We Are Not Surrounded. We Are Being Targeted.

For years now, many of us have lived with the sense that we are vastly outnumbered. That the country is crawling with devoted MAGA supporters. That every neighbor, every town, every online space is dominated by people who worship Donald Trump and will never let go.

I no longer believe that is true.

In fact, I am increasingly convinced we have been living inside a carefully maintained illusion.

My opinion did not arrive overnight. It formed slowly, through observation, reporting, and a growing pile of contradictions that no longer make sense unless we acknowledge one uncomfortable possibility. We have been subjected to a sustained psychological operation designed to exaggerate the size, enthusiasm, and inevitability of Trump’s support. In fact, a majority of this supposed support is programmed through bot farms.

Online, this illusion has been especially aggressive. Multiple independent investigations have documented enormous networks of automated and coordinated accounts amplifying right wing content. At one point, in a moment of attempted transparency, Elon Musk released location and account data that inadvertently exposed just how many so-called grassroots right wing voices were not real people at all. Large clusters originated outside the United States or from impossible geographies for organic political participation. What looked like mass enthusiasm was, in many cases, industrial scale bot manipulation.

That matters, because constant repetition creates perceived reality. When you are assaulted day after day by the same slogans, the same threats, the same claims of dominance, it becomes easy to assume you are surrounded even when you are not.

Offline, the picture looks very different.

When Trump was first elected, millions of Americans poured into the streets. Women, families, veterans, seniors, students, entire cities. The protests were massive, sustained, and visible across the country and the world. Since then, we have seen repeated waves of large scale demonstrations opposing Trump, his policies, and the broader authoritarian movement attached to him.

What we have not seen are comparable mass marches in his support.

There are rallies, yes, but rallies are curated events. They are not spontaneous movements. And increasingly, even those rallies appear to be shrinking.

That reality was underscored today by reporting from Raw Story, drawing on interviews conducted by The Washington Post at a recent Trump appearance in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The rally, held in an economically distressed region, drew a noticeably smaller crowd than expected.

Merchandise vendors were left stunned. One marked MAGA beanies down to five dollars and still could not sell them. An eighteen-year-old attendee explained simply that he could not afford even that. A longtime Trump merch seller who has worked rallies nationwide for eight years began packing up early, remarking that the atmosphere was nothing like the tailgate-style crowds he was used to. It felt strange. Empty. Flat.

Despite this, Trump claimed massive turnout and insisted there were crowds waiting outside that simply did not exist.

This pattern is familiar. Inflated numbers. Loud declarations. A reality that collapses under even minimal scrutiny.

What we are facing is not a majority movement. It is a minority one, propped up by money, algorithms, foreign interests, and a relentless propaganda machine. Right wing oligarchs, authoritarian governments, and sympathetic media ecosystems are spending billions to flood our information space with fear, division, and false consensus. The goal is not persuasion. The goal is exhaustion and intimidation.

If they can make us believe we are alone, they win without having to convince anyone.

But we are not alone.

Most Americans are struggling. Most Americans want stability, dignity, healthcare, safety, and a future for their children. The economic anxiety on display in places like Rocky Mount is not an endorsement of Trumpism. It is evidence of people being failed, again and again, by systems that exploit them while promising salvation.

The constant noise is meant to drown out a quieter truth. The country is not marching in lockstep toward authoritarianism. It is being shoved, prodded, and shouted at by a very loud, very well funded minority.

Once you see that, the fear loses its grip.

We are not surrounded. We are being targeted. And recognizing that may be the first step toward breaking the spell.

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