Daily Archives: August 2, 2023

Worldwide Wednesday’s International Roundup: Bangladesh, China … – Death Penalty Information Center

Posted: August 2, 2023 at 7:09 pm

Ghana

On July 25, 2023, Ghanas parliament voted to abolish the death penalty, making Ghana the 124th nation worldwide and the 29th African nation to do so. Although the death penalty remains in the constitution for acts of treason, the new law removes the death penalty as possible punishment for murder, genocide, piracy, and smuggling. The current 176 death row prisoners, including six women, are expected to have their sentences commuted to life in prison. Last year seven people were sentenced to death despite Ghana not having carried out an execution since 1993.

The parliament member behind the bill, Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, told the Guardian, I have seen firsthand that the death penalty does not bring a sense of justice or closure to the families of crime victims, and neither does it deter offenders. I have also seen that those sentenced to death tend to be vulnerable individuals from deprived backgrounds, who have often experienced deep personal trauma. It was my view that we as a nation were better than this. I introduced these bills because I wanted the courts to cease imposing an inhuman punishment.

On July 13, 2023, a Chinese kindergarten teacher who was convicted of the 2019 poisoning of 25 of her students, one of whom died after 10 months of treatment, was executed. Ms. Wang, age 40, had previously poisoned her husband with the same substance, though he survived with mild injuries. The number of executions in China each year remains a state secret.

On July 10, 2023, a 25-year-old man was arrested for a knife attack at a kindergarten, resulting in the death of six people: one teacher, two parents and three students. The incident trended on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, with some users supporting capital punishment and others questioning the security of schools as similar incidents at primary schools have become more common in recent years. Its outrageous to do this to children who have no power at all. How many families will be destroyed by this I support the death penalty, one Weibo user wrote.

The Court of Appeal in Malaysia reversed a death sentence for a Kenyan woman convicted of trafficking illicit drugs and sentenced her to 12 years in prison retroactively starting from her time of arrest in 2016. Last month, Malaysia eliminated the mandatory death penalty for 11 criminal offenses.

In violation of the international most serious crime standard, Singapore hanged two people in the same week for drug-related charges in July. Mohammed Aziz Hussain, age 56, was executed for trafficking 50 grams (1.75 ounces) of heroin, and Saridewi Djamani, age 45, was executed for trafficking about 31 grams (1 ounce) of heroin she was also the first woman to be executed in 19 years. UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango condemned the executions and urged the immediate imposition of a moratorium.

Singaporean law mandates the death penalty for those convicted of trafficking more than 500 grams (17.6 ounces) of cannabis and 15 grams (0.5 ounces) of heroin. Since the resumption of executions for drug-related charges in March 2022, 15 people have been executed according to a joint statement issued from human rights groups.

In response to the execution, Amnesty Internationals death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said, The authorities in Singapore must stop their unlawful and increased resort to executions in the name of drug-control. There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

On July 27, five men were executed in Kuwait, including three for pre-meditated murder, one on drug-related charges, and one for facilitating logistics for the 2015 suicide bombing of a Shia Imam al-Sadeq mosque, which killed 26 and injured over 200. Among those executed were a Kuwaiti national, an Egyptian national, a Sri Lankan national, and two referred to only as illegal residents, which is often used to describe the nations desert nomads, known as the Bidun or Bidoon.

The executions drew condemnation from the UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Seif Magango, as well as Amnesty International. Rawya Rageh, Amnesty Internationals Interim Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: The Kuwaiti government has now executed a dozen people in less than a year, claiming a tough on crime approach that panders to peoples worst instincts. Kuwait had previously paused executions from January 2017 to November 16, 2022.

With his case before the Supreme Court, death row prisoner Saud al-Faraj, age 42, has been on hunger strike for at least 10 days. He was convicted in 2022 of participating in 2011 anti-government demonstrations in Qatif, a Shiite- Mr. Faraj, a businessman and father, has long claimed his innocence, stating that his confession was obtained through torture, supported by transfers to and from the prison hospital in between interrogation sessions. Sources told the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) that Mr. Faraj requested investigation into his ill-treatment and was subsequently beaten and placed into solitary confinement, leading to his hunger strike. Mr. Farajs family has raised concern over the lack of transparency regarding court proceedings.

61 individuals have been executed in Saudi Arabia during the first-half of 2023. Among those executed were 15 foreign-nationals and two women. 27 or 44% of executions were tazir executions, meaning discretion was left to the state or judge because of a lack of specific punishment in Islamic law or when the requirements for other sentences were not met. In its submission for Saudi Arabias Universal Periodic Review, Human Rights Watch highlighted the nations use of capital punishment against minors and those convicted of non-violent drug-related charges.

A 19-year-old high school student was arrested on blasphemy charges for allegedly disrespecting the Prophet Mohammad in a mock baccalaureate exam paper; if found guilty, she could be sentenced to death with no possibility of appeal. In recent years, the country has intensified their blasphemy laws by eliminating the clause allowing offenders to escape death if they repented.

On July 28, 2023, the Pakistani federal government provided the Supreme Court with assurances that individuals convicted of involvement in recent May 9th protests would not face death and requested additional time to consider granting appeals for military court decisions. According to Reporters without Borders, journalists Wajahat Saeed Khan and Shaheen Sehbai have been accused of abetting mutiny, which carries the death penalty as possible punishment.

Earlier in May, two Christian teenagers, age 18 and 14, were arrested on blasphemy charges for allegedly disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad; blasphemy charges carry a in Pakistan.

Mia Mohammad Mohiuddin and Jahangir Alam were executed on July 27 for the 2006 murder of University Professor S Taher Ahmed, bringing the total execution count for the year to three. Amnesty Internationals death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio stated: The recent executions and the persistent use of the death penalty in Bangladesh shows the Governments continued callous disregard for the right to life.

The International Crimes Tribunal sentenced four Bangladeshi politicians to death for crimes against humanity that occurred during the 1971 War of Independence from Pakistan. Established in 2009, the Tribunal has been criticized for not adhering to fair trial standards and has sentenced 135 people to death so far.

According to Norway-based Iran Human Rights, 61 people were executed in July bringing the total this year to 423 executions. Of those executed, 11 were from the Baluch minority, three were Afghan nationals, and four were women. A little more than half, or 32 people, were executed on drug-related charges, 19 for murder, six for rape, and four for moharabeh, or waging war against God.

On July 5, 2023, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran delivered their findings and recommendations at the 53rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. They reported that Since November, at least 26 individuals have reportedly been sentenced to death in connection with the protests and dozens more have been charged with or face offences carrying the death penalty. They alleged that seven executions were carried out after unfair trials, including confessions obtained through torture.

There were developments in the cases of two rappers, Toomaj Salehi and Saman Yasin, who had faced the death penalty in connection to 2022 protests.After 252 days of solitary confinement, Mr. Salehi was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison. He was previously charged with crimes punishable by death but was acquitted. His lawyer, Reza Etemad Ansari, mentioned that Mr. Salehi is banned from leaving the country and performing music-related activities for two years. Mr. Yasin, who was initially sentenced to death and then granted appeal in December, was recently transferred to a psychiatric facility and reportedly injected with an unknown substance, which allegedly resulted in his unconsciousness for 24 hours and impaired vision for two days. Currently awaiting retrial, Mr. Yasin released an audio message shortly before being transferred that reiterated his innocence, noting his inability to select counsel or meet with appointed counsel.

The Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, called for the death penalty for those who allegedly burned the Quran in Sweden and requested transfer of those European citizens to Iran in a July 22 tweet.

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46 Bacolod local government workers test positive for drug use – Rappler

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Bacolod Mayor Albee Benitez says the services of all the workers who tested positive for substance abuse would be terminated immediately

BACOLOD, Philippines More than 40 workers contracted to augment the Bacolod city governments workforce tested positive for illegal drug use during surprise drug tests conducted on Tuesday, August 1.

Major Junji Liba, the chief of the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO), said 29 workers from the BTAO and 17 others from the Bacolod City Public Order and Safety Office were found to be drug users among the 640 city hall workers who underwent random tests.

The 46 people who tested positive were job order workers, individuals hired for specific periods to perform tasks, and are not considered regular employees of the local government.

In response, Bacolod Mayor Albee Benitez said the contracts of the workers who tested positive for substance abuse would be terminated immediately.

He said they would be sent to a drug rehabilitation center, and their contracts may be considered for renewal once they have completed the necessary treatment.

Benitez also said city halls department heads will also undergo drug testing, and he encouraged other local officials, particularly those elected, to submit themselves to drug tests.

We will come up with a system to identify drug users within the city government, he told a press conference.

To set an example, Benitez had himself tested, and the results came out negative.

During the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the government would continue its campaign against illegal drugs using an approach different from the previous administrations so-called war on drugs from 2016 to 2022. Rappler.com

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Jon Bernthal’s 12 Best Movies, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes – MovieWeb

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Throughout his long career, Jon Bernthal has cemented himself as one of the most popular actors of the last decade, starring in so many iconic roles. Starting his TV career back in 2002 with Law & Order: Criminal Intent, it was his portrayal as Shane in the hit AMC series The Walking Dead that gave him his break in the industry.

As well as continuing in the world of TV with shows such as The Punisher and The Bear, he's also starred in some of the most iconic films in recent memory. Here are his best films, ranked by Rotten Tomatoes.

The highest-rated war film in Bernthal's filmography, Fury focuses on a tank crew in World War II, displaying the gritty, brutal life that these soldiers had to live behind enemy lines. In a mission that's nothing but deadly, the intensity from start to finish makes it one of the more memorable war films of the 2010s.

Related: Biggest Stars Who Served in the Military for World War II

The cast of the film is star-studded, with Brad Pitt, Shia Labeouf, and Logan Lerman the three other members of the tank crew. Each actor delivers a unique performance of a World War II tank crew, with Bernthal's hot-headed performance standing out. The audience score comes in at 84% with over 100,000 reviews.

In one of Bernthal's more recent films on this list, Small Engine Repair is also one of the most unique. Based on the award-winning play by John Pollono who also stars as Frankie in the film, the black comedic elements paired with the heavy-hitting dramatic tones create a vibe that hasn't been seen very often.

The film follows three friends who agree to do a favor on behalf of one of the character's daughter, but events spin out of control. It also carries a deep meaning, exploring the harsh, complex realities of class struggle and toxic masculinity.

Another film with a certified fresh critic score of 79%, Sweet Virginia offers tonnes of expertly crafted intensity in an atmospheric world. The film tells the story of a former rodeo champion who lives in a small, quiet town and builds a friendship with a mysterious stranger who could be the reason for the violence occurring there.

With the tension slowly but surely building scene by scene, it's the sort of film that you'll struggle to turn away from. Bernthal's performance plays a huge part in this, with him being the perfect choice for the lead role in such a gritty, slow burner of a film.

Perhaps the most iconic film that Bernthal has starred in, Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street depicts the complex, chaotic life of the infamous Wall Street stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). Although the film has a three-hour run time, Bernthal doesn't have a massive amount of screen time. But when he does, he steals the show.

Bernthal plays one of Belfort's close friends, Brad, who's also a drug dealer. Whenever he's on-screen, you can expect chaos along with quite a few laughs. His ability to portray all different types of characters is on display in this film, with Brad being one of his funniest roles in a pretty serious filmography.

In another unique role for Bernthal, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl sees him as Mr. McCarthy, a history teacher for some of the main characters. Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Jesse Andrews of the same title, the film follows Greg (Thomas Mann) who spends most of his time with Earl (RJ Cyler) but gets forced by his mother to befriend a girl named Rachel (Olivia Cooke) who's recently been diagnosed with Leukemia.

With an 86% audience score alongside the critic's score, the film's outstanding characters and the relationship they form make this a film you'll definitely be thinking about for a few days after you watch it. It's another film where Bernthal isn't in a leading role, but more than delivers whenever he is on-screen as the coolest teacher in the school.

One of Taylor Sheridan's outstanding screenplays, Wind River also sees him direct a thrilling crime film, capturing your full attention from the get-go. After wildlife officer Cory (Jeremy Renner) finds the body of an 18-year-old woman on a Native American reservation in Wyoming, he and FBI agent Jane (Elizabeth Olson) find their lives also in danger as they try to solve the mystery of the Native American's death.

The emotions that the film puts you through make this easily one of Bernthal's standout movies, with excellent performances from the entire cast. Wind River also displays how good of a storyteller Taylor Sheridan is, with not a dull moment throughout its runtime. If you like the sound of a gritty, thrilling mystery, this film is for you.

Another film telling a real-life story, King Richard focuses on the upbringing of Venus and Serena Williams by their father Richard (Will Smith), leading to them becoming two of the most famous and dominant female tennis players of all time. With Oscar wins and nominations, it's clear as to why this film received such high praise from critics, one of the highest in the sports drama genre.

Bernthal portrays someone who was perhaps one of the most important people in the sister's tennis journey, that being Rick Macci. Macci was the trainer for them when they were young girls after they moved from Compton to West Palm Beach in 1991. Although he only trained them for four years until their father took over completely, Bernthal does an excellent job yet again in portraying such a vital character in the extraordinary story.

A film directed by Steve McQueen, Widows features a star-studded ensemble cast in one of the most exciting thrillers on this list. Although the film is categorized as a crime film, it touches on so many different elements through the standout characters who make this film so special.

The film follows a group of widows, as they attempt to steal $5 million from a local politician's home after their husbands (Bernthal being one of one) are killed in a botched getaway attempt. The crew stole $2 million from a crime boss, who the widows are trying to pay back before they potentially meet the same fate.

Keeping in the genre of crime, Sicario takes the genre to another level, exploring the world of Mexican drug cartels, and those trying to bring them down. FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is recruited by a mysterious government official Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) to join a task force combating the escalating war on drugs, which leads to her going on an intense, action-packed, often disturbing journey across the US-Mexico border.

Coming from one of the best directors in the industry right now, Denis Villeneuve, this film only features Bernthal's character very briefly, but he still ends up playing one of the most vital characters in the plot. He plays a corrupt officer paid off by the cartels, he also compromises Kate before she realizes who he really is. Even though his role is brief, he still left a big impact on an outstanding film.

A film that's already become a classic, Baby Driver was one of the most talked about films back in 2017, the year of its release. Following a massively talented getaway driver known as Baby (Ansel Elgort), it's clear he doesn't want to live a life of crime forever, especially after meeting Debora (Lily James) at the diner his Mom used to work at.

Related: Daredevil: Born Again - Storylines We Hope to See with Jon Bernthal's Punisher Now Involved

We see Bernthal in the first act of the film as one of the members of the first heist the film opens with. He plays Griff, a very antagonistic person who picks on Baby's deafness for no reason. Although he isn't in the film all the way to the end, Bernthal shines in a type of role that he tends to perform the best in.

The highest-rated film based on a true story that Bernthal stars in, Ford v Ferrari tells the intriguing story of Ken Miles (Christian Bale) and Carol Shelby (Matt Damon), as they're faced with all kinds of adversity on the buildup to Le Mans, the greatest motor race in the world, in 1966. With Shelby certain that he wants Miles to race for Ford after he's given the awfully ambitious task of winning Le Mans, Ford's management thinks otherwise.

Bernthal's character however is easily one of the most likable in the film, as he clearly wants to see Miles succeed for the team as he knows just how good of a driver he is. He plays Lee Iacocca, a Ford executive heavily involved in the GT40 program (the name of the car Shelby was building). Although many other members of the company were against Miles racing for the team, Iacocca's respect for both Miles and Shelby means we get Bernthal in one of the more refreshing, feel-good roles on this list.

It feels right for the highest-rated film on this list to be the most heartwarming, feel-good film that Bernthal stars in. The Peanut Butter Falcon is led by Shia Lebeouf as Tyler, an outlaw, and Zack Gottsagen as Zak, a man with Down syndrome who ran away from his nursing home to pursue his dream of becoming a pro wrestler.

As we follow the two characters as they grow such a strong bond throughout the film, the use of comedy and endless heartwarming moments promote a message of friendship and inclusivity like no other film in recent memory has been able to do. This film is definitely one that will stick with you, potentially even altering your perspective on how far kindness can go for the people around us.

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Trump’s new judge is a tough Jan. 6 sentencer and has a history with him – POLITICO

Posted: at 7:07 pm

Much of that evidence resurfaced Tuesday in special counsel Jack Smiths four-count indictment of Trump, which referenced call logs and White House records that were already familiar to Americans who tracked the Jan. 6 committee proceedings. Chutkan was randomly selected Tuesday to preside over Trumps latest criminal case, his third in the last four months.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President, Chutkan wrote in her 2-year-old ruling, a rebuke that is sure to echo as she prepares to preside over the newest criminal case against the current GOP frontrunner for the presidential nomination in 2024.

Chutkan, 61, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and came to the U.S. for college as a teenager, attending George Washington University and then law school at the University of Pennsylvania. She spent more than a decade as a public defender in Washington, D.C. She later worked for the law firm Boies Schiller & Flexner before being confirmed as a federal trial judge in Washington in 2014.

Chutkan has avoided some of the most pointed criticisms of Trump that some of her colleagues on the federal bench in D.C. have delivered as theyve sentenced defendants who participated in the Jan. 6 mob that attacked the Capitol as part of Trumps bid to remain in power. Judge Reggie Walton has called Trump a charlatan. Judge Amit Mehta has said Jan. 6 defendants were pawns of Trump and his allies. Judge Amy Berman Jackson has chastised Republicans for refusing to level with Trump about the 2020 election.

It is not patriotism, it is not standing up for America to stand up for one man who knows full well that he lost instead of the Constitution he was trying to subvert, Jackson said at a sentencing last year.

But Chutkan has delivered some of the harshest sentences to Jan. 6 defendants and made her disgust and horror over the attack clear, lamenting the prospect of renewed political violence in 2024 and noting that no one accused of orchestrating the effort to subvert the election had been held accountable.

You have made a very good point, she told Jan. 6 rioter Robert Palmer at his December 2021 sentencing, that the people who exhorted you and encouraged you and rallied you to go and take action and to fight have not been charged.

The issue of who has or has not been charged is not before me. I dont have any influence on that, she said. I have my opinions, but they are not relevant.

But Chutkan also said that reality wasnt a reason to go easy on those who bought into the election lies and acted upon that belief.

The people who planned this and funded it and encouraged it havent been charged, but thats not a reason for you to get a lower sentence, she said. I have to make it clear that the actions you engaged in cannot happen again. Every day were hearing about reports of antidemocratic factions of people plotting violence, the potential threat of violence, in 2024.

Chutkan has alluded more specifically to Trump in other Jan. 6 sentences, including her first to misdemeanor defendant Carl Mazzocco, who Chutkan said went to the Capitol in support of one man, not in support of our country.

During those early months of the Jan. 6 investigation, Chutkan also staked out territory that some of her colleagues were reluctant to tread: She pointedly rejected the equivalence some defendants were drawing between violence adjacent to Black Lives Matter protests and the riot at the Capitol.

Latest News on the Trump Indictment

One Trump-appointed judge, Trevor McFadden, had raised sharp questions about whether Jan. 6 defendants were being treated more harshly than people accused of similar conduct during the summertime violence of 2020.

I think the U.S. attorney would have more credibility if it was even-handed in its concern about riots and mobs in this city, McFadden said at the time.

Chutkan, while sentencing a defendant in a different case, appeared to allude to her colleagues remark, before saying she flatly disagreed.

People gathered all over the country last year to protest the violent murder by the police of an unarmed man. Some of those protesters became violent, Chutkan said of the protests and rioting that followed George Floyds death. But to compare the actions of people protesting, mostly peacefully, for civil rights, to those of a violent mob seeking to overthrow the lawfully elected government is a false equivalency and ignores a very real danger that the January 6 riot posed to the foundation of our democracy.

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Barack Obama Is Also Scared Shitless That Donald Trump Could Win Another Term: Report – Vanity Fair

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In a normal society, a former presidentlets call him Donald Trumpwhos been indicted three times in under four months, on charges ranging from obstruction of justice to conspiracy to defraud the United States, would have absolutely no chance of ever being president again. It straight up would not be a scenario anyone would have to even contemplate; even if this individual were not in prison, the idea that they would be able to run for and win higher office once more would not compute.

But unfortunately, we dont live in a normal society; instead, we live in a place in which millions of people not only still support Donald Trump, but grow fonder of him with every new criminal charge. Which means that, despite the aforementioned indictments*, the twice-impeached, thrice-indicted ex-president is dominating every other candidate for the Republican nomination, and currently looks to be the most likely GOP nominee in the 2024 general election. That, of course, scares the shit out of a lot of peopleincluding, apparently, one Barack Obama. Whose fear, it has to be said, is extremely unsettling!

The Washington Post reports that during a private lunch with Joe Biden in late June, the 44th president voiced concern about Donald Trumps political strengthsincluding an intensely loyal following, a Trump-friendly conservative media ecosystem, and a polarized countryunderlining his worry that Trump could be a more formidable candidate than many Democrats realize. According to people familiar with the conversation, Obama made it clear his concerns were not about Bidens political abilities, but rather a recognition of Trumps iron grip on the Republican Party.

Obamas concerns are certainly warranted: In a New York Times/Siena poll released on Monday, Trump led his closest competition, Ron DeSantis, by a whopping 37 points. An even wilder data point that seems to validate Obamas fears was that Trump beat DeSantis even among Republicans who believe he committed serious federal crimes. To be clear, that means these people believe Trump is a criminal, and want him to be president anyway.

As FiveThirtyEight optimistically notes, should Trump be convicted before November 5, 2024, voters might be less inclined to cast a ballot for him, and presumably theyd be even less so if hes sentenced to time in prison. (In the case of the most recent indictment, two of the charges carry up to 20 years behind bars, and compared to her colleagues, the judge assigned to the case has imposed the toughest sentences for January 6 defendants.) Though, who knows!

As for a potential Trump-Biden rematch, another Times/Siena Poll poll published this week put the two in a tie, with each receiving 43% of the votewhich, for people who think democracy is worth preserving, is pretty pants-shittingly scary.

In somewhat happier news, Obama reportedly promised at the same June lunch to do all he could to help the president get reelected. And in a statement, a spokesman for Bidens campaign told the Post: President Biden is grateful for his unwavering support, and looks forward to once again campaigning side-by-side with President Obama to win in 2024 and finish the job for the American people.

*And everything else!

Mike Pence giveth and Mike Pence taketh away

Yes, he tweeted yesterday that anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President, but then he basically suggested today that Trump was just listening to his lawyers advice when he tried to overturn the electionwhich, coincidentally, is a defense Trump is reportedly planning to use.

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Trump Crushing DeSantis and G.O.P. Rivals, Times/Siena Poll Finds – The New York Times

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Former President Donald J. Trump is dominating his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, leading his nearest challenger, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, by a landslide 37 percentage points nationally among the likely Republican primary electorate, according to the first New York Times/Siena College poll of the 2024 campaign.

Mr. Trump held decisive advantages across almost every demographic group and region and in every ideological wing of the party, the survey found, as Republican voters waved away concerns about his escalating legal jeopardy. He led by wide margins among men and women, younger and older voters, moderates and conservatives, those who went to college and those who didnt, and in cities, suburbs and rural areas.

The poll shows that some of Mr. DeSantiss central campaign arguments that he is more electable than Mr. Trump, and that he would govern more effectively have so far failed to break through. Even Republicans motivated by the type of issues that have fueled Mr. DeSantiss rise, such as fighting radical woke ideology, favored the former president.

Overall, Mr. Trump led Mr. DeSantis 54 percent to 17 percent. No other candidate topped 3 percent support in the poll.

Below those lopsided top-line figures were other ominous signs for Mr. DeSantis. He performed his weakest among some of the Republican Partys biggest and most influential constituencies. He earned only 9 percent support among voters at least 65 years old and 13 percent of those without a college degree. Republicans who described themselves as very conservative favored Mr. Trump by a 50-point margin, 65 percent to 15 percent.

Still, no other serious Trump challenger has emerged besides Mr. DeSantis. Former Vice President Mike Pence, the former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina each scored 3 percent support. Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, each received support from just 2 percent of those polled.

Yet even if all those candidates disappeared and Mr. DeSantis got a hypothetical one-on-one race against Mr. Trump, he would still lose by a two-to-one margin, 62 percent to 31 percent, the poll found. That is a stark reminder that, for all the fretting among anti-Trump forces that the party would divide itself in a repeat of 2016, Mr. Trump is poised to trounce even a unified opposition.

The survey comes less than six months before the first 2024 primary contest and before a single debate. In an era of American politics defined by its volatility, Mr. Trumps legal troubles his trials threaten to overlap with primary season pose an especially unpredictable wild card.

For now, though, Mr. Trump appears to match both the surly mood of the Republican electorate, 89 percent of whom see the nation as headed in the wrong direction, and Republicans desire to take the fight to the Democrats.

He might say mean things and make all the men cry because all the men are wearing your wifes underpants and you cant be a man anymore, David Green, 69, a retail manager in Somersworth, N.H., said of Mr. Trump. You got to be a little sissy and cry about everything. But at the end of the day, you want results. Donald Trumps my guy. Hes proved it on a national level.

Both Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis maintain strong overall favorable ratings from Republicans, 76 percent and 66 percent. That Mr. DeSantis is still so well liked after a drumbeat of news coverage questioning his ability to connect with voters, and more than $20 million in attack ads from a Trump super PAC, demonstrates a certain resiliency. His political team has argued that his overall positive image with G.O.P. voters provides a solid foundation on which to build.

But the intensity of the former presidents support is a key difference as 43 percent of Republicans have a very favorable opinion of Mr. Trump a cohort that he carries by an overwhelming 92 percent to 7 percent margin in a one-on-one race with Mr. DeSantis.

By contrast, Mr. DeSantis is stuck in an effective tie with Mr. Trump, edging him 49 percent to 48 percent, among the smaller share of primary voters (25 percent) who view the Florida governor very favorably.

In interviews with poll respondents, a recurring theme emerged. They like Mr. DeSantis; they love Mr. Trump.

DeSantis, I have high hopes. But as long as Trumps there, Trumps the man, said Daniel Brown, 58, a retired technician at a nuclear plant from Bumpass, Va.

If he wasnt running against Trump, DeSantis would be my very next choice, said Stanton Strohmenger, 48, a maintenance technician in Washington Township, Ohio.

A number of respondents interviewed drew a distinction between Mr. DeSantiss accomplishments in Tallahassee and Mr. Trumps in the White House.

Trump has proven his clout, said Mallory Butler, 39, of Polk County, Fla. And DeSantis has, but in a much smaller arena.

The truly anti-Trump faction of the Republican electorate appears to hover near one in four G.O.P. voters, hardly enough to dethrone him. Only 19 percent of the electorate said Mr. Trumps behavior after his 2020 defeat threatened American democracy. And only 17 percent see the former president as having committed any serious federal crimes, despite his indictment by a federal grand jury on charges of mishandling classified documents and his receipt of a so-called target letter in the separate election interference case being brought by the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith.

I think Donald Trump is going to carry a lot of baggage to the election with him, said Hilda Bulla, 68, of Davidson County, N.C., who supports Mr. DeSantis.

Yet Mr. Trumps grip on the Republican Party is so strong, the Times/Siena poll found, that in a head-to-head contest with Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Trump still received 22 percent among voters who believe he has committed serious federal crimes a greater share than the 17 percent that Mr. DeSantis earned from the entire G.O.P. electorate.

Mr. DeSantis has made taking on woke institutions a centerpiece of his political identity. But when given a choice between a hypothetical candidate who prioritized defeating radical woke ideology or one who was focused on law and order in our streets and at the border, only 24 percent said they would be more likely to support the candidate focused on fighting woke issues.

Equally problematic for Mr. DeSantis is that those woke-focused voters still preferred Mr. Trump, 61 percent to 36 percent.

The ability to defeat Mr. Biden and to enact a conservative agenda is at the core of Mr. DeSantiss appeal to Republicans. He has warned that Mr. Trump has saddled the party with a culture of losing in the Trump years and has held up his resounding 2022 re-election in the once purple state of Florida as a model for the G.O.P. As governor, he has pushed through a sweeping set of conservative priorities that have sharply reoriented the state and promised he would bring the same policymaking zeal to the White House.

Yet these arguments do not appear to be working. A strong majority of Republicans surveyed, 58 percent, said it was Mr. Trump, not Mr. DeSantis, who was best described by the phrase able to beat Joe Biden. And again, it was Mr. Trump, by a lopsided 67 percent to 22 percent margin, who was seen more as the one to get things done.

Mr. DeSantis narrowly edged Mr. Trump on being seen as likable and moral. Interestingly, the share of Republicans who said Mr. Trump was more fun than Mr. DeSantis (54 percent to 16 percent) almost perfectly mirrored the overall horse race.

He does not come across with humor, Sandra Reher, 75, a retired teacher in Farmingdale, N.J., said of Mr. DeSantis. He comes across as a a good Christian man, wonderful family man. But he doesnt have that fire, if you will, that Trump has.

Increasingly on the trail, Mr. DeSantis is calling attention to his blue-collar roots and his decision to serve in the military as reasons voters should support him as he runs against a self-professed billionaire. But the poll showed Mr. Trump lapping Mr. DeSantis among likely Republican primary voters earning less than $50,000, 65 percent to 9 percent.

As of now, Mr. DeSantiss few demographic refuges places where he is losing by smaller margins are more upscale pockets of the electorate. He trailed Mr. Trump by a less daunting 12 points among white voters with college degrees, 37 to 25 percent. Among those earning more than $100,000, Mr. DeSantis was behind by 23 points, half the deficit he faced among the lowest earners.

The fractured field appears to be preventing Mr. DeSantis from consolidating the support of such voters: In the hypothetical one-on-one race, Mr. DeSantis was statistically tied with Mr. Trump among white college-educated voters.

On a range of issues, the poll suggests it will be difficult for Mr. DeSantis to break through against Mr. Trump on policy arguments alone.

In the head-to-head matchup, Mr. Trump was far ahead of Mr. DeSantis among Republicans who accept transgender people as the gender they identify with, and among those who do not; among those who want to fight corporations that promote woke left ideology, and among those who prefer to stay out of what businesses do; among those who want to send more military and economic aid to Ukraine, and among those who do not; among those who want to keep Social Security and Medicare benefits as they are, and among those who want to take steps to reduce the budget deficit.

Mr. Trump leads Mr. DeSantis among Republicans who believe abortion should always be legal, and among those who believe it should always be illegal.

Mr. DeSantis signed a strict six-week abortion ban that Mr. Trump has criticized as too harsh. Yet Mr. Trump enjoyed the support of 70 percent of Republicans who said they strongly supported such a measure.

Marcel Paba, a 22-year-old server in Miami, said he liked what Mr. DeSantis had done for his state but didnt think the governor could overcome the enthusiasm for Mr. Trump.

There are just more die-hard fans of Trump than there are of Ron DeSantis. Even in Florida, Mr. Paba said. I dont see people wearing a Ron DeSantis hat anywhere, you know?

Camille Baker, Alyce McFadden and Ruth Igielnik contributed reporting.

The New York Times/Siena College poll of 932 voters in the likely Republican primary electorate was conducted by telephone using live operators from July 23 to 27, 2023. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.96 percentage points. Cross-tabs and methodology are available here.

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Donald Trump indictment news: What to know about the 2020 … – NPR

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Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a political rally while campaigning for the GOP nomination in Erie, Pa., in July. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images hide caption

Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a political rally while campaigning for the GOP nomination in Erie, Pa., in July.

Former President Donald Trump was indicted Tuesday on charges he participated in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results an effort that reached a bloody crescendo as his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Following an investigation by special counsel Jack Smith, a grand jury voted to charge Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States, witness tampering and conspiracy against the rights of citizens, and obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.

Trump, who has been summoned to appear in court on Thursday, is still the leading candidate in the Republican primary race. If he pleads not guilty (as he has with the other indictments), we could be hearing about his trial as he makes his case for the White House.

Here are five key points to help get you up to speed.

The former president now faces legal peril in three criminal cases following March's indictment on 34 counts of falsifying business records and June's indictment on 37 counts of mishandling classified documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

A prosecutor in Fulton County, Ga., is leading a separate investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to pressure state election officials there. And Trump is also fighting two civil lawsuits, including a federal jury finding that left him liable for battery and defamation.

But this latest indictment stands apart from Trump's other legal challenges.

The Department of Justice's investigation into Jan. 6, 2021, is among the most sprawling and complex in U.S. history it gets at the heart of the alleged effort to overturn legitimate election results and obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.

"The attack on our nation's Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy," said the special counsel in a short statement before reporters. "As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies. Lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government."

The indictment charges Trump with four serious federal criminal offenses:

University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias described the overall case against Trump as "damning" and representing real "legal jeopardy."

Trump is the only person who is charged and he is the only defendant in this latest indictment. But the court document scatters some clues for the future in terms of who else might potentially face charges.

Six people are labeled as co-conspirators in the indictment. They are given individual numbers and potentially identifying traits but they are not identified by name in the court document.

Some are attorneys who helped promote bogus election fraud claims. Co-conspirator 3 is described as an attorney who privately acknowledged that the unfounded election fraud claims were "crazy." Another, co-conspirator 4, was a Justice Department official who worked on civil matters and "attempted to use the Justice Department to open sham election crime investigations and influence state legislatures."

And their descriptions line up with those of people who could be of interest to investigators, such as former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Sidney Powell and former DOJ attorney Jeffrey Clark.

Even before the indictment was unsealed, Trump and his allies were actively working to control the narrative, calling this a sham indictment and accusing the Biden administration of trying to interfere with the 2024 election.

On Truth Social, Trump said a "Fake Indictment" was evidence of "prosecutorial misconduct." His campaign issued a formal statement (and, later, a fundraising pitch) calling it "election interference." And his Republican allies in Congress plus even some of his GOP primary foes cast the indictment as political persecution at the hands of the Biden administration.

But as NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoez pointed out in an interview with All Things Considered, the attacks from Trump and his supporters are focusing on the process not so much the substance.

"They claim these are politically motivated charges. They attack the special counsel. But they don't necessarily refute specific allegations," Ordoez said. "They don't argue Trump never incited those followers who attacked the Capitol. They never say that Trump didn't seek a group of fake electors."

That's because after two impeachments, three indictments and quite a few scandals in between, Trump has conditioned his supporters to see each allegation against him as a reason to rally around him.

And it works. In March, several weeks before the first indictment, Trump had just 43% of the vote in Republican polling, according to a RealClearPolitics average. But a day after he was charged in a hush-money scheme to an adult film actress, his numbers had jumped to 50%.

Two months later, he was indicted for mishandling classified documents. His polling average jumped again.

As of Monday, ahead of the news of the latest indictment, Trump was still in the lead among Republican presidential candidates.

The federal indictment of Trump over efforts to overturn the 2020 election came soon after similar election interference charges were made public against a Trump ally in Michigan.

Matthew DePerno the most recent Republican nominee for Michigan attorney general, who worked with Trump's team to try to contest his 2020 loss in the state was arraigned Tuesday on state charges for an alleged effort to unlawfully gain access to voting machines.

DePerno has been charged with undue possession of a voting machine, willfully damaging a voting machine and conspiracy, according to the special prosecutor investigating the case.

Investigations into election interference are ongoing elsewhere, as well. Arizona's Democratic attorney general is investigating the 2020 fake electors there, and a Georgia prosecutor is set to soon announce her long-awaited charging decisions in an investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election there.

And all of these investigations are happening separately from the Justice Department's sprawling and complex investigation into the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

On that day, Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, injuring scores of law enforcement officers, forcing a panicked evacuation of the nation's political leaders and threatening the peaceful transfer of power after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

To date, the DOJ has charged more than 1,000 people in what's become the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history.

That list now includes Trump.

NPR's Ben Swasey and Carrie Johnson contributed reporting.

This reporting originally appeared in our digital live coverage.

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Donald Trump Has an Absurd Amount of Support From Republicans … – Vanity Fair

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As the Post notes, Willishas strongly hintedfor months that she will seek multiple indictments in the case, using Georgias expansive anti-racketeering statutes that allow prosecutors not only to charge in-state wrongdoing butto use activities in other statesto prove criminal intent in Georgia. In court filings, Willis has described her probe as an investigation of multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 elections in Georgia and elsewhere.

In addition to potential charges out of Georgia, Trump is likely to be indicted by special counsel Jack Smith in connection with the Justice Departments investigation into his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, and the attack on the Capitol that followed. Thats on top of the charges Trump was already indicted with in June related to his handling of classified documentswhich were expanded last week, as well as a criminal case brought in April by the Manhattan district attorneys office.

Meanwhile, if anyone was thinking an actual prison sentence would stop the former guy from running, think again. On Friday, in an interview with a conservative talk show host, Trump doubled down on his pledge to never drop out of the race, even if hes behind bars.

On the other hand

According to Ron DeSantis, the constant barrage of insults from Trump and others means hes still a contender. If youre up by so much, you would not be worried about anybody else, DeSantis told reporters on Sunday. So the fact that Im taking the incoming from all of these people, not just him, but a lot of the other candidates, a lot of mediathat shows people know that Im a threat.

Chris Christie not sure how many different ways he can say it

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Trump hits back at GOP candidate who said he’s running to ‘stay out … – POLITICO

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In trademark Trump fashion, the former president responded Saturday with blistering personal attacks on his foes and pushing back hard on the idea that he is running to counter his legal battles.

In Iowa last night I noticed that a little known, failed former Congressman, Will Hurd, is ridiculously running for President, Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform. He got SERIOUSLY booed off the stage when he said I was running to stay out of jail. Wrong, if I wasnt running, or running and doing badly (like him & Christie!), with no chance to win, these prosecutions would never have been brought or happened!

Four criminal cases are playing out against Trump, including two that have yielded indictments. In New York state, he has been accused of falsifying records in connection to paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels, and federal prosecutors have charged him with treating classified national security documents carelessly.

If I werent running, I would have nobody coming after me, Trump said at the Iowa dinner. Or if I was losing by a lot, I would have nobody coming after me.

On Saturday, Trump posted a copy of a friendly letter between him and former President Richard Nixon, who President Gerald Ford eventually pardoned from crimes he may have committed during the Watergate scandal.

Many of his GOP opponents are still treading a fine line regarding a potential Trump pardon. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly indicated that he would pardon a convicted Trump if he won the presidency, noting in a Friday interview that he would not be good for the country to have an almost 80-year-old former president go to prison. Mike Pence, Trumps former vice president, has been noncommittal in response to Trumps indictment regarding classified documents and the ongoing investigation around Jan. 6.

On the trail in Iowa Saturday, DeSantis said, If the election becomes a referendum on what document was left by the toilet at Mar-a-Lago, we are not going to win,according to ABC News. We got to focus on what the people are looking for in terms of their futures and I just think in 2024, we wont, we cant have distractions, he added.

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a prominent Trump critic, hasnt minced words on the former presidents legal battles. He has insisted that Trumps indictments have arisen come from his conduct. He skipped the Iowa event to focus on his campaign efforts in New Hampshire.

Hutchinson, who launched his presidential run on the principle that Trump could not win another term, described the former presidents legal troubles in his speech as a harbinger for the countrys future.

You will be voting in Iowa, while multiple criminal cases are pending against Donald Trump. Iowa has an opportunity to say: we as a party, we need a new direction for America and for the GOP, Hutchinson said at the dinner.

Trump responded to Hutchinson Saturday with another personal attack.

Dont weak people like Aida know or understand that the Prosecution of Donald Trump is an Election Interference Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia, or the Fake Dossier, and that he is playing right into Marxists hands, when I am leading the [Republicans] by 50 Points and leading Biden BIG, Trump wrote on Truth.

Later Saturday, Trump posted: WHY DIDNT THE CORRUPT MARXIST PROSECUTORS BRING THESE RADICAL & UNJUSTIFIED CHARGES AGAINST ME 2.5 YEARS AGO, LONG BEFORE MY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN HAD BEGUN. ... THIS IS ELECTION INTERFERENCE & PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT!

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What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbn Understand … – POLITICO

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My research analyzes real speeches made by politicians past and present, including those of Trump, Orban and Putin, using cognitive linguistics a branch of linguistics that examines the relationship between language and the mind. What I have found is that throughout history, speeches by dictators and autocrats have one thing in common: they use dehumanizing metaphors to instill and propagate hatred of others.

It is well-documented that for example words like reptiles and parasites were used by the Nazi regime to compare outsiders and minorities to animals. Strongmen throughout history have referred to targeted social groups as rats or pests or a plague. And its effective regardless of whether the people who hear this language are predisposed to jump to extreme conclusions. Once someone is tuned into these metaphors, their brain actually changes in ways that make them more likely to believe bigger lies, even conspiracy theories.

These metaphors are part of a cognitive process that entraps some people in this kind of thinking while others are unaffected. Heres how it works.

The first step to manipulating the minds of the public, or really the precondition, is that listeners need to be in the right emotional state.

In order to hack into the minds of the public, people need to feel fear or uncertainty. That could be caused by economic instability or pre-existing cultural prejudices, but the emotional basis is fear. The brain is designed to respond to fear in various ways, with its own in-built defense mechanisms which produce chemicals in the response pattern, such as cortisol and adrenaline. These chemical responses, which zip straight past our logical brains to our fight-or-flight reactions, are also activated by forms of language that instill fear, either directly (as in a vocal threat) or, more insidiously, by twisted facts which allay fears through lies and deceptive statements.

In this state, dehumanizing metaphors are very effective. My research shows that this language taps into and switches on existing circuits in the brain that link together important and salient images and ideas. In effect, metaphors bypass higher cognitive reasoning centers to make linkages that may not have a basis in reality. And when that happens, a person is less likely to notice the lie, because it feels right.

This pattern becomes more effective the more it is used. According to studies, the more these circuits are activated the more hardwired they become, until it becomes almost impossible to turn them off. What this means is these repetitive uses of dehumanizing metaphors are incredibly powerful to those brains already willing to hear them, because they direct their thoughts, making it easy to focus on certain things and ignore others.

The same is true of conspiracy theories. The neuroscientific research shows that people who believe them develop more rigid neural pathways, meaning they find it difficult to rethink situations once this pattern of thinking is established.

This also means that if someone is already more susceptible to believing lies in the form of dehumanizing metaphors and this same person comes across a big lie or a conspiracy theory that fits into that well-trodden neural pathway, they are more likely to believe it and be influenced by it.

This is how language that might seem like harmless hyperbole winds up literally changing the way people think. And once they think differently, they can act in ways that they might not have before.

With the rise of populist and far-right political movements in the 2010s, the use of dehumanizing metaphors to engender hatred of foreigners or of those who are different in some way has spread worldwide.

In 2016, during a state-orchestrated public campaign against refugees and migrants in Hungary, Orban characterized them as a poison. In August 2017, when groups of white supremacists arrived in the college town of Charlottesville, Va., to participate in a Unite the Right rally, the protesters used both animal and dirt metaphors when they claimed they were fighting against the parasitic class of anti-white vermin and the anti-white, anti-American filth.

Putins labeling of the Ukrainian leadership as Nazi falls into this category, a powerful slur against the Jewish leader Zelensky, whom Putin called a disgrace to the Jewish people. Significantly, he uses this alongside dehumanizing language to justify the invasion of Ukraine, claiming it as a mission in denazification, eliminating Ukraine of its Nazi filth by innuendo. The use of the dirt and filth metaphor, coupled with the historically loaded terminology, is a persuasive linguistic tool.

Former President Trump also supported his Big Lie with the same pattern of conspiracy theories and fake news reported in far-right social media that spurred supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

These dehumanizing metaphors have been used consistently to tap into the neural pathways of fearful or anxious people ready and waiting to believe. This helps explain why so many Trump supporters were influenced by the QAnon conspiracy hoax in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. Trumps Big Lie refers to the false claim that the election was rigged and stolen from him through massive electoral fraud even though that assertion has been repeatedly debunked.

Significantly, Trump also supported his Big Lie with the same pattern of conspiracy theories and fake news reported in far-right social media, such as QAnon, that spurred Trump supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. This sustained use of the central metaphor of a cabal of satanic, cannibalistic abusers of children conspiring against Trump will easily fit into the entrenched neural pathways of someone who is already willing to believe.

The tricky thing about all this is that some people are more susceptible to this type of rhetorical manipulation than others. This comes down to critical thinking and brain training. If one wants to or needs to believe then the language works manipulatively and the neural pathways are built up. If we arent fearful or primed to believe, our brain has mechanisms to alert us to the deceit. Simply put if we are constantly critical of lies, our brains are more trained to notice them.

Unfortunately, research into this brain wiring also shows that once people begin to believe lies, they are unlikely to change their minds even when confronted with evidence that contradicts their beliefs. It is a form of brainwashing. Once the brain has carved out a well-worn path of believing deceit, it is even harder to step out of that path which is how fanatics are born. Instead, these people will seek out information that confirms their beliefs, avoid anything that is in conflict with them, or even turn the contrasting information on its head, so as to make it fit their beliefs.

People with strong convictions will have a hard time changing their minds, given how embedded a lie becomes in the mind. In fact, there are scientists and scholars still studying the best tools and tricks to combat lies with some combination of brain training and linguistic awareness.

Not all hope is lost, however. History has shown that disruptive events such as the toppling of a regime or the loss of a war can force a new perspective and the brain is able to recalibrate. So it is at least possible to change this pattern. Once the critical mind is engaged, away from the frenzy of fear and manipulation, the lie can become clear. This is the uplifting moral tale that can be gleaned from history all the great liars, from dictators to autocrats, were eventually defeated by truth, which eventually will win out.

But the bad news is that you need that kind of disruption. Without these jarring events to bring a dose of reality, it is unlikely that people with strong convictions will ever change their minds something that benefits the autocrat and endangers their society.

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