For months the press has labeled Donald Trump a blustering bully whose rhetoric shifts just as quickly as his temper. But what if his seemingly random insults are not random at all, and his vast appeal to primary voters has come about because of meticulously crafted messaging? What if The Donald is using mental tricks from the fields of hypnosis and persuasion to influence the electorate?
That is the argument put forth by Scott Adams, who calls Trump a "Master Wizard." The prolific author and creator of the massively popular comic strip Dilbert doesn't see Trump's appeal as an accident, or even as unpredictable. He's been boldly stating since early in the primary season that Trump would go on to be the Republican nominee, and eventually win the presidency in one of the biggest landslides in history. Given that The Donald has amassed more than half the delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination and he doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon, perhaps this prediction isn't as wild as some observers once believed.
In the video below, Adams explains to Reason TV how Trump uses visual imagery, vagueness, "linguistic kill shots," and other techniques to work his magic on voters.
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