'Grievance machine': Psychoanalyst pulls apart Trump tactic that keeps MAGA fans so angry

Donald Trump's claims that he's victimized by America’s institutions are part of a carefully plotted scheme that was pulled apart by a psychoanalyst Tuesday.

Michael Bader wrote in Salon that Trump and others on the right had devised a “grievance machine” that lets them anger their supporters — and justify their actions.

Bader, who's been in clinical practice for 40 years and has written several books, explained it as a classic manipulation of the victim mentality.

“There is another, darker side to the victim mentality — the belief in one’s own victimization is the ultimate rationale for striking out at others without guilt or remorse,” he wrote. “It is like a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card, justifying heinous actions by reframing them as revenge, retaliation or even a form of twisted self-care, because the “right” to fight back is now morally justified.”

And that justification, he said, now has a “central role in social, political and cultural discourse in the U.S.”

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When Trump announced his latest presidential run, he did so by telling people he was righting a grievance.

"Trump, of course, is the ultimate victim," he said. "When announcing his third presidential run, he said, 'We will be attacked. We will be slandered. We will be persecuted, just as I have been.'"

He added that turning on Fox News gives a clear example — talking heads are constantly reminding Americans that they “are victims of ruthless, power-hungry and uncaring liberal elites. They present to their audience some version of 'They want to replace you with immigrants and people of color. They don’t care about you.' ... So when [Tucker] Carlson tells people that evil Democratic elites are ruthlessly trying to replace them, the resulting sense of victimization that he evokes easily becomes a justification for right-wing violence."

Bader added that this kind of thinking is what led to the violent attack on the United States Capitol nearly three years ago.

“Why would storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 be 'bad' if those doing the storming were fighting against an insidious plot to take away their freedoms? If the election was stolen, then stealing it back makes moral sense. If brown people are being given unbridled access to our borders, benefits and jobs — as part of a sinister plot by liberal Democrats to replace hard-working white Americans — then putting immigrants in cages and breaking up their families can easily seem morally legitimate.”