The Limits of Donald Trump’s Accusations
Accusing Cruz of stealing votes helps Trump preserve some dignity in defeat. He has run on a platform of promising to win so much that America actually gets sick of winning. Rather than admit that he lost fair and square in Iowa on Monday, Trump can now claim that the system was rigged. That will allow him to deflect criticism that he is in fact a loser. The attack is also guaranteed to tap into the vein of voter resentment that has so far fueled Trump’s rise. It feeds a narrative that Trump is an outsider fighting against political corruption, a story that Trump loyalists love to tell.
.. There’s a reason conspiracy theories resonate with voters. “It’s a way to explain a complicated event in a way that helps people maintain their worldview and protect their own self-esteem in some regard,”
.. Political psychology also helps explain why Trump’s voter-fraud accusations could be particularly powerful for people who already support him. “For people who threw their weight behind Trump in Iowa only to see him lose, how do you explain that?”’
.. The easier thing for people to do, whether you call it a rationalization, a scapegoat, or a conspiracy, is to find a way to explain why their candidate lost in a way that helps them maintain the belief that they’re right.