Why Donald Trump Inspires the Confidence of His Supporters
Even when Donald Trump has no idea what he’s talking about, that’s perfectly OK.
Kyle D. Killian, Ph.D., LMFT
Even if you have no idea what you're saying, or doing, it pays to say it and do it with confidence
Overconfidence really pays. If you exude confidence while you are doing something, or speaking to an audience, that raises their estimation of your competence, and therefore, their confidence in you. Further, Trump supporters see him as “telling it like it isâ€, as a purveyor of “unvarnished truthâ€, someone who cuts through all conventions of decency, sensitivity and political correctness to speak truth to power. Trouble is, we as human beings are too easily and often swayed by what may amount to bluster, bravado, and fakery. We too quickly buy into façades and noise, because it sounds “strong†or “powerfulâ€. When we value larger-than-life blanket statements, and over the top facial expressions and gestures, and are perfectly willing to turn off the fact checker or BS detector, any performer can sound good, especially if we are looking for a simple message. “My competitors are losers/idiots! Mexicans are rapists! Hillary Clinton is evil! I’d be dating my daughter if is she wasn’t my daughter!†(ew). Trump can say or tweet anything, and his followers do not question it. Ordinarily, they’d be repulsed by that last statement, but somehow they get around it. How?
They don’t care how insensitive, obnoxious, or inaccurate Trump is, because his honesty or sensitivity are not major criteria for their judging their reality TV star. They are fans. And as fans become voters, they are quite used to having their political leaders lie to them. The ends can justify the means, and they are willing for the path to those ends to be a little crooked (hats off to Dan Ariely and his book The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty). And the fact is, Trump lies a lot.
How much, you’d ask, if you were not a Trump supporter? PolitiFact (
www.politifact.com) found that 75% of Trump’s claims were deemed “mostly falseâ€, “false†or, for the real howlers, “pants on fire.†How does this compare with other candidates? “Lyin’†Ted Cruz came in with 66%, Bernie Sanders has 29%, and Hillary Clinton has a percentage of 28. When it comes to falsehoods, Donald Trump is king. No one lies better and more often than Trump.
As John Oliver puts it, “Drumpf†tells lies that one shouldn’t expect to get away with. But Trump supporters are committed to letting him get away with it. Even the media is too exhausted (or have they become lazy?) to fact check him, or challenge his false claims. Lying is Trump’s superpower; he does it so rapid fire, no mortal being can track it. Still, it’s a sad day when even the “liberal media†declines to do its job of checking the truthfulness of a political candidate’s daily rhetoric.
The real magic trick is how people who say they are sick of being lied to by their political leaders, and are angry that the politicians don’t “get it†or understand them, place their faith in a billionaire who lies more than any other candidate, and who has no understanding whatsoever of the daily struggles of persons living paycheck to paycheck. He has no clue about what you are going through.
In fact, he knows he’s a winner, and people who aren't rich are all losers. But vote for him, and he’ll become wise, he'll begin to know what he's talking about, and he'll become Presidential. And you're gonna be winning so much, you’re gonna get bored of winning. Remember that. Believe me.
