For months now, people have been writing off Donald Trump's chances of being the President,
saying that he's just a joke or fluke or fad, and, honestly, I use to write him off, too.
But after looking into him, I have to say it is time to stop laughing, because if you
watch till the end of this video, you'll see that Donald Trump has some incredibly effective
mental techniques and the charisma to influence the masses. And as his poll numbers are clearly
showing, he's got a very serious chance of working his way, not only to be the Republican
nominee, but the President of the United States. So let's understand exactly how he's doing
it by looking at his first technique--Fear.
There's a great hatred toward Americans by large segments of the Muslim population. Twenty-five
percent agree that violence against Americans, here in the United States, is justified. Sharia
authorizes murder against non-believers, beheadings, and more unthinkable acts. It's gonna get
worst and worst. You're gonna have more World Trade Centers. It's gonna get worst and worst,
folks.
Now, fear is an incredibly powerful emotion. Firstly, it captures our attention like no
other emotion can. We focus intensely on the thing that is giving us that fear. Secondly,
it shuts down higher thinking. When we're terrified by a bump in the night, we don't
think rationally about the fact that it's likely just the wind. Our critical thinking
skills dip as we focus simply on protecting ourselves, and, thirdly, fear feels crappy.
We don't like to feel afraid. So, the fastest way to get out of fear, and to move towards
a powerful emotion is to move into anger.
When Mexico sends his people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs.
They're bringing crime. They're rapists.
They're taking our jobs. They're taking our money.
Syrians are now being caught at the southern border. We don't know who they are; could
be ISIS.
I would never have made that horrible, disgusting, incompetent deal with Iran. They're a terrorist
nation.
Now, notably, the outlets for this anger are always out-groups. They're never necessarily
segments of the voting population. They're Sharia Muslims or Mexican rapists; people
that are not going to influence this election. And he sets it up so that if you disagree
with him, you are on the side of the other. You are anti-American life. It's a very powerful
position for him to take. Even if it statistically doesn't make any sense with what's actually
going on in the world.
Now, with this fear that Donald has created, he takes a next step, and that is to imply,
and, basically, say that no one else will keep you safe.
Do you think this is tough when you're not being treated fairly?
This isn't tough
Oh, yeah, oh I know you're a tough guy, Jeb, I know.
You're never gonna be president of the United States by insulting your way to the presidency.
Oh, yeah? Let's see. I'm at 42 and you're at three, so so far, I'm doing better.
So far I'm doing better. You know, you started off over here, Jeb, you're moving over further
and further. Pretty soon, you're gonna be off the end.
Now, this might strike you as schoolyard bullying, and, honestly, it is, but it has a very effective
way of communicating that Donald Trump is the dominant force in any interaction that
he is having these debates with Jeb Bush, and the poll numbers reflect that. Jeb, with
every single advantage, has plummeted.
Here's another example of Donald Trump absolutely running over Jeb Bush at a presidential debate,
and, now, pay attention to the number of crutch words that Jeb uses compared to Donald; the
way that Jeb's face looks when Donald cuts him off. Donald comes across as the dominant
personality in this interaction.
Excuse me Jeb, I was a businessman. I got along with Clinton, I get along with everybody.
That was my job, to get along with people.
More energy tonight, I like that.
If you noticed, Jeb is looking at Trump the entire time, while Trump never even looks
in his direction. He's going to talk no matter what. He didn't want...
It was my obligation as a businessman, to my family, to my company, to my employees.
Now, this might come across to you as a complete jerk move, but what people see behind that
is strength because, honestly, Jeb Bush's personality cannot compete with the dominance of Donald
Trump's, and, now, Trump has set it up such that he's created this climate of intense
fear, and he's also made his opponent look completely inept when it comes to handling
it, because they can't even handle him on stage. So, he sets himself up as the logical
strongman and then promises Americans what they crave most deeply, which is a return
to dominance; a return to that situation where we don't have to be afraid because we have
the strong man leading us and which, in turn, makes us feel more powerful, and he spells
that sentiment out exactly when he says no one is going to mess with us.
I will rebuild our military. It will be so powerful and so great that we'll never have
to use it. Nobody's gonna mess with us, folks, nobody. Nobody's gonna mess with us.
So there you go--Donald promising total dominance. Nobody's ever gonna mess with us. Here's another
example of Donald Trump's style of black and white, everything you ever dreamed of rhetoric.
We're gonna start winning so much that you're gonna get used to winning instead of getting
used to losing, whether it's military, whether it's trade, health care, we always lose. We're
going to always win again.
And you see, here, where most politicians might acknowledge that with effort and compromise,
you can achieve a certain goal. Donald Trump promises us what we really want, which is
to win in every arena, every time, guaranteed. This is the 6-minute abs version of politics.
Does it work? No. But do people buy it in droves? Absolutely. Now, this tactic of creating
an atmosphere of fear, presenting yourself as a strongman, and promising the world, is
actually very, very common in the world of politics. The problem is it makes you extremely
vulnerable. Lots of people are gonna be attacking you from the other side, and if you're ever
seen as weak, you come across as a hypocrite who cannot deliver on their promises. One
of the most fascinating things about Donald Trump is that he's always presenting himself
as a winner, and the most basic way that he does this is through social proof. So, take
a look at these clips, just from his opening remarks at one of the debates.
When I began it, talking about other things and those things are things I'm very good
at, and, maybe, that's why I'm center stage. People saw it. People liked it. People respected
it. People like what I say. People respect what I say. So, you see? Over and over again,
the Trump emphasizes that he is a winner; that he has been a winner. He quotes his poll
numbers. He gets the best of the debates in most exchanges, but there's always gonna be
those situations where somebody gets the best of him, and as a strongman, he can't afford
that, which is where one of his most incredible skills comes in, and that is deflection with
humor. Watch what happens in this next clip as the audience starts to boo.
Well, let me just tell you something, and you know it because you just saw the numbers yourself.
NBC, Wall Street Journal just came out with the poll, headline "Trump Way Up,
Cruz Going Down."
There he goes, again, quoting his winning poll numbers. Now, see how he deals with the
boos.
You can't... They don't like the Wall Street Journal. They don't like NBC, but I like the
poll, and, frankly, when this came out
Now, watch that. They were just booing him. He cracks this joke, people laughed, and watch
how quickly the sentiment of the crowd changes.
And, I would, now, as you know, Ted, in the last three polls, I'm beating you, so, you
know, you shouldn't misrepresent how well you're doing with the polls.
So that is the power of laughter. It is a pattern interrupt. You can't stay booing and
upset, and angry when somebody makes you uncontrollably laugh. It also makes you more receptive to
whatever comes next that somebody has to say, because they've already started to lead you
emotionally. So, what Donald Trump is doing here is using laughter to take control of
situations where he's starting to lose control, and what that does for him is it effectively
helps him dodge any points that you make against him because he can almost erase them with
a laughing crowd. This also works for ducking very pointed attacks, like this one, that
you might have already seen on YouTube.
You called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals, your
Twitter account
Only Rosie O'Donnell.
No, it wasn't.
And you hear Megyn Kelly here. Her point is getting drowned out. Obviously, it was more
than Rosie O'Donnell, but because Donald has made the audience crack up, the entire point
gets lost. It gets dismissed as ludicrous, which is what Donald goes on to say in his
answer. It was just a joke, yada yada yada, and people have accepted that at this point
because he made them laugh. Now, it's not just through laughter that Donald Trump was
able to avoid talking about any of the contentious issues in his record. In fact, one of the
most popular ways for him, that he's able to avoid engaging in any sort of reasonable
debate about the things that he has said and done, is by simply acting superior to them.
So, in this clip, Jeb is levying some charges against him. Watch Donald's face as he listens.
He doesn't look at Jeb, and, really, he just has this complete look of disbelief and disgust,
which communicates to the audience this is ludicrous. He doesn't even have to defend
himself.
ISIS was not our fight just two months ago. He said that Hillary Clinton would be a great
negotiator with Iran, and he gets his foreign policy experience from the shows. That is
not a serious kind of candidate.
So take that, that sort of non-verbal communication, and contrast that with the reverse, when Donald
Trump goes and attacks Jeb Bush, and see if you have a sense of how Jeb feels about it.
The trouble that we're in now. And, by the way, Jeb, you mentioned Boeing. Take a look.
They order planes. They make Boeing build their plant in China.
So, notice how Jeb is looking at Donald. It's clear that he is ready to react to him.
China. They don't want it made here. They want those planes made in China. That is not
the way the game is supposed to be played
Do you see that frustrated, tight look on Jeb's mouth? Basically, what's going on here
is that Donald is leading Jeb. Jeb appears to be reacting to him, which he is, and this
is where that communication of strength goes through. Donald Trump sets the tone, even
when he's losing, he's able to reverse it with laughter. He acts superior to accusations
against him. And then, the people around him can't seem to deal with the accusations that
he levies against him. So, I want to show one more clip of Donald Trump now, dealing
with a situation where somebody actually does get the better of him just for a moment. And,
in this clip, the situation is that they just asked the candidates what their code name
would be if they were to win President. Donald has been going at Jeb for being low energy,
and Jeb responds.
Eveready. It's very high energy, Donald.
So Jeb gets in a zinger. And look at that. Jeb slaps his hand like a little kid walks
up to a teenager when he extends his hand to be slapped. It's ridiculous. Donald is
able to take control of the situation. He clearly sees that Jeb has won the audience
with this little joke, and, so, rather than trying to make it a super serious thing, he
makes himself a player in the funny game, and watch now as he one-ups even what Jeb did.
And, again, here we have Jeb reacting very much. It becomes Donald's game that everyone
else is reacting to, and it's this way that we get the sense that Donald is the leader.
So, you combine the atmosphere of fear that he's created, with the fact that he seems
to be the leader in so many ways. He promises this sense of dominance of a return to not
having to worry about what's going to happen because he's going to lead and be protective
over the nation, and what you've got is someone who's very, very powerful. Add to that this
thing that he seems to be like Teflon. Whenever something comes at him, he can divert or deflect
with a joke. He's in a very, very powerful position. Now, we still have yet to see what
goes on with these Republican primaries, but don't count Trump out just because you think
this is a fluke.
In terms of charismatic personalities, he has everyone else in the field beat, whether
you like it or not, and, truth be told, there's a lot more that I found on him that I just
didn't have space for in this video. So, if you'd like to see that stuff. Let me know
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