During the trade war, the fascist ideological framework could transform any data about existing amerikkkan society into positive evidence. If Trump refused to negotiate a point, he was playing hardball and forcing the enemy’s hand; if he appeared willing to make concessions, this was skillful diplomacy. By enforcing high tariffs, he was combatting the trade deficit; but when in fact he rolled back most tariffs, it was because he understood the art of the deal. If the stock market was down, this demonstrated that foreign interests were manipulating the economy; but if the line went up, this meant the people were embracing the regime’s policies. If the workers went on strike (as happened on infrequent occasions), this was evidence of communist infiltration; if they didn’t go on strike (because they were intimidated and lacked freedom) it represented satisfaction with employment. A scarcity of consumer goods demonstrated the need to re-shore manufacturing; an improvement in grocery prices meant that the leaders were listening to the population’s needs.

If conservative parties in other countries suffered massive electoral losses while mirroring Trump’s policies, this was only because the elections were rigged by a massive leftist conspiracy. How one rigged elections without holding any semblance of political power was never explained. What we are dealing with is a nonfalsifiable orthodoxy, so assiduously marketed by the ruling interests that it affected people across the entire political spectrum.