1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

I want to express my support for Senator Janae Shamp's groundbreaking Senate Bill 1070 calling for research into Trump Derangement Syndrome. This is exactly the kind of public health initiative Arizona needs. The bill correctly identifies the urgent need to study intense emotional and psychological responses to Donald Trump—his voice, actions, writings, and social media presence. These reactions are awful: the inability to accept information that contradicts beliefs about Trump even when it comes from respectable sources, feelings of persecution when he gets in legal trouble, apocalyptic thinking when he is criticized, and seeing Trump as a uniquely capable savior despite all of his failures. We've seen these emotional responses turn into violence- the January 6th attack on the Capitol, threats against election workers and public officials, and the harassment of journalists and perceived enemies. Even election officials breaking the law to help Trump! It’s about time we used taxpayer funds to diagnose whatever this is that’s taken over otherwise rational minds. We've all seen the rapid adoption of conspiracy theories, from QAnon to election denial, spreading through communities like a contagion. She was brilliant to focus on media influence as a contributing factor, because everyone knows how certain outlets feed anger and upset and make TDS even worse. You know it’s bad here, too. Shooting a campaign office, armed vigilantes in tactical gear staking out ballot drop boxes, threats against election officials that got so bad they had to install security systems and change their families’ daily lives. It's insane. When people are stressed about money and just trying to get by, it makes scare-based politics a lot easier to sell. When we understand these problems, then our state government will have tools to deal with these symptoms. AIRC shows that we can choose fair rules that put voters first. This research can help preserve our democracy and begin bridging the divisions tearing our state apart. I commend Senator Shamp for recognizing the severity of this crisis.