The Tribe and the Tyrant

Since completing Hatreds We Love, my book on the psychology of political tribalism, one particular set of questions has lingered in my mind: In an authoritarian movement, such as that organized around Donald Trump, how is the collective power of the tribe reconciled with the absolute power of the aspiring autocrat? The former is about the primacy of the group over all other considerations. The latter is about the unquestionable will of an individual. How is the tension between these opposing forces resolved so that they can operate together to animate fascist political behavior?

After sitting with these questions, it became apparent that they are not opposites but different faces of the same organism. In an authoritarian regime, the dictator determines the tribal boundary. They decide the criteria that confers belonging. The tribe is merged with and ultimately subsumed by the despot, which means you can only belong to the tribe by belonging to the leader.

In some ways, a fascist movement like MAGA is defined by tribal identity markers such as whiteness, Christian nationalism, and patriarchal gender stereotypes. Members are driven by xenophobia, science denial, a need to substitute national flattery for history, fantasies of purifying violence, and a deep craving for an omnipotent and sadistic daddy who will avenge every humiliation life has inflicted.

Those are components of the fascist tribalism that has come to define the Trumpian epoch. But they are threads in a fabric woven by the leader into a garment only he can wear. One is not MAGA merely because one displays those qualities. Instead, one is MAGA because Trump has declared himself to be the personification of those traits. In other words, membership in MAGA is not conferred by signing onto a manifesto but by being one with him.

More than any other authoritarian in recent memory, Trump is indifferent to ideology. His “positions” are as transactional as every other aspect of him. They function as currency to buy loyalty and subordination. Trump’s tendency to reverse his stance on an issue or a person to suit his momentary needs is well-known. His last presidential campaign famously featured no policies other than obedience to him.

We are all familiar with the multiple iterations of a generic story: a politician or public figure embraces every component of the MAGA tribal catechism, performs the expected political affects (principally, hatred for swarthy immigrants, gay people, gender minorities, secular experts, libs, and people who read), and utters fulsome praise for everything Trump. But, in a moment of thoughtlessness, that person might allow a minor quibble with the former president to pass their lips. Or, they might exhibit a fleeting hesitation to offer rapturous praise for the leader. Before the day is over, Trump issues a humiliating post, anoints the insider-cum-outcast with a puerile nickname, declares the person a traitorous apostate, and gives implicit or explicit permission for his national lynch mob to initiate the usual volley of death threats. Any failure of merger or submission is regarded as a capital crime in the MAGA-verse, as former Vice President Mike Pence could readily attest.

Part of what that tells us is that fascist ideas and policies are secondary to absolute fealty to the fascist leader. Good Nazis did not signal loyalty with the salutation, “Heil, Exterminate the Jews!” but “Heil, Hitler!” You are in the tribe not simply because you support the dictator’s policies but because you subordinate yourself to and render yourself an appendage of the dictator. The tribe is the tyrant.