Thread by @matthewremski

🧵Trump surrendering tonight's Q&A to 30 minutes of his fave songs while standing on stage, awkwardly conducting at times, echoes MANY instances of cultic leaders who, exhausted, ill, and at the end of their cognitive rope, outsource their emotional dominance subroutines... /1

...to canned music they personally find exquisitely sentimental. As traumatized narcissists, they are seeking comfort and avoiding work, but also assume that their core memories of pleasure will make their power and soul transparent and accessible to their followers. /2

Yes it's weird. No the campaign gives no explanation, because the logic is a sealed system. Believers lose themselves in the choruses. Handlers know there's nothing they can do but keep him propped up. Kristi Noem knows her inner circle status depends on staying bright-eyed. /3

The leader of the group I was in for 3 years maintained a Trump-campaign-like schedule of daily 2-hour sermons. Over the years he increasingly relied on his DJ to fill the room with emotional overwhelm whenever he gapped out. He was 78 too. He air-conducted the tunes. /4

He had a shrinking repertoire of melted talking points. But because there was never any substance to his schtick, he didn't struggle to remember details that were slipping away. He just turned to the music. All he had ever done was generated a mood. Then he died of a stroke. /5

Maybe helpful to keep in mind: for Trump followers the default to pure emotionality can be effective right up until the end. For some the intensity of their bond might increase, because for them as for him, the affect was the point. They weren't there for the platform. /6

There are people in the crowd who are uncomfortable, or who can recognize the signs, or who get bored and leave early. But for those really caught up, that 30 minutes of music and reverie might feel like the most direct and intimate contact they've ever had with him. /end