Thread by @ChrisPolPsych, So, what's up with Trump's bizarre fascination with these drugs, which outstrips [...]

So, what& #39;s up with Trump& #39;s bizarre fascination with these drugs, which outstrips all scientific evidence that they are effective? Many are speculating a potential financial interest, which I wouldn& #39;t rule out this longtime grifter. But what else? (1/n) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/0...

Ignoring Expert Opinion, Trump Again Promotes Use of Hydroxychloroquine

The president’s advocacy of the anti-malarial drug has created tensions in his administration, and fears among doctors that it could unnecessarily expose patients to risks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus.html

Chroniclers of the far right in America have consistently noted that it has always been bound up with affinity scams, snake-oil sales, pyramid schemes, and other forms of crude grift: (2/n) https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/05/08/how-scam-that-angered-trump-reveals-right-wings-inner-workings/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/...

Opinion | How a scam that angered Trump reveals the right wing’s inner workings

If anybody's going to run a scam on the conservative masses, it's going to be President Trump.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/05/08/how-scam-that-angered-trump-reveals-right-wings-inner-workings/

Some conservative commentators, such as Jonah Goldberg, have noted this critically themselves: (3/n) https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/right-wing-scam-machine-jonah-goldberg/">https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/ri...

The Right Wing Scam Machine

I’ve been saying for a while now that too many scammers and opportunists have been taking advantage of the Tea Party and conservative grassroots. I said so again a couple weeks ago when guest hosti…

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/right-wing-scam-machine-jonah-goldberg/

With stuff like Trump& #39;s fixation on hydroxychloroquine, a deeper element potentially comes into play: a propensity for magical thinking. @ProfEricOliver + @thomasjwood provide an interesting pol-psych treatment of this in & #39;Enchanted America& #39;: (4/n) https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo28752049.html">https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books...

Enchanted America

America is in civic chaos, its politics rife with conspiracy theories and false information. Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the rise, while scientists, universities, and news organizations...

https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo28752049.html

As Oliver & Wood note, magical/intuitive thinking predicts all kinds of things we see in evidence in Trump& #39;s politics: nationalism & authoritarianism, conspiratorial thinking, and a disregard for scientific reasoning and expertise in favor of gut feelings. (5/n)

We& #39;ve seen this magical/intuitive style in Trump for a long time: (6/n) https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/politics/washington-post-trump-gut/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/2...

Washington Post: Trump says his 'gut' can tell him more than 'anybody else's brain can ever tell me'

President Donald Trump blamed the General Motors plant closures and recent stock market dips on the Federal Reserve and the man he picked to lead it, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/politics/washington-post-trump-gut/index.html

So, what we are probably seeing here is a mutually-reinforcing intersection between Trump& #39;s enduring traits (whose expression is disinhibited by power, no less) and a niche political culture that has co-evolved with a range of scams. (7/7)

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