[The Outsider]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/...li=BBnb7Kz

This is a very interesting read.  He makes the argument, and a good one, that no, they are not being conned because for the most part, they willingly give it to him.

Trump's supporters are dedicated to him. Many of them love Donald Trump as a personal god or savior. For the most part, Trump's followers and cult members are eager to give him money and do so enthusiastically. To suggest otherwise is to take away their agency and free will.

Far too many among the Democratic Party's leadership, the mainstream media and liberals and progressives more generally continue to engage in acts of narcissism and projection where they convince themselves — despite an abundance of evidence to the contrary — that Trump's followers and other Republicans possess the same values, beliefs, temperament, values and respect for reason, democracy and critical thinking that they do. These assumptions are critical errors, likely to guarantee defeat in a struggle against fascism and authoritarianism in which the future of American democracy and society is at stake.

In the end, Trump's followers worship him both as an idol and an embodiment of their most destructive values, beliefs and behavior. He is them; they are him. To outsiders such a relationship appears pathological. For the Trump faithful, it has created a life of meaning, relieving their spiritual and emotional emptiness. This relationship dynamic is frequently found between charismatic fascist leaders and their followers.

Trump's followers are making a choice to love him. That love is not coerced, and they are not "victims" or "marks." For Trump's flock to abandon him at this stage — and perhaps ever — would feel like emotional, psychological and perhaps even physical self-harm. Very few of them will do such a thing. Trumpism is giving them life, even as it destroys them.