I am often asked by fellow Progressive activists why it is that the clear evidence revealed in the January 6 Committee investigation has failed to separate Trump supporters from him. Why do they persist in supporting a politician who is so clearly corrupt and malevolent?

I believe it is because his supporters covet similar power over others. They feel that they have lost influence and control as society has become more diverse and groups who formerly had little power have found an agency and increased influence. Trump's supporters and those of Trump-like Republicans are not at all in favor of the equality of all. Rather they desire a world in which there are “real Americans” and “the others.” Trump supporters wish to hold the power to decide who is in which of those groups and empower the “real Americans” with the ability to govern, to decide right and wrong, whose votes should count and whose should not, what children should be taught in public schools, what books should be available in libraries, who can marry or not, and what faiths are acceptable or not. It is all about power for oneself over the agency of others. It is not simply about admiring or support of him, they truly wish to hold the same type of power over others they see Trump desires or holds.

The biggest danger of Trump is that his narcissism is highly contagious and he is patient zero of a narcissism pandemic.