The BMJ just published an article entitled “Disinformation enabled Donald Trump’s second term and is a crisis for democracies everywhere“. Please allow me to show you a few excerpts from this paper:
Donald Trump did not win the 2020 election, but asserting that he did became a prerequisite for Republicans standing for nomination to Congress or the Senate to win their primaries. An entire party became a vehicle for disinformation. Trump did win the 2024 presidential election, and key to that victory was building on the success of that lie. If you control enough of the information ecosystem, truth no longer matters…
… Readers of The BMJ will recall the huge amounts of misinformation (wrong or misleading content that is unknowingly shared) and disinformation (false content that is deliberately spread) during the covid-19 pandemic, some generated or amplified by politicians. This reduced vaccine uptake, promoted ineffective treatments, and encouraged attacks on health workers. In the past, factually incorrect statements might have had only local consequences, but a lie can now circle the world in seconds. Yet the speed in which disinformation can spread is only part of the problem…
… Part of Musk’s reason for buying Twitter was to influence the social discourse. And influence he did—by using his enormous platform (203 million followers) to endorse Trump, spread disinformation about voter fraud and deep fakes of Kamala Harris, and amplify conspiracy theories about everything from vaccines to race replacement theory to misogyny. Musk’s platform is effective: his endorsement of Trump coincided with Republican leaning posts being algorithmically favoured over Democrat leaning posts. A more mundane example: after Musk published three non-evidence based posts on X that favoured one medication over another, sales of the former rose by 18% while the other fell by 11%. …
The warning signs are clear for democracies around the world. Firstly, governments must regulate social media companies more rigorously. Brazil’s victorious dispute with X shows what is possible, and a major battle between the European Commission and Musk is under way. Beyond that, we must grapple with how to hold the world’s richest people to account when they directly interfere with national and international politics.
Secondly, public health agencies must create robust surveillance systems for infodemics just as they have for epidemics. They must monitor the emergence of disinformation and counter it or, ideally, anticipate and counter (pre-bunk) it among vulnerable audiences (and build population resilience). Independent organisations that are countering disinformation are already being deliberately targeted (https://counterhate.com/). And we must accelerate research on “inoculating” people against the algorithms and content that attempt to radicalise them.
Finally, politicians and the public health community must not be afraid of calling out disinformation, and we must all support and applaud them in doing so. And moving beyond responding to false rhetoric, we must also get on the front foot and create compelling counter narratives of a better politics that can support a kinder, more inclusive, and socially just world.
___________________________
I’d like to thank the authors (Martin McKee, professor of European public health, Christina Pagel, professor of operational research, and Kent Buse, co-founder of ‘Global Health) for their courage to speak out and stand up for the truth. I am in full agreement with them and encourage all my readers to study their excellent paper in full.
75 Responses to Disinformation enabled Donald Trump’s second term
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“Donald Trump did not win the 2020 election…” <— disinformation.
What part of 81 million votes don't you understand!
When I open this page Old Bob, a banner at the top reads
“..if you make a claim in a comment, support it with evidence.”
That applies to you as well as everyone else.
@Michael Warren
Exactly. And I recall that after the 2020 election, Trump filed no less than 62 lawsuits contesting his loss based on claims of widespread fraud and irregularities.
Virtually all of those lawsuits were basically thrown out (also by Trump-appointed and other republican-leaning judges) because a complete lack of any evidence supporting those claims. And the one or two that did actually go through also ended with Trump losing.
But unfortunately – and this is in fact the subject of today’s post – things like ‘facts’ and ‘evidence’ appear to have lost their value, especially among right-wing politicians(*). Which I find very worrying, because when groups of people disagree about very basic facts, it becomes impossible to discuss, let alone bridge, any differences in opinion.
*: Of course we’ve always had cranks and their followers such as Exhibit A here making all sorts of fact-free claims, but those were just that: pretty harmless cranks, capable of hurting perhaps a few patients – but now we’re on the verge of an administration where the whole government is made up of liars, cranks, and conspiracy believers who know nothing about running a country, and are only in it for the power, the money, and of course their own ego. The only thing that matters is not for appointees to be sensible or competent, but if they are unconditionally loyal to Trump.
81 million *is* the evidence. Do you deny it?
Old Bob,
Thank you for setting the record straight. However, you don’t understand how those 81 million voters voted for Trump in 2020. They were cast during a shadow election that happened in 2020 along with the normal presidential election. People only voted during the normal election but the votes on their ballots were automatically flipped and counted towards the shadow election. That is how Trump got 81 million votes in shadow polls and Biden the same number in normal polls. You need to provide this explanation when you make a statement saying Trump received 81 million votes in 2020, otherwise you like a half-witted doofus.
Take your issues up with this – https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections2020.pdf – bunch then.
Biden won 2020…
@Michael Warren
Please don’t pay attention to the bumbling idiot who confuses Biden for Trump.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election
@OB
Good to see your support for the sexual abuser President elect still holds strong. I guess nothing will diminish the salivating fervour not even sexual abuse. You are such an uplifting example of moral and ethical bankruptcy. Well done!
I understand that Biden received 81 million votes and Trump 74 million in 2020, which makes a Biden win on the popular vote, let alone the Electoral College votes.
Which other 81 million votes did you mean?
The result of the 2020 Presidential vote was:
BIDEN: 81,282,916 (306 electoral votes)
TRUMP: 74,223,369 (232 electoral votes)
What part of disinformation don’t you understand, Old Bob?
~TEO.
Show the evidence, show the data
Thank you, Professor, for sharing the BMJ article. I don’t think the mainstream media (MM) in US has done enough to stress the fact that this election was won primarily with the help of misinformation. I have read MM accounts blaming mostly democrats failing to reach so and so voter groups or not having a good enough ground game etc. but very few articles mention misinformation as being the key factor. Perhaps MM itself has fallen prey to misinformation or if they acknowledge it, they will be held responsible for not countering it and that would be bad for business, or maybe they are afraid of angering our soon to be King Orange Julius.
This is why experts, such as the BMJ, yourselves and the US media don’t understand why Trump won and why 75 million Americans, and independent podcasters (not connected to the State), do understand.
For instance the betting odds (where folks put their money where their mouths are) had Trump odds-on (4/7) while Harris was 2/1, what did that tell you? You ignored it because “Motivation is the master of reason, always” and you let your emotions (and are still) get(ting) the better of your reason.
when I read your comments, the term that comes to my mind is: OFFENSIVE STUPIDITY.
I respect you because you don’t censor differing opinions. That is unusual and takes strength and confidence.
@OB
You got caught claiming incorrectly that Trump got 81 million votes in 2020:
https://edzardernst.com/2024/11/disinformation-enabled-donald-trumps-second-term/#comment-153997 and now you resorted to changing the subject.
Do you not have the courage to be humble and agree that you were wrong?
@Edzard
Professor, you are the one that appears to be the more stupid.
Have you ever heard of the Twitter Files ? Lots of eye-opening revelations there.
Do some through investigation and you will find that disinformation abounds from the media. Furthermore, you will find that social media meddled with the 2020 election and was directed to do so by the FBI. Mark Zuckerberg has testified as much to Congress.
YOU, are a sucker for the alternative facts
@RG
Have you been abducted by aliens?
@OB
In other words this means that millions of people reasoned that it was ok to vote for a sexual abuser who has shown no remorse for the victim what so ever. Yo have to be devoid of emotions because if you had any you wouldn’t vote for him. Tell me whats difficult to understand about this and it in what country this is ACTUALLY OK – it seems pretty straight forward. IT IS NOT OK – FAR FROM IT –
I kinda think you got this the wrong way round, unless of course you and all the other trumpists endorse sexual abuse and thinks its reasonable which appears to be the only conclusion I can come to. Fortunately I have emotions and find it abhorrent. Lets not mention the eugenics he seems so fond eh!
We all understand that Trump won the 2016 and 2024 elections…
However, he clearly lost 2020 and yet you claim he did otherwise and somehow got the same number of votes Biden received, i.e. 81 million.
The only disinformation that helped Donald Trump was when Obama claimed Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides” of white supremacy, and everyone knew that was a lie.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-very-fine-people/
I’ll remind you that not only did Obama campaign with Oprah, who tours with Deepak Chopra and popularized “The Secret,” alternative medicines including homeopathy, the quackery of Dr. Oz, and even the rapist John of God, but Obama also gave her America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, for her efforts.
Also, Kamala Harris is the ex-girlfriend of TV psychic promoter Montel Williams.
Figuring out why Trump – a man who’s been an icon of American culture since the 80s – won a presidential election, against a woman who started her political career by having sex with her boss, should not be this difficult, Professor.
1) If Trump was an “icon of American culture”, the US is bar any cluture.
2) Even if it were true that Harris ‘had sex with her boss’, this would render her still more electable that a notorious felon, liar and rapist.
Professor,
Trump is only a “felon” because the Democrats went to extraordinary lengths to turn misdemeanors into felonies. They actually changed a law to turn him into a rapist.
What they did to Trump was so egregious it’s even inspired a new term, “LawFare,” (“Law” and “Warfare”) meaning the use of legal systems and institutions to damage or delegitimize an opponent, or to deter an individual’s usage of their legal rights.
You’ve swallowed their efforts, hook-line-and-sinker, Professor. The American people did not.
I will remind you that, while you’re attacking Donald Trump, you’re giving comfort to the Democrats, party of JFK and Robert Kennedy, who most Americans think killed Marilyn Monroe.
The party of Bill Clinton, who not only stuck a cigar in Monica’s vagina while serving in the White House, with Yassir Arafat waiting outside his office, but still has three well-investigated Democrat women – Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, and Paula Jones – awaiting justice after he raped them.
As you know, Bill Clinton is also the Democrat president who validated alternative medicines in the United States. His wife, Hillary, is not only a conspiracy theorist who saw a “vast right wing conspiracy” after her husband, when most people just saw him having affairs on her, but as Secretary of state, she killed Qaddafi, and laughed about it, before his death brought slavery back to Libya.
Next, Obama campaigned with Oprah, before her quack protégé, Dr. Oz, ran for the US Senate, her spiritual advisor,” Marianne Williamson, ran for president, and she endorsed Kamala, who dated a TV psychic promoter, Montel Williams, while she was a US prosecutor, supposedly on the lookout for fraud.
What I’m trying to say, Professor, is the American Democrat NewAge movement has you rooting for the wrong side. The election of Donald Trump is a defeat for many things that you want to see defeated. Not all of them, and definitely not enough, but some.
Finally, the last time we spoke, I tried to impress upon you that no one pays attention to MSNBC. I’d say the election proved that to be true. Today the numbers came out for their chief Trump-hating competitor, CNN. It’s pretty much the same story for them as well.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14084247/cnn-worst-ratings-quarter-century-layoffs.html
you could have fooled me – I thought he is a felon because he committed a crime!
@Edzard
Yes, misdemeanor crimes, not felony crimes. And the statute of limitation had run out on those misdemeanor crimes. They spun them into felony crimes by changing the law after the fact.
YOU KNOW NOTHING
…because you read and believe the lying legacy media
This is a great example of the BS that comes out of the rear-end of right-win trolls:
And it is quite hilarious to watch pathetic right-wing troll twist himself into a pretzel to gas light everyone on this blog. For those who don’t live in the US and not too familiar with politics: For GENERATIONS Republicans have been preaching to the masses that they are tough on crime. Yet, they refused to convict Trump after he was impeached twice : https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/article-2/section-4/president-donald-trump-and-impeachable-offenses. If they had convicted him, he would not have been eligible to run for office again.
Here is a good article on Republican’s tough on crime rhetoric: https://www.salon.com/2023/11/02/are-tough-on-crime-that-was-always-a-myth–now-its/ and here are some excerpts:
@Talker
I fear you also are suffering from DJT, get some professional help.
In spite of your medical condition, perhaps you can still follow the case in this link provided.
https://www.vox.com/politics/353111/trump-trial-verdict-criticisms-wrongly-convicted
@RG
One doesn’t need to read past the first paragraph:
You are too stupid to understand that he has been convicted in the court of law by a jury of his peers. Before that he was impeached TWICE. No matter how much you try to polish that turd, it won’t get any shinier, instead you get your hands dirty. Keep up the great work.
Richard Rasker posted:
“But unfortunately – and this is in fact the subject of today’s post – things like ‘facts’ and ‘evidence’ appear to have lost their value, especially among right-wing politicians(*). Which I find very worrying, because when groups of people disagree about very basic facts, it becomes impossible to discuss, let alone bridge, any differences in opinion.”
Which reminds me of Kellyanne Conway who was a senior adviser in the first trump administration. She claimed that there’s such a thing as “alternative facts.”
“Alternative facts” was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway during a Meet the Press interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s false statement about the attendance numbers of Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States. When pressed during the interview with Chuck Todd to explain why Spicer would “utter a provable falsehood”, Conway stated that Spicer was giving “alternative facts”. Todd responded, “Look, alternative facts are not facts. They’re falsehoods.”
We are all trying not to gloat:
https://www.malone.news/p/we-are-all-trying-not-to-gloat
Trump picks anti-vaccine activist as health secretary
https://www.rediff.com/news/report/trump-names-robert-f-kennedy-jr-as-hhs-secretary-doug-collins-for-va/20241115.htm
Woman fired for refusing covid shot awarded 12.7 million dollars by jury trial:
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/woman-fired-refusing-covid-shot-wins-12-7-million-jury-trial/
@OB
America chooses billionaire convicted sexual abuser as President and gloats. Hideous.
@Dave
This convicted sex offender lied about being a billionaire, also to banks. Which in fact is another crime for which he was convicted.
Here is a Trump crime tracker
https://www.politico.com/interactives/2023/trump-criminal-investigations-cases-tracker-list/
To make sure all his current cases get swept under the rug and bully anyone from filing any new cases in future, Trump is trying to appoint an alleged criminal as the top law enforcement officer (Attorney General) of the county.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/14/matt-gaetz-attorney-general-underage-sex-allegations-investigation/
@OB
Do you deny that Biden won 2020 election with 81 million votes?
DOGE, let that sink in:
https://brownstone.org/articles/guess-whats-coming-to-dc/
OB,
DOGE..another big government venture to meddle with the lives of its citizens. Is that what you are rooting for? Whatever happened to you, OB? I thought you are against all kinds of government shenanigans. It appears you are letting your emotions get the better of you. Sad!
No, it’s one man going against Big Government as opposed to Big Government going against one man.
Dear Delusional Bob,
Your emotions certainly clouded your judgement and making you see things that aren’t there.It’s actually two men, both of whom have no experience in anything remotely governmental, part of soon to be Trump’s big government, running a new governmental agency called Dept.
of Government Efficiency, which doesn’t fit your definition of “one man going against Big Government”. This is another one of your BIG lies, factually incorrect and objectively verifiable.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-department-of-government-efficiency-trump/index.html
You need to have a sense of humour to appreciate DOGE. And wow, has it appreciated – didn’t you buy any? Too bad. Let that sink in.
@OB
A man child names a government department after a crypto currency. HA HA! Very funny!! I got so enamored with Must that I went and bought a lot of DOGE coin, I am now rolling around in it and dreaming about becoming a billionaire.
By the way, I can come up with stupid acronyms too. Here is one to encompass the activities of trolls like you and RG: Department of Gaslighting Eejits (DOGE). Read it again and let the humor sink in.
You are getting the hang of it! Let that sink in:
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1854034776815972649
Peace and happiness brother!
That is Musk auctioning off his used bidet to make some extra cash. Nothing to see there.
Now that you have moved to your new rent-free residence, try not to drown in Musk’s toilet, OB. If you are lucky maybe in his bidet.
Whilst I wholeheartedly agree, I’m afraid the horse is already out of the barn and the door remains wide open–hell, it’s ripped right off so there is no longer much point in putting the horse in there at all!
Where were all these ideas 20 (or whatever) years ago when the media were offering little more than false equivalency about MMR vaccine hysteria brought on by Wakefield? Even now, they simply refer to it as “debunked” as if this changes all the anti-vax converts back to sensible people!
Musk and RFK will now effectively run the country. The NY Times today asks if Kennedy will be confirmed by Congress. Does anyone seriously think it matters anymore? If they don’t, Trump will simply say he is the Health Czar anyway and, tell me, who will stop him?
The truth is coming out: You will find it easier to accept it, rather than rant against it.
Peace and love you guys!
You sound like a rapist telling the woman to relax and then telling his mates that she actually enjoyed it.
You sound like you are projecting – evil is he who evil thinks – try to avoid thinking like this and be a better person as a result. It is a part of calmness and self-love.
I am already a good person. I am generally calm and think well of myself. Since you don’t know me at all, your post is dead stupid.
By default it’s best to look for the best in folks, for everyone, because that is uplifting.
In contrast, looking for the worse does the opposite: no one wins in war.
@Old Bob
So you’re preaching to ‘look for the best in people’, while at the same time supporting and praising that lying and hate-mongering piece of sh*t who doesn’t care about anyone but himself, and sees anyone who doesn’t support him as an enemy who should be destroyed.
I think my hypocrisy detector just went up in flames.
Barnes just commented that the reason the Left are so upset by the 2024 result is because they did not realise that they lost the 2020 election.
Incumbent president Trump just won a third presidential term. Suck it up you dumb lefties!
@Mimi
What do you expect, from someone who unconditionally and unquestioningly supports this horrible human specimen called Donald “Grab ’em by the P*ssy” Trump …
Everyone, the solution is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV6gvZ7OrZQ&t=1s
@Richard Rasker
Donald “Grab ’em by the P*ssy” Trump is a dirty talk between two men that was a private conversation. This is no evidence that the Donald ever in fact did this, he has not been charged or taken to court with this specific unconsented act…. no evidence it ever happened. He never even said it happened; he was making a generic statement.
What DID happen was President Bill Clinton did have consented sex (acts) with a 22-year-old intern nine times in the Oval Office. It is a well-known fact that by penetration Bill marinated his cigar with the vaginal fluid of Monica Lewinski. He also spilled his semen on Miss Lewinski tidy blue dress, evidently, he had more loaded than she could swallow.
Bill was impeached for the acts but was also re-elected.
@RG
Why do you keep lying all the time? Are you trying to imitate Trump? In that case, you’re doing quite well with a dozen or so lies per day already.
Mr. Rasker,
I have a bone to pick with you, Good Sir. Why do you pick on my best bud RG?
You seem like a nice guy, well educated, well informed and you do your best to tell the truth. But you cannot expect everyone to be like you. Lying is everyone’s fundamental right, perfectly legal under freedom of speech. We don’t know if RG is a lying cheating scumbag in real life, if he is, then it is his right to project his real-life persona online. I stand up on all four furry limbs to defend RG’s right to lie.
“A New York judge agreed to indefinitely postpone sentencing in a criminal case against President-elect Donald Trump. The judge, Juan Merchan, said he is adjourning a planned Nov. 26 sentencing and paved the way forward for Trump’s lawyers to file a motion to dismiss.
The decision marks another win for the president-elect, who is set to return to the White House in January just as his other criminal trials have also been stalled.”
Don’t fall for the media lies, Trump won’t be in jail anytime soon… keep dreaming
“Trump won’t be in jail anytime soon”
But the more important question from a moral point of view is: SHOULD HE BE IN JAIL?
I’d answer this one in the affirmative.
Professor
The cases against Trump were all bogus, a kangaroo court. The charges were designed to steer prospective votes away from him… but it didn’t work.
If the D-party (and the liberal Judge) thought they could still lock him up, don’t you think they would not so easily drop the case at this point in time ?
So we imagined the Jan 6th riots and the multiple attempts to overturn the results of the election?
Out of 44,000 hours of video, the lying-media concocts 1 minute with 30 edits. Let’s see the other 43,999.98 hours of the “riots”.
1,500 charged, Bob. Your capacity for self-delusion is quite breathtaking. With every post you reveal yourself to be a bigger and bigger idiot.
Charged but not sentenced i.e. denied due process.
@Old Bob
Sigh.
OK, this is what due process usually looks like, in a nutshell:
1. Being charged
2. Being heard in court
3. Being sentenced or acquitted
The fact that there may be a considerable amount of time between step 1 and step 3 does NOT mean that those accused are denied due process. In fact, delays are largely BECAUSE OF due process, to give defendants every chance to properly defend themselves. Very fast sentencing in cases like this is often the hallmark of a corrupted and authoritarian regime (unless of course the crime is quite obvious and the defendant pleaded guilty).
Also note that a lot of delay is deliberately caused by the defendants (and in particular their council), in the often justified hope that a lengthy trial will lead to more lenient punishment. And I wouldn’t be surprised if major ringleaders of this insurrection are pardoned by Trump as soon as he takes office.
@RG
If we have to believe you, then
– 99% of all doctors and scientists are lying and/or corrupted, particularly with regard to COVID-19, and
– 99% of all AG’s, judges and juries in Trump’s dozens of cases are also prejudiced, lying and/or corrupted, and
– 99% of regular media channels are prejudiced, lying and/or corrupted.
Now tell us what is more likely:
– You are correct, and the overwhelming majority of people who actually know a thing or two about medicine, science, law, politics and news are liars and frauds, who can’t be trusted at all, or
– You are the liar, brown-nosing Trump for reasons of trolling and/or being stupid.
Trump is not just accused of crimes. He was actually convicted for crimes that are considered 100% proven. He sexually assaulted a woman, and then went on to defame her as well when she pressed charges.
He was also found guilty for having falsified business records – a crime for which his close associate Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to jail time. Trump was also convicted for the crime of lying about his assets in order to gain loans and other business advantages, resulting in unfair competition, a crime for which he is now banned from doing business in New York. And these are just the cases for which Trump was in fact convicted.
The reason why this election fraud case is dropped is not because Trump is innocent, but simply because the US constitution says that a president can’t be prosecuted. The Founding Fathers never foresaw that the American people would be stupid enough to elect a criminal as their president.
And oh, Democrats were the ones responsible for pausing and eventually abandoning many cases against Trump, because they wanted to avoid any appearance that those cases could be interpreted politically; they wanted to make sure that the race for the White House was fair. Which is in fact the exact opposite of what you claim.
What has happened, and is still happening, especially in the UK, is the destruction of democracy where the mob rules as predicted in 1984 and Animal Farm. Where all people are equal but some, Biden, Harris, Bill Gates, George Sorros etc., are more equal than others.
99% of the professional-managerial-class *have* to go along with this or lose their jobs and be destroyed by the Blob for a non-crime-hate post on fb. In the UK, illegal migrants are given hotels and medical care whereas honest citizens have to pull out their own teeth.
The new Labour government lied about everything pre-election then did the opposite post-election, where Kier Starmer gives the People’s money away in the name of Blackrock at COP27 (or is is 29? It will probably get to COP100…)
Tell that to the author of this NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER book which received thousands of 4 star reviews on Amazon and elsewhere: https://www.amazon.com/Climate-Book-Facts-Solutions-ebook/dp/B0B1BT4N13
Let’s hope they did not violate the 2nd Law of TD as we do with EV and other fantasies.
These COP twits promote our-self-destruction for China’s benefit while ignoring the Ukrainian war in their own carbon-cost terms.
The real driving force, as admitted by the UK prime minister, is Blackrock.
Are you okay, OB? Did you get hit by an EV? Did you get your head checked out? No one seems to understand your delusional ramblings. Here is a reading list for you as you recover from your head injury: https://earth.org/climate-change-books/
“…Very fast sentencing in cases like this is often the hallmark of a corrupted and authoritarian regime…”
Now who was it did “very fast sentencing” after personal intervention, you know, the one who let out a bunch of other criminals to make space for them?
@OB
I have no idea. But your incorrigible stupidity, your incessant trolling and your always-need-to-have-the-last-word attitude are rather tiresome and do not contribute anything positive to this blog.
So enjoy the second term of the Dumb Big Bully, and maybe we’ll talk again in 4 years’ time.
Look at your own words: they are supposed to “frame” me? Or what?
Did that work for Trump? No, despite millions of dollars of taxpayers money by the State to try to destroy him, he remains the popular vote he always was, before politics and during because eventually people get tired of the insults and slander and lawfare as it becomes more and more obvious (and they relate to that when it happens to them!).
You are right. People got tired of Trump insulting everyone and their mom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump, therefore they handed him the presidency.