There are about a million different lenses through which to look at the state of politics in America. With the amount of polarization we’re facing in 2026, everyone has a theory, and almost all of them have merit. With that in mind, I’m hoping to simplify the narrative in this article. When you look at America through the lens of distraction and persuasion, some of the pieces start to come together.
As a preface, there are plenty of criticisms of the United States government, and I am not an expert on policymaking or political strategies. I am, however, at least an intermediate expert on the psychology of manipulation, as someone who’s dealt with it in my family, with friends, in relationships, and in the workplace. I don’t just have bad luck – once you see manipulative strategies, it’s hard to unsee them. Using that experience, I find that this commonly-referenced quote best summarizes the state of politics in America:Â
“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities”
Voltaire
How can seemingly innocuous statements lead to wide-scale transgressions? I counter this question with one of my own: if you wanted to get people to commit acts of violence against each other, how would you do it? If your political goals — whether well-intentioned or not — required you to turn neighbors against each other, wouldn’t you start small?
When it comes to social engineering on a small or large scale, the first steps are always seemingly innocuous. To be effective, the indiscretion has to be small enough to leave plausible deniability. Leaders have to ease violence into the zeitgeist.
On February 18, 2025, the White House X account posted a video called “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight.” For reference, ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is a popular social media genre in which creators use sounds to elicit a sensory response for users. Notably, it is almost entirely endemic to the biosphere of Gen Z vernacular. Though it’s plausible that this was nothing more than an ill-informed joke or possibly an attempt to connect with younger voters, I think the implications are far more concerning. It’s inarguable that priming Gen Z to accept and normalize deportation would support Trump’s political goals. It’s relatively inarguable that Trump’s success with young male voters in the 2024 election was in part due to his presence on social media. With these two facts in mind, it’s possible that “Deportation ASMR” is not a harmless joke, but actually one of a barrage of attempts to ease atrocities into American culture. Engaging with the absurdity grooms you to accept the atrocity.
In 2025, 32 people died in ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) custody. On September 30, 2025, Chicago residents were taken from their apartments using what were described as “military-style tactics.” ICE agents used flashbangs and zip-ties, children were separated from their parents, and all detainees were kept in dark vans for hours. A five-year-old boy was taken from his driveway into ICE custody after returning from preschool. How were American citizens convinced to commit these atrocities? I’m not suggesting that one X post sparked the widespread resentment for undocumented immigrants. The issue of immigration boils down to centuries of historical messaging and patterns of policy. However, taken together, the countless absurdities in Trump’s administration trivialize and normalize intolerance.Â
Patterns of manipulation are by no means exclusive to the Republican Party. In May 2010, then-President Barack Obama joked about predator drone strikes at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. During his presidency, Obama increased the use of CIA drone campaigns, especially in Pakistan, to eliminate key members of terrorist organizations. In practice, the strikes killed a (disputed) number of innocent civilians. When this atrocity is considered in tandem with the joke, it is much less justifiable. This could be an acknowledging joke, but it could also contribute to erasure and trivialization. When your political goal is to dismantle Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, it inarguably benefits you to normalize predator drone strikes in popular culture.
Without the framework of psychology, sifting through and reasoning with every political event in America is nearly impossible. So what is the call to action here? We can’t realistically scrutinize every word from a politician’s mouth. We can’t afford to be this distrusting of our leaders in all situations. But we can think critically about what we’re being asked to accept. When we’re asked to accept the nonsensical, we can think twice. We can pay attention to what comes next.