Why are people susceptible to the big lie?

According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, 51 percent of Republicans polled agreed with President Trump's assertion that the Media is the Enemy of the People. That is very dangerous considering the many times the media (see the Politifact link below) has caught the President lying.

Over the last month, the President has been playing the "other card" warning of the dangers of a caravan of Central American Refugees making its way to our Southern Border, Yesterday at a rally in Michigan, the President continued this unpresidential posture, saying our laws are not capable of stopping them from coming to the United States and that they are the latest in an illegal immigrant and crime wave. Well, the problem with that is it is not true. Illegal Immigration, fed in part by record deportations during the Obama Administration has been low for almost a decade. Crime since the 1990's has been low too with the exception of an occasional spurt. The people in these caravans by all accounts have conducted themselves well on their trek to our border. There is no crime wave. What people should take a pause in is the pictures of the caravan at the border wall separating San Diego and Tijuana border. People were climbing the wall with impunity smiling for the cameras when half their bodies were in Mexico and the other half in the United States. So much for the wall stopping illegal immigrants.

Why do so many people believe the President over "truth?" Why do so many disbelieve the press when they continually prove that the President is lying?  Why are people susceptible to the big lie?There is the old saying of "fool me once, shame on you but fool on me twice, shame on me for letting you get away with it." You would think that many Trump supporters should really feel ashamed of being fooled so many times. This is another example to illustrate how many in the Republican Party have fallen into the abyss. That said, it is still hard to fathom. This 51 percent that believes the press is "The Enemy of the People" can not all be die-hard nativists or racists or gullible.

To those people, the Henrik Ibsen play "The Enemy of the People" should be recommended so they can see how people distorting the truth can lead to policies that go against their own welfare or mob reactions against individuals who are really trying to help the people. After reading that, they should try and apply it to what the President and his allies have done. It should be an eye-opener.

https://www.salon.com/2018/04/27/a-majority-of-republicans-now-say-media-is-the-enemy-of-the-people/

http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statements/byruling/false/

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/02/05/3-reasons-why-so-many-people-still-support-trump

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/01/05/the-greatest-mystery-washington-why-anyone-still-loyal-trump/mio4tjmKVifqkfs2xlKpcI/story.html

http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2018/apr/02/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-caravans-people-coming-through-m/

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-mexico-trump-fact-check-20180402-story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/18/trumps-claim-that-immigrants-bring-tremendous-crime-is-still-wrong/?utm_term=.fd3011dedcd5

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/29/politics/trump-michigan-rally-correspondents-dinner-tweets/index.html

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-immigration-caravan/migrants-from-caravan-in-limbo-as-u-s-says-border-crossing-full-idUSKBN1I0043