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Trump supporters often say they voted for him not despite his fairy tales, but because of them. The charlatan, wrote de Francesco, is "like a doctor who brings relief from suffering and pain"

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Why people want to be fooled

When people are in trouble, when they feel ill, lose their job or doubt everything, what is it they want most? To escape, probably. To get away from reality. To dream of extraordinary, even impossible things.

During the war in Yugoslavia, in the 1990s, two professions were in high demand: soldiers and fortune-tellers.

Theatre directors, politicians, shopkeepers and the so-called 'weekend chetniks' (part-time partisans) often disagreed on the merit of the soldiers, but

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Caroline de Gruyter is a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. This article has been adapted from one of her columns in NRC.

Trump supporters often say they voted for him not despite his fairy tales, but because of them. The charlatan, wrote de Francesco, is "like a doctor who brings relief from suffering and pain"

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Author Bio

Caroline de Gruyter is a Europe correspondent and columnist for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. This article has been adapted from one of her columns in NRC.

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