The terrifying signs of 'collective stress' in Trump’s America

27 January

After Donald Trump's narrow victory over Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, MSNBC and CNN's ratings plummeted — and many right-wing pundits took that as a sign that Trump is enjoying widespread popularity. But quite a few liberals and progressives countered that their viewers simply needed a break from politics after a stressful, bitterly divisive election.

Trump and his MAGA supporters have been describing his victory as a "landslide," but in fact, Trump won the popular vote by only about 1.5 percent (according to the Cook Political Report). And Salon's Chauncey DeVega, in an article published on January 27, points to this political "grief" as part of the "collective stress" the United States is suffering.

"Millions of Americans who voted for Kamala Harris, and who believe in American democracy and the common good, remain collectively stuck in the various stages of grief," DeVega argues. "That grief is made even more painful by the fact that tens of millions of other Americans are jubilant at Trump's return to the White House and his vows of revenge against 'the enemy within' as part making America 'great again.'"

DeVega continues, "Most people who voted for Trump under the mistaken belief that he would improve their lives and 'restore' the nation have no experience living under autocratic or authoritarian regimes. They perhaps voted to 'shake things up' and believed they were supporting a leader who will 'break the rules' to 'get things done.' That will turn out to be a Faustian bargain. While the MAGA are likely to feast on the proverbial fat of the land, the rank and file will be feasted upon like everyone else."

Overall, the United States' "mental health," according to DeVega, remains poor. Americans, he laments, are suffering from "collective stress," and the country's "public mood is negative, anxious and discontented."

"When a society's collective life force turns negative in this way," DeVega explains, "that helps to spawn authoritarians, demagogues and other kinds of toxic and antisocial leaders and movements. The American people are under systematic assault from disinformation, misinformation and propaganda, including conspiracy theories, often spread by malign actors who have successfully undermined the public's ability to engage in what psychologists describe as 'reality testing'…. Like other demagogues and right-wing populists, Trump is highly skilled at manipulating the emotional pain, anxiety and other negative emotions of his followers and the larger public."

DeVega adds, "At least in the short term, his followers feel seen, acknowledged and validated, which was a huge advantage in the 2024 election. Democrats will need to learn that kind of emotional language to counteract Trumpism and this era of populist rage."

Chauncey DeVega's full article for Salon is available at this link.

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