How Trump Became Immune to Scandal

Public discourse has significantly deteriorated due to social media-driven information siloing, a decline in careful reading, and the rise of unserious, contrarian-focused media. This cultural fragmentation, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has eroded trust in institutions and expertise. Sam Harris, a prominent intellectual and podcast host, identifies this "great unraveling" as the catalyst for the ascendancy of figures like Donald Trump, who exploit a base prioritizing tribal loyalty over objective reality. The current political landscape suffers from a dangerous asymmetry where the weaponization of justice—or "lawfare"—is increasingly used to signal tribal allegiance rather than uphold legal standards. Constant media noise allows political figures to survive scandals that would have previously ended careers, fundamentally challenging the stability of democratic norms and the possibility of good-faith debate.