Caren I agree with this observation and separate from the litany of concerns you listed I have an (probably digressive and unproductive) spellbound fascination with this behavior (millions at least asserting they believe what Donald Trump says). Why do millions of Americans ignore evidence and data that demonstrate that prodigious amounts of Trump diatribes (issues small to ones as large as assertions of large scale election fraud) are false fabrications and narcissistic grandiose and manipulative lying? I think a psychoanalyst would first guess “it ain’t about what it is about”. There must be a sense of deep alienation, fear of powerlessness, rage against forces (science’s assertion of global warming, global economics, speeding technological change, etc.) seeking a vent from fear, anger, existential threat, tribalism, status and so forth that is seeking an energy as outrageous as the strength of the internal and unconscious fears and anxieties. If this were the case we need to work for consciousness toward a firm, focused and committed adult calm and persistent confident steadfast sanity with unwavering but loving insistence on inclusion, participation, fairness, solution and non-violent peace.