According to psychologist Maria Kornikova’s landmark study on the subject, there is a choreography that con artists have refined over centuries. The put-up identifies the mark. The play is when an emotional connection is built by mirroring the mark’s values and gaining their confidence. The rope, the tail, the convincer, and the breakdown are various levels of getting the mark so emotionally invested that they begin to persuade themselves and rationalize away any doubt that may arise. The touch is the final grift, and the blow-off and fix is when the con artist exits. Rather than deal with the humiliation, the mark rarely reports what happened.

The con game often uses fake participants, known as shills, to create the illusion of social proof. If others are participating, it appears more legitimate. People are more likely to join what looks to be the winning team. And most humans are demonstrably fooled over and over again by someone acting in a confident manner with impressive credentials and wearing expensive clothing. Most humans see this as somehow being trustworthy. But you don’t have to be stupid to fall for the con. Studies show us that the victims of the con game are often successful and highly educated. The more intelligent the victim, the more complex they can rationalize away the red flags.

The most susceptible to falling victim to the con game are those experiencing stress, loneliness, and isolation. Donald Trump’s mentor, Roy Cohn, understood this better than most. In 1973, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the Trump real estate organization for violating the Fair Housing Act for racial discrimination across 39 properties. Trump consulted Roy Cohn, who filed a $100 million counter suit against the federal government, asserting the charges were irresponsible and baseless. This counter suit was thrown out and the Trumps lost, but there was no admission of guilt. Roy Cohn and Trump held a press conference and declared victory.

And Trump learned his foundational lesson. You don’t have to win in reality if you can win in perception. From 1973 until 1986, Trump and Cohn spoke 15 to 20 times per day. Every day, Cohn advised Trump on real estate deals, marriage, and media strategy. The unwritten rules that Roy Cohn helped instill into the character of Donald Trump are 1. Never apologize, never admit wrongdoing. 2. Always counter attack and hit back harder. 3. Use the legal system as a weapon. 4. Manipulate the media. 5. Use fear as both shield and sword. And 6. Build a fortress of loyalty and punish disloyalty absolutely.

Cohn’s playbook didn’t just work on business rivals and judges, it scaled to con millions of people. The mechanics of the confidence game are the same mechanics as the war propaganda we are seeing today. Confident lies that paint Muslims as less than human and deserving of violence. When under stress, the human mind prefers a target to blame over a complex explanation, and so scapegoating not only directs anger towards your desired target, it gives relief to the people because they no longer have to think, which leads people to celebrate cruelties they would otherwise find unthinkable. Mark Twain famously said, it’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.

Humility is a superpower that many people don’t seem to fathom. The MAGA con worked because there are serious systemic problems with the US government, and if you were conned by this, it is not a weakness, but ignoring it is. The most sophisticated people in history have been conned, and the most effective defense against the con is understanding the mechanics of your own mind and emotions. Greg Reiss reporting Thanks for watching!
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