Abstract
It has been almost three years since the culmination of Donald Trump’s tumultuous presidency and we as a nation are still in pain. Despite the impeachments and indictments millions continuously support President Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen and defend the justifiability of the January 6th storming of the Capitol. To that end, it is not too surprising that several recent polls show Trump and Biden virtually tied in a 2024 rematch. Social psychological research suggests that Trump’s support may be accounted for because of people’s inclination to embrace charismatic politicians in times of historical upheaval to mitigate existential terror. Consistent with this view, research conducted over the past 20 years has demonstrated that reminders of death increased support for a charismatic leader and influenced voter preferences on public policy and foreign affairs. This chapter critically reviews a line of research portraying Donald Trump as a charismatic leader. Research revealed that death reminders increased support for Donald Trump before the 2016 election, and again before 2020 presidential election. These results are consistent with previous research findings that people manage potentially paralyzing terror by identifying with leaders who foster a sense of being a valued part of a righteous and powerful tribe or nation.
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Notes
- 1.
George W. Bush lost the popular vote to his rival Al Gore on November 8, 2000, and was not declared the winner of the presidential election until December 12, 2000, when the Supreme Court ended a contentious recount in Florida.
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Cohen, F. (2023). Odds and Ends: The Importance of the Political and the Social in Explaining Mortality and Contingency in the Era of Trump. In: Akande, A. (eds) The Perils of Populism. Springer Studies on Populism, Identity Politics and Social Justice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36343-6_20
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