Story thread · 2 reports / 1 sources

The dark psychology behind why Trump's base finds joy in liberal pain

alternet.org · 3h · first reportShare

Supporters of President Donald Trump have made it clear that, for the most part, they will not turn on their champion even when he raises their prices , sends their soldiers to die in unprovoked wars and profits from his office to the tune of $2 billion . Instead they direct their hate toward groups that have never systematically harmed them — racial minorities, immigrants, women, gay people, transgender people, Muslims, Jews, leftists, Democrats, academics, scientists and the media. To understand why, I turned to Dr. Stephan Lewandowsky, a cognitive scientist and professor of cognitive science at the University of Bristol who has written extensively about the psychology behind Trump's movement . The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. MATTHEW ROZSA: I've noticed with a lot of Trump supporters that they seem to take joy in causing pain to their perceived adversaries. For instance — and I'm going to get personal for a moment — as a liberal journalist, I