Tim Wise described trump as being something like an opiate to these people. Like a drug, he promises to take away whatever pain they’re in, and he does, for a moment, but then their fear (really it’s a deep existentialist terror) reasserts itself, and they have to hear a speech, go to a rally, whatever produces the high of being his follower. Since he’s been deplatformed, quite a number of people have said their family members have sort of “calmed”, which is not the word I want but close enough for this, where they appear to have awakened as of from some kind of dream.