Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America

by Sarah Kendzior

By the end of 2017, “Mueller will save us” had become an internet mantra, chanted by legal experts and armies of trolls alike. “Mueller will save us” had replaced “Comey will save us,” and was later supplanted by “Pelosi will save us” and “the 2020 election will save us,” all while the damage of the Trump administration grew more irreparable. Rumors swirled throughout 2017 and 2018 about imminent indictments and secret plans, and Mueller disciples found a funhouse mirror in the “QAnon” cult surrounding Trump. The QAnon phenomenon—in which Trump acolytes believe an anonymous high-level official named “Q” leaves them coded tips about secret prosecutions as well as other enticing developments, like the underground revolution they claim is being led by a still-alive JFK Jr.—is a disturbing example of savior syndrome. Savior syndrome is a mind-set that flourishes during the unstable period of autocratic consolidation, when frightened citizens seek to find meaning in the inexplicable actions of their failed leaders. To those under the sway of savior syndrome, once trusted officials are not incompetent or corrupt: they are merely “playing 3-D chess.” It doesn’t matter if officials are, in reality, resorting to the weakest moves (“When you don’t know what to do, push a pawn” could have been the motto of the Mueller probe), their motives must be presented as pure, their tactics impeccable and impenetrable. The abdication of the admired is too much for those seeking saviors to proce...