personality arise.
What's troubling? Do you think he actually could shoot somebody in Times Square and not suffer severe consequences from his base? Because he couldn't, not by a long shot. This "cult" is in peoples' minds who don't like him (or his supporters).
Here's what happened: he said something relatively normal and colloquial, and people laughed. Then others who make a living off of mischaracterizations, mischaracterized and fooled a bunch of good people into believing the mischaracterizations.
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