Stockholm Syndrome

What do Patty Hearst, passengers hijacked in 1985 on TWA flight 847, victims of a bank robbery in Sweden in 1973, and the Republican party have in common?   

They are all victims of Stockholm Syndrome. 

According to the online Encyclopedia Brittanica, Stockholm syndrome was coined after the robbery of Sveriges Kreditbank in which one of the victims stated that she trusted her captors, but feared she would die in a police assault. Patty Hearst is the classic example; after being kidnapped, she helped her kidnappers rob a California bank.

Brittanica goes on to say:

Psychologists who have studied the syndrome believe that the bond is initially created when a captor threatens a captive’s life, deliberates, and then chooses not to kill the captive. The captive’s relief at the removal of the death threat is transposed into feelings of gratitude toward the captor for giving him or her life.

How does this translate to the Republican party in the era of Donald tRump?

Since there are no original ideas, I searched the terms “tRump and Stockholm syndrome” and came up with many citations, most dating from 2016 and 2017 from the Washington Post, The Hill, Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, and more.

In 2016, the Huffington Post described Stockholm syndrome “as a form of traumatic bonding, which occurs when strong emotional ties develop between Donald Trump and voters who intend to vote for Trump, even after he has harassed, threatened, insulted or/or intimidated those people.” Those afflicted “apparently include overweight women, women with unattractive faces, old women, women on their periods and women who go to the bathroom, if and only if they intend to vote for Trump.”

The Daily Beast reported in February 2018:

What was a hostile takeover of the GOP by an outsider is now a merger, accepted by a group with a serious case of Stockholm Syndrome. Trump can insult the old GOP, threaten to primary them, libel and tweet-shame them and all that has gone to show that they need him more than he needs them.

They all point to a perfect representation of the syndrome. They start out being outraged by the captor’s behavior, but over time, come to normalize it, and then embrace it, out of fear.

The Republicans today are exhibiting the classic pattern. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, for example, were objects of tRump’s scorn and spoke out against him. Now they are snuggled against his bosom. While members of the House and Senate applauded like automatons during the State of the Union, they harbor a palpable fear – of retribution in the form of his bullying via rage-tweeting and loss of donors. In the aftermath of his impeachment acquittal, tRump has created an enemies list, headed by Mitt Romney, who had the audacity to vote guilty on the first article of impeachment.

So rather than standing up to him and challenging his policies and rhetoric, they “retire” and slink off into the sunset.

In the days after  tRump was acquitted by the Senate, he unleashed an oratorical shitstorm – unhinged rantings at the prayer breakfast and the White House East Room. In the East Room he was cheered on by bobble-headed sycophants who nodded and laughed as he spit out venom directed at Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats, and of course, Mitt Romney the one Republican who dared to vote against acquittal on the first article of impeachment.

He’s already extracting revenge on Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg by suspending New Yorkers from the Trusted Traveler Program, a government program that expedites international travel; New York Attorney General Letitia James said she will file suit. Noises are also being made toward California’s immigrant policies.

Another victim of impeachment fall-out is Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a dedicated patriot whose testimony corroborated tRump’s quid pro quo phone call. He was escorted from the White House Friday afternoon, along with his twin brother. Ambassador Gordon Sondlund was also given the boot. I guess tRump won’t miss is $1 million inaugural donation.  

The Treasury Department just handed over Hunter Biden’s records, but of course, refuses to disclose any of tRump’s tax returns.

One can almost understand politicians’ beholding to tRump, well, because… donations. But what’s even more incomprehensible are the everyday MAGA supporters posting on Facebook and Twitter. They have access to a world of verifiable facts, but choose to tether themselves to Fox news and QAnon videos, the way a prisoner drinks from his captor’s toilet when there’s a whole buffet just outside his door. 

Psychological studies of tRump supporters offer some insight, but little help with countering their insults (if indeed you chose to). They chant “oh, but the economy” and are incapable of addressing basic concerns about health care, the environment, and the social safety net.

It’s part of the pattern that was established early on, according to an October 2016 article in The Hill:

When viewed from a clinical psychologist’s perspective, Trump controls his following much like a captor compels his hostages. He holds them with media frenzy and his personality cult while making promises that their release will soon come. In the meantime he demeans, vilifies and puts people down, giving voice to his followers’ anger but also humiliating and taking advantage of them.

And, from an October 2017 article in the Washington Post. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, along with staffers, took heat regularly and came up begging for more; well, Ryan did retire and others eventually left. Others, especially the Republican majority in the Senate, have remained hostage under threat from his virulent Twitter feed and impromptu scrums on the White House lawn (accompanied by helicopter noise). They tolerated tRump’s abuse in the name of negotiating for the much-touted tax cuts, but the article concludes, “it's taking place between a hostage-taker and his compliant hostage.”

After the acquittal, tRump has remained in full-blown revenge mode. NBC reports:

Trump showed little sign of wanting to mend fences with the Democrats, saying they suffer from “Trump derangement syndrome" and that there is "a lot of evil on that side.” When asked how he was going to unify the country following his divisive impeachment, Trump said he would do it by “great success.”

It’s apparent that his followers, whether members of Congress or MAGA disciples, will fall right behind him in lockstep, just like good victims.