One answer is particularly disturbing: for millions of Americans, Trump’s pervasive lies are culturally and psychologically addictive. As it grows harder to comprehend complex subjects — climate change leaps to mind — they seize upon assertions, however bogus, that corroborate what they wish to believe. Inevitably, this suffocates our capacity for critical thought — mirroring, and empowering, Trump’s political needs and intellectual and psychological incapacities. Central to his survival in office is the deliberate destruction of our shared belief that verifiable truth is the indispensable foundation of political discourse. Kellyanne Conway’s “alternative facts” nourish the alternative reality in which Trump inflames his own American tribe against “enemies” like Robert Mueller.

Source: Huffington Post January 10, 2019 10:41 UTC