We might think they should. Especially when they make it clear they don’t believe what experts or authority figures say.

We might also wonder why a person doesn’t believe anyone and then somehow believes a TV personality, an online huckster, or an influence peddler. They claim to believe nobody with any credibility—and yet believe only those with no credibility to speak of.

Or perhaps we have long given up trying to figure out what it is they believe.

But here’s a question we should ask ourselves:

Why assume they believe anything at all?

Because they sound confident? Or claim to believe?

Are they earning our trust in this conversation?

I’m not saying we should dismiss the person. Or even the words. Just don’t take for granted they actually believe them.

Memed irony

For years, supporters have created images of Donald Trump as a muscle-bound beefcake. Nobody thinks they’re lifelike. Including the people most loyal to him.

We might assume that’s how somebody sees him. It is certainly how people talk about him.

The real question is not whether he is or whether they believe he is, no matter how many breathless columnists in the New York Times wonder about it.

The question is simply

Why should we believe anyone believes it?

Because we all know that nobody actually does.

Not everyone believes what they say

We know this when it comes to lying, deception, and spin. We understand it in the context of advertising and when bankers come before Congress and pretend they didn’t intend to steal billions. But when it comes to the question of people and the bandwagons they join, they get inscrutable.

How can they believe such nonsense?

There is a simple answer.

They don’t.