Sean Spicer, Donald Trump’s press secretary [Image: Alex Wong/Getty Images].

He has shut down US government departments’ news feeds to the outside world, and he has ensured that falsehoods have been dispensed as though they were facts – apparently to ensure the loyalty of his lieutenants.

Are these not totalitarian tactics? Were they not employed by the Nazis?

How does it look to you?

First and most obviously, the leader wishes to mislead the public, and wants to have subordinates doing so, in part because many citizens won’t pursue fact-checking.

By requiring subordinates to speak untruths, a leader can undercut their independent standing, including their standing with the public, with the media and with other members of the administration. That makes those individuals grow more dependent on the leader and less likely to mount independent rebellions against the structure of command. Promoting such chains of lies is a classic tactic when a leader distrusts his subordinates and expects to continue to distrust them in the future.

Another reason for promoting lying is what economists sometimes call loyalty filters. If you want to ascertain if someone is truly loyal to you, ask them to do something outrageous or stupid. If they balk, then you know right away they aren’t fully with you. That too is a sign of incipient mistrust within the ruling clique.

Source: Why Trump’s Staff Is Lying – Bloomberg View

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