Re: "Donald Trump, Mesmerist"

To the editor:

 Emily Ogden (Donald Trump, Mesmerist; NYT 8.5.18) likens President Trump’s appeal to that of the mesmerists who used hypnotic suggestion to lull their subjects into ‘credulous obedience’ and further argues that efforts to expose his lies backfire because he is ‘selling anti-mesmerism’ turning accusations against him into strengths. But President Trump’s popularity exists only because of a deeply engrained mistrust, borne of marginalization among his supporters, that he has masterfully stoked with the blunt force of lies rather than sleight of hand.

I attended a magic show last night where I was mesmerized when my wedding band was put in a locked box on a stage next to me and ended up on the stem of a wine glass where I had been seated. I have no idea how that happened and not knowing and not needing to know made it entertaining. It was a great performance.

There is no subtlety, no effort of orchestrated illusion, in President Trump’s conduct. He is a manipulator whose dangerous skill is to get a large part of the electorate to believe demonstrable falsehoods; to collectively close their eyes to rational thought and to stoke fear and hatred. If the mesmerist seduces his audience by encouraging them to trust their own perceptions, President Trump, using demagoguery, reinforces his supporters’ mistrust of our most basic democratic institutions.

Respectfully submitted

Larry S. Sandberg MD