No Wonder Trump Supporters Think Empathy is "Toxic"
New Research Reveals Why Trump’s Base Prefers Cruelty Over Compassion
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia barely had a weekend of freedom with his family before ICE agents seized him again—this time threatening deportation to Uganda, a country he’s never even seen.
At a rally, Kilmar’s words cut through the fear: “God is with us, and God will never leave us. God will bring justice to all the injustice we are suffering.”
His ordeal is a window into the deeper moral crisis of our time.
How can a government inflict such cruelty, and how can so many cheer it on?
A Lack of Empathy
Now the data confirms what many of us have long suspected—Trump supporters, on average, show less empathy than others.
An article recently published in the Journal of Research in Personality stated,
Those viewing Trump favorably reported elevated malevolent and reduced benevolent dispositions, and less empathy.
The researchers, Craig S. Neumann and Darlene A. Ngo, looked at several personality measures.
Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) is, “a dangerous world view that leads to preferences for social control and conformity.”
Social dominance orientation (SDO) is, “a competitive world view that elicits preference for social hierarchies.”
Both RWA and SDO are associated with higher support for Trump.
The Dark Triad
The study explains that autocrats display the Dark Triad—narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.
Trump has been found to display all three.
So it’s no surprise that his supporters exhibit the Dark Triad as well.
They are drawn to politicians with similar traits.
“Taken together we propose that more extreme (malevolent) dispositions are necessary for understanding today’s modern incarnation of conservatism that includes a positive view of Trump.”
Malevolence is antithetical to empathy.
“Machiavellian manipulativeness, psychopathic callousness, and narcissistic self-absorption [are] all negatively associated with empathy and positively associated with antisocial behavior.”
What is the alternative to the Dark Triad?
Humanism. Faith in Humanity. Kantianism.
Humanism refers to “valuing the dignity and worth of individuals.
Faith in humanity means believing in the fundamental goodness of human.
Kantianism is characterized by treating people as ends in themselves rather as means to an end.
The researchers point out that malevolence and its opposite, benevolence, exist on a continuum—all of us have a bit of both.
But Trump supporters consistently lean hard toward the malevolent side.
No Wonder They Think Empathy Is Toxic
Empathy has become a byword among some on the Right.
Allie Beth Stuckey, author of Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion, said, “Empathy becomes toxic when it encourages you to affirm sin, validate lies or support destructive policies.”
She thinks empathy has been weaponized to sanction un-biblical behaviors.
Joe Rigney serves at Douglas Wilson’s New Saint Andrews College and Christ Church.
In 2019, he wrote an article for the Desiring God website titled, “The Enticing Sin of Empathy: How Satan Corrupts Through Compassion.”
The article is in the form of a letter from one demon to another (a la C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters).
“Rightly used, empathy is a power tool in the hands of the weak and suffering. By it, we can so weaponize victims that they (and those who hide behind them) are indulged at every turn, without regard for whether such indulgence is wise or prudent or good for them.”
Rigney labors to distinguish between empathy and compassion. But it is a distinction without a difference.
He still aligns with Douglas Wilson’s rigid, extremist theology of dominionism and white Christian nationalism.
With authoritarianism, hierarchy, and the Dark Triad shaping their worldview, it’s no wonder many conservative Christians now brand empathy as ‘toxic’ and weak.
The Cruelty Is the Point
The complete embrace of malevolence in today’s Republican Party and the Trump regime can make many of us wonder if our perceptions are accurate.
Can people really delight in cruelty? Are the ICE abductions, vindictive lawsuits, and wanton displays of violence actually enticing to some?
The science says, “Yes.”
The research confirms it—Trump supporters aren’t ashamed of his cruelty. They’re drawn to it.
No surprises here. I saw this signature cruelty during the first Trump administration. It’s just difficult to understand how people who call themselves Christians embrace such cruel, un-Christ-like behavior.
By God’s grace, I am meeting people who strive to live as taught in the Beatitudes and the Micah mandate.
As almost homebound elders, my husband and I use what we have, a quiet home. We offer it up to God and, to our surprise, vulnerable people are coming.
Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.
In the last few days we have been amazed at the people from various cultures who have dropped by just to hear us say, “ You are welcome here.”