Psychologically speaking, if one makes all sorts of contradictory statements, and denies what you thought you said, or they said, a person can manipulate you by confusing you. It is very disarming—one spends all of their time trying to figure out what reality is, rather than taking a direct and strong stand. A stand against what?—because the other person denies everything and cannot be pinned down. A new article from putintrump.org shows how both Trump and Putin play the same game. The article states:
“I like to deny things.”
“Republican Donald Trump admitted this at a campaign rally last Friday, flaunting his well-documented strategy of saying something one day and denying he ever said it the next – and leaving news media fact-checkers scrambling in a never-ending game of catch-up to set the record straight……”
“And in all three presidential debates, when asked about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said “I don’t know Putin” – even though in 2013 he told MSNBC: “I do have a relationship [with Putin], and I can tell you that he’s very interested in what we’re doing here today. He’s probably very interested in what you and I am saying today.”
And the article goes on to describe what is a very significant analysis of this technique by the Rand Corporation think tank:
“Trump’s campaign strategy is strikingly similar to Putin’s own propaganda model, which a June RAND report dubbed a “firehose of falsehood.” From the RAND report:”
“We characterize the contemporary Russian model for propaganda as “the firehose of falsehood” because of two of its distinctive features: high numbers of channels and messages and a shameless willingness to disseminate partial truths or outright fictions. In the words of one observer, “[N]ew Russian propaganda entertains, confuses and overwhelms the audience.”
“Contemporary Russian propaganda has at least two other distinctive features. It is also rapid, continuous, and repetitive, and it lacks commitment to consistency.”
They note that Trump uses the same psychological disinformation technique:
“Once a falsehood is stated by Trump, whether on Twitter or at a rally, Media Matters notes that it quickly spreads through media outlets worried about getting beat on a story….”
“When disinformation is repeated, even when it’s later shown to be false, the result is a cynical American public that doesn’t know what to believe. Media Matters adds:”
“Trump and right-wing media have ushered in an era of post-truth politics where voters have ‘been successfully persuaded that everything is a lie, so the only political choice you have is to select the fiction that most fits your self-conception,’ as explained by journalist Ned Resnikoff.” [Emphasis mine]
“The most disturbing place where these “post-truth politics” are playing out now is in Trump’s denial in the integrity of the U.S. election process, which he repeatedly calls “rigged.”...”
And
“...that may be exactly what Trump and his political idol Putin are hoping for. As The Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson wrote:”
“After all, if Putin can convince Americans that liberal democracy is nothing but a sham, he will accomplish what no leader of the Soviet Union ever could. Decades after we thought it was over, Russia will have finally won the Cold War.”
Note that these are the same techniques that Hitler used, Stalin used, and that these techniques are know by most psychopaths. They are real, psychological manipulations that normal brains have trouble computing. But when you have dealt with a psychopath and been manipulated, one can come to recognize this pattern. Then, knowing that the person is a psychopath, you stop listening to the words and contradictions, and focus on what they are trying to do —the underlying power grab that is going on. For instance, you recognize that they are trying to minimize and demean women in order to gain power over them, or they are creating a smoke screen to cover up that they are trying to stir up unrest to invade a country, or discredit a rival, etc. Don’t try to make sense of the confusion---see the underlying objective---what is it they are going after. Now it is a game of chess. They move. You counter.
Some people are easy to confuse and stir up because they are vulnerable and emotionally upset. Psychopaths know just what to say to them, how to play on their inner most insecurities—psychopaths have an amazing sense for these things and just zero in on these pivot points in order to move people how they want. The psychopath cannot be shamed, or made to feel guilt (although they may momentarily feign guilt to get their way). They are not ordinary people with deep attachment to others. In fact, many psychopaths have secret contempt that they often try to hide from others---behind their eyes as they try to con you, they are thinking what a weak and contemptible human being you are.