Blind Loyalty: Why Some Voters Won’t Break With a Leader

Dr. Geoffrey Grammer cites a Politico/Public First poll showing majorities of self-identified MAGA voters would still back a Republican accused of domestic violence, sexual assault, or giving classified information to a foreign government. He examines why allegiance persists, discussing allegations against Rep. Max Miller and GOP reactions, the dropped Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool case that the president urged reopening, comments about declaring a national security emergency to control elections, National Guard deployments, and reported killings of U.S. citizens by federal agents alongside alleged limits on oversight. Grammer proposes three mechanisms (cognitive dissonance, idealized self-object/identity fusion, and moral disengagement) and compares the “working toward the leader” dynamic described by Ian Kershaw and Milton Mayer, concluding that no single shocking event may break the spell and asking what would ever end support.