Thread by @1JoshGreenberg

THREAD

TRUMP’S TACTICS ON NOVEMBER 3—PART I: UNDERSTANDING THE ADVERSARY

Let the events of Trump’s Covid infection—true or not—be a preview of the much taller tidal wave of disinformation that will very likely be unleashed against our country on November 3.

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As the Covid ordeal was merely the latest in a four-year string of escalating dramas, we can only expect further—in fact, exponential—escalation from here.

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Because our strategic response to Trump’s stunts may make the difference between redemption and collapse for our country, we must draw lessons from the Covid drama.

Fundamentally, to successfully defend against such attacks, we must understand how the adversary operates.

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Therefore, in this thread, I provide a systematic analysis of the key tactics that Trump employs.

In a follow-up thread that will be published soon, I will discuss what we must do—emergently—to maintain our focus and to respond effectively to Trump.

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Let’s focus on four key components of Trump’s tactics:

(1) Chaos
(2) Media Dominance
(3) Unimaginable Surprise
(4) Bottomlessness

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Tactic #1: Chaos.

The chaos is not accidental. The chaos is not from incompetence. The chaos is intentional. The chaos is diabolical.

The chaos is used to entrap the media—and each one of us. The chaos is meant to overwhelm our senses.

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Trump wants us to become distracted. He wants us to become disoriented. He wants us to lose our footing. He wants us to drown in a maze of rumors and doubts and ambiguities and false equivalencies and lies. He wants to destroy our reality—the foundation of our existence.

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And Trump gloats every time we fall for his ploys.

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Tactic #2: Media Dominance.

Trump seeks to dominate our discourse in order to penetrate inside everyone’s heads—his supporters and opponents alike. His supporters, he brainwashes. His opponents, he intimidates and infuriates.

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In both cases, he projects an image of power that far exceeds his true feebleness.

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Tactic #3: Unimaginable Surprise.

Ambush is one of Trump’s favorite tools and almost always leaves everyone flat-footed.

He especially likes to ambush to reset the news cycle when the current discourse seems unfavorable to his agenda.

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The recent Covid drama was only the latest ambush among escalating surprise attacks that have been executed ad infinitum and have by now numbed our memories of the past four years.

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Tactic #4: Bottomlessness.

Trump has no bottom. Because nothing is too low for him, he shocks and horrifies again and again and again.

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In addition, by going lower and lower with each successive blow, he brings everyone around him to new lows as well—again both his supporters and opponents alike. In effect, he brings out the worst in everyone.

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For his supporters, he achieves this task by steadily inducing them to serve as accomplices in ever more heinous acts.

For his opponents, he drags people down by provoking mutual animosity. He did this to Biden in the recent debate, exemplified by Biden’s “shut up” remark.

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Even though there is zero moral equivalence between Trump and Biden, the ultimate result was to tarnish both Biden’s public image and the image of our entire system of government—the system that Trump wishes to destroy.

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This outcome enabled Trump to paint in the public perception a false moral equivalency between himself and his opponents.

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Where do all of these sinister tactics leave us? By understanding the methods of Trump’s assaults, we can develop more effective responses. In my next thread, I will outline what all of us must do to remain resilient in the face of Trump’s coming attacks on our democracy.

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