I am not sure why, but I just love the adage “That dog won’t hunt.” Of uncertain origin, but often said to originate in the southern United States, “That dog won’t hunt” literally means that an ill-suited or poorly trained dog will never catch its prey. By extension, the saying refers to something that is never going to work or be successful, The saying “This dog won’t hunt” is often considered an axiom, that is, a self-evident truth that requires no proof.

Today, I would like to introduce to you to a different kind of dog, a dog who can be counted on to hunt successfully on command. He unfailingly gets the job done to his master’s satisfaction. His name is “Hoax.” Hoax has four siblings: “Witch-Hunt,” “Fake News,” and “What-About and the newborn “Woke.” They all take after their brother. Hoax — as reflexively used and dismissive of other points of view as a shrug. “Hoax” has become a metaphor relied upon to support whatever Donald Trump presents as his incontrovertible defense against all manner of alleged wrongdoing. “Hoax” is the reflexive response, founded on the genuine deep-seated conviction of Trump’s loyal and dependable following, to criticisms of Donald Trump, no matter what he says or does, and no matter what the facts are. Trump’s words and actions require neither explanation nor evidence and they will not abide contradictory rebuttals.

From what people who support Donald Trump tell us, many of Hoax’s’ cornered prey are what they consider to be fabricated charges: articles of impeachment, like abuse of power, obstruction of justice, inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol; indictments for violations of Federal statutory law, like willful retention of national defense information; ongoing investigations, like Jack Smith’s about attempting to overturn a presidential election; and pending civil cases like the ongoing lawsuit filed by the State of New York for fraud. From what I can make from what Trump supporters say, the other kind of game Hoax hunts are, without the slightest regret, real people.

For example, Trump has dismissed allegations of sexual misconduct made against him as a hoax. So have his admirers. These allegations have been made by not 1, not 5, not 15, not 20, but by 25 different women. To rap your head around the size and magnitude of that number: count from 1 to 25. Then imagine, Donald Trump having to explain these allegations from 25 different women involving 25 separate alleged confrontations in 25 different places spanning 3 decades to, not 1, not 2, but to 3 wives.

The political affiliations of the 25 women have not been publicly disclosed. So we don’t know who among them were members of the Democratic Party, to which Trump once belonged; the Republican Party, which Trump now leads; the Reform Party whose presidential candidate Trump was briefly in 2000; or of that category of voters who call themselves Independents whose support he desperately needs in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump and his backers consider these charges of sexual abuse and assault lodged against Trump to be “total fabrications” or “fake news.” They effectively have this to say about these women: “The accusers are 25 in number and whatever differences there are among them. all of them have one thing in common. They are all, every single one of them, liars. That’s our story and we’re sticking with it.” And why shouldn’t they? After all, the women charging sexual abuse have been and continue to be hunted down, for the most part successfully.

I will spare you the names and the tortured stories of the 25 women and their immediate families and the specific ways these women say Donald Trump sexually violated their persons. Trump has already given us some clues about that in the infamous Hollywood Access tape. The words on that tape are remarkably similar to the allegations of some of his accusers. His followers apparently feel the exact words he used on the tape are acceptable when he brags about them. But when others simply attempt to quote him word for word, those same words all of a sudden become obscenely offensive to the point of being routinely censored or redacted throughout all forms of media, except social media,.

Trump’s supporters will tell you, they are not in the least bit hesitant to accept whatever he says on its face as the unvarnished truth against anyone who accuses him of doing anything wrong. Far from taking offense at having such self-admitted unconditional loyalty, they very publicly display their steadfastness by the way they dress as a badge of pride and honor.

Take this most recent declaration of Biblical self-sacrifice from a man his critics say is possessed of legendary self-centeredness: “They’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you — and I’m just standing in their way,” Yes, allegations against Trump are all hoaxes…but they are more than that. They are not attacks solely on him. They are to be taken instead as attacks on the members of his base. And indeed that’s the way his fans take them.

Therefore, it’s a waste of breath to say to them: “Don’t take it personally.” It IS personal, very personal. From what I can tell, it is this personal self-identification with Donald Trump that is at the very heart of belonging to the MAGA Movement. Even when he is gone, the Movement may well survive, because for his followers, the grievances for which he stands were theirs long before Trump made them his.

Many of Trump’s loyal followers have seriously asked themselves these questions: What is so unprecedented about Donald Trump? Is it the frequency and consequences of his misdeeds or his being held accountable for them? Is he an unparalleled innocent martyr constantly victimized by false allegations of immorality and potential criminality by hateful people who can’t stand him? Or is he just what his critics say he is, an unrivaled, successful confidence man and serial miscreant? Has he done a ton of really bad things or has has he been constantly falsely accused of a ton of bad things he never did? Has he been guilty of continual malfeasance or has he been fraudulently blamed for all the allegations made against him over a fifty year period.? Should commentators feel ashamed to report the disgraceful things he does or should Trump feel ashamed for acting so outrageously so often?

My take is, that in their answers to these questions, based on the information they regularly consume from the news sources they trust, Trump’s supporters come down immediately, completely and unabashedly on Donald J. Trump’s side. For Trump’s disciples, all charges against Trump are automatically false or inconsequential. From what I can tell, “To believe or not to believe,” is not a question they regularly entertain. At least not since they accepted Donald Trump as their savior and since the divisive Grievances of the Rally supplanted the unifying Beatitudes of the Mount.

Cerberus, the notoriously long-lived canine guardian of the Underworld in Greek mythology may have died many centuries ago. Hoax, the dog in the reality myth called “Trump-World,” however, is still very much alive, and his hunting days are far from over.

“Tally-ho, Hoax!”

Tim Mannello is a retired healthcare executive and management consultant residing in Williamsport.