This was also my point in an essay in THICK where I attend a Trump rally. He isn’t good rhetorically but he is great at amplifying audience feedback in real time. That’s what they’re there for - the spectacle. And MSM cannot process that. Or they doing the same performance
If you think of these rallies as revivals, you get closer to understanding and neutralizing them. It’s just Billy Graham with a different accent and much lower price of admission.
He never repeats a line that gets booed by his audience. He isn’t stupid. He is craven. He has plenty of self control when it comes to satisfying his symbiotic relationship with a live audience. He will give them anything they want.
You don’t beat that with the tools we keep bringing to bear. You don’t show up at church and drive out the preacher with facts. You destroy his ability to present as a preacher. You take the jet and the suits and tax his stolen tithes. Then you change people’s material conditions
And you ruthlessly leave no air for a single devoted follower.
Maybe facts preserve some identity of the opposition. And that’s good and fine. But it doesn’t do much for shutting down the revival.
Maybe facts preserve some identity of the opposition. And that’s good and fine. But it doesn’t do much for shutting down the revival.
