Trump's Intention: Misdirection

 

Send (someone or something) to the wrong place or in the wrong direction.

Elected Republicans have wavered at times — whether it was Trump’s condemnation of John McCain’s war record, his racist attack against a Mexican-American judge, his sexually predatory language caught on video, his alleged extramarital affairs, his decision to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence, his promotion of false allegations of election fraud and his incitement of a violent mob that threatened the lives of lawmakers in both parties.

But after almost eight years of near-constant scandal, Republicans have ultimately rallied behind Trump over and over and over again. -Associated Press

Why?

Certainly, Trump is feeding into this frenzy. 

First, he set up a false narrative of impending arrest. Republicans rushed to Trump's aid, threatening an illegal investigation into a legal investigation, tarring District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a partisan hack. The idea was to cast doubt on the motivations of a legally assembled grand jury.

The idea was to misdirect. Lamont and Wiseman define misdirection as “that which directs the audience toward the effect and away from the method”, extending its scope beyond the simple manipulation of attentional processes.

And then there's the constant need to be the center of attention as evidenced by Trump's claim of his impending arrest. He needed to reenergize his flagging political momentum. He called for mass protest. What he got was something else. There were few protests. The protesters were far outnumbered by counter protesters. 

The BBC delved into this. Some of his supporters believed the protest were a setup by the deep state. Among them, Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

The same sentiments were rife in pro-Trump Facebook groups, on Telegram channels, on sites like 4chan, and on Truth Social.

Fear of being set up has not put an end to threats of violence. But there are indications that talk of violence against Trump's opponents is rising. "Advance Democracy, a non-partisan research group, found a spike in mentions of violence trebled on Truth Social after Mr Trump declared on Saturday that he would be arrested and urged his supporters to "PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!"  -BBC

House Republicans understand their base is tied to Trump's base. They seem unwilling to stand with the facts. Yet, the lessons of 2016 and beyond are hard to ignore. Those who stood against Trump found themselves on the outside looking in. Because there are no consequences for Trump, the threat of violence increases.