Polls show that around 40% of the electorate approve of Donald Trump’s first week and a half in office; 60% do not. This is not a mere partisan divide; it is a psychological divide as well. Most of the 60% simply cannot understand how Trump’s faithful 40% can continue to support him.
So far, Trump has confirmed every bad impression he created during the election: that he is reckless, autocratic, mendacious, confrontational, gratuitously insulting, obsessed with his popularity and image, cruel to refugees and immigrants, dangerously intent on disrupting both the federal government and long-standing international relationships, suspiciously friendly toward Putin, and oblivious to the appearance of corruption or hypocrisy.
What is so baffling about Trump’s supporters is that they continue to stand by him when they were so uncharitable and hateful toward Pres. Obama and Hillary for far less serious transgressions. In addition to being unfair, their attitude is fundamentally irrational.
Irrationality is defective reasoning; it generally involves drawing the wrong inference. The usual causes of irrationality are alcohol, drugs, ignorance, intense emotions, and motivated belief. All of these contribute to abnormal and often self-destructive behavior. For our purposes, motivated belief is the most important. People too often believe what they want to believe. Either they deny reality because it conflicts with a belief to which they are emotionally attached or they suffer from…