>> So for convincing argument you actually mean blatantly lied with the help of his media
>> pals and his rich backers.
To be fair I think the Remain side did point out the lies etc. but one of the great discoveries both Leave and Donald Trump made was that lies work. The lie can have more benefit to the liar than the damage done by having the lie called out. This is down to what we have always been aware of but have I now learned to call motivated cognition.
Once people have formed a strong view, virtually all information can be interpreted to bolster it. How common is it to change a strong belief, once formed, with reasoning?
Point out to someone that a politician they admire has lied and they'll say "they all do" or "well that might not be true but he's still right", or "well you/they would say that, wouldn't you/they?".
That has always been there, but now we have social media, which don't require any material level of self-delusion. Once FB or Google knows what you like, that is most of what you see. They don't want to corrupt you, they aren't in anybody's pay to promote white supremacy or a dishonest claim of election fraud, they just need you to keep clicking and by doing so your beliefs will be endlessly validated and reinforced.
With your clicks and likes you will brainwash yourself. If you seek out cat pictures, all you're in danger of is softening of the brain but if your interest is in jihad, the risks of vaccination, or your rights under the constitution to carry an automatic pistol loaded with hollow point when you go bowling, you might never emerge into the daylight.
Social media and personalised search results are now doing for dangerous narcissists and their adherents what the Nuremberg rallies did for the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Much faster acting, and virtually automatic. Add a charismatic figurehead, or presumably in Trump's case enough rabble-rousing TV exposure, and you're off and running.
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