This is where things fracture. Some will re-narrate Trump as compromised, captured by the Deep State, blackmailed, or “tapping out.” Others will turn away from Trump entirely, preserving their belief in the Epstein conspiracy but abandoning the vessel they thought would deliver it.
We're 24h from the next conspiracy theory of Trump replaced by a body double, a mechanical Musk android or whatever fucking buttery will emerge from this sewer.
This is what happens when a cult begins to crumble like wet sugar. 🙂
I’m generally not an accelerationist but in this case I’ll make an exception.
I'm actually a little baffled I haven't seen a QAnon-style "it's a feint to lull our enemies into a false sense of security, trust the plan" narrative, I don't know if I'm just not looking in the right places or if that gambit finally ran out of steam.
Back to their holes.
But mostly they'll workshop ideas about how this isn't Trump's fault until they hit on something that sticks, like "Biden's DOJ destroyed the evidence, how was Trump/Bondi/Patel supposed to know that." And then move on.
Most of them are blaming Bondi, Patel, and Bongino & staying loyal to Trump. A few, like catturd, are laying it all on Bondi and letting the others off the hook. I suspect Trump might give them Bondi as a sacrificial lamb and all will be forgiven, because personality cults aren't so easily broken.
Case in point: reporter asks question about Epstein and Trump gets mad and says "Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein!? The guy has been talked about for years!" But "Gunther" completely ignores that and lays all the blame on Bondi. Vid in next post.
they will hop to the next conspiracy train; deny they were ever Trump "believers"; and have learned nothing in the process
We're watching a crisis of coherence in real time. A symbolic coalition that once aligned around Trump is now showing signs of stress, because its internal truths are colliding. This isn’t about left vs right. It’s about what happens when shared belief collapses from within.
🍿 Popcorn time! 😀
👍👍👍
Hi 👋
Shared belief = shared lies here
Will they jump on Elon's bandwagon?
Elon is lacking the sort of charisma that Trump relies on, so he'd need to find some figurehead to bank roll before that's a serious consideration.
Will this one issue be enough to break the cult or are the true believers in Epstein conspiracy a small subset of it?
The cognitive dissonance is glorious to behold.
And now, less than 48 hours later, Trump announces he’s sending more weapons to Ukraine. To the “America First” crowd, this is heresy. Another promise broken. Another expectation betrayed. The president who once symbolised resistance is now reinforcing the system. newrepublic.com/post/197694/...
The „establishment“ strikes back 🤣 Sorry, i couldn‘t resist…
Yes, but better that he goes in this geopolitical direction (support to UKR), than the reverse...
He's lying. Again. Because he's physically incapable of saying one true thing.
Care to explain why?
The cartoon explains why. Fascists can completely flip any position without political consequence because their followers are either fanatics or imbeciles - both of which are infinitely reprogrammable - and everyone else is bribed or terrorised into acquiescence. See also Arendt.
In that case it was more the Communists who zigzagged.
Whatever.
The Communist Parties lost a lot of members over it. Despite the power of doublethink. Rationalization takes work, cognitive dissonance can be exhausting.
Which is my whole bloody point... It was not the fascists whose faith in their leaders was shaken.
I’d push back on the idea that the whole MAGA base is fascist. It’s more accurate to see it as a symbolic coalition of disparate disordered discourses, anti-elitists, Christian nationalists, conspiracists, anti-interventionists. Not all are fascists, but the structure enables fascistic tendencies.
Fascism is indeed ideologically inchoate and thus flexible enough to accommodate both fanatics and opportunists. It also LIES - endlessly and shamelessly.
Agreed, fascism thrives on cynical lying and ideological fluidity. But what we’re seeing now isn’t classical fascism, it’s something messier: a coalition of symbolic identities, conspiracist subcultures, and authoritarian ambitions, loosely held together by shared ressentiment.
And 'fascism' alone is messy and its monstrously perverse way inclusive enough to actually combine all of these elements into a hugely destructive - if not necessarily victorious in the sense that a Hitler or Mussolini would have understood victory - political project.
Is it actually going to stick this time though? I feel like I see MAGA go “I feel betrayed!!” And then 24 hours later they’re making up excuses for why Trump is being a shit bird
Its more it weakens part of the coalition, rather than the whole thing.
Imagine you're a full-blown Epstein conspiracy theorist who voted for Trump and is mad about the outcome of the investigation. Would this video reassure you? bsky.app/profile/atru...
"We're having all of the things." So presidential.
Somebody who voted for a cult will always find excuses, move the goalposts and rationalize things anyway.
Is it me or is her voice shaking a little?
Nick Fuentes had a moment when Trump let slip that Biden really had won the election in 2020
