The Great Disappointment
A Baptist preacher named William Miller prophesied that Jesus Christ would return to earth on October 22, 1844. He developed a sizeable following from his preaching. His followers sold all their worldly goods, and repaired to await the second coming.
Needless to say, October 22 arrived and passed without incident. The Millerites evolved into the Seventh-Day Adventists, yet another uniquely American religion which turned dejection into a cult. The failure of Miller's prophecies was known as "The Great Disappointment".
We're seeing the same thing playing out with Donald Trump and his ludicrous attempts to stay in office.
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was the latest Republican to begrudgingly accept reality and concede that Joe Biden is the President-elect. Many rank and file Trumpists immediately excommunicated him. But many were like the poor fellow at the top of this piece, believing that this was merely yet another facet in Trump's master plan to retain power and crush his enemies.
We have to approach what Trump has engendered as a millenarian, utopian movement. Trump finally voiced his followers' hatreds, their antipathies, their fears, and, yes, their hopes. No political movement can be solely about hate. Followers latch on to leaders who, yes, speak to their concerns, but also offer hope of a brighter future. But, as I wrote, "a brighter future" doesn't mean a brighter future for all, but just for the cult members.
The question is: What will happen to their conception of the world once their hopes vanish like will-o'-the-wisps? Once Trump, contra Fletch, doesn't pull a rabbit out of the hat? Indeed, once Trump becomes mired in criminal and civil litigation, and wolfish creditors come to collect their due?
The Millerites became something else, transcending their disappointment. But religious movements take on lives of their own. Political movements centered on a cult of personality tend to fracture without that charismatic leader. Many of the people Trump brought into the GOP fold came only for him. They were not regular voters. What will they do when Trump becomes the Hidden Imam (hidden in a New York State detention facility)? Again, in this analogy, the Shi'a had a religious ideology to bind them, which continued after the destruction of all their original leaders. All that Trumpists have is Trump, and that's not a thing to hang your hat on.
What people like Fletch do after their delusions betray them will be one of the things to watch in a post-Trump political space. I wouldn't even dare to predict how they'll go.