November 9, 2020

Kenneth Copeland, a televangelist whose net worth is variously estimated at between $300-$750 million, might look and sound like a deranged lunatic to most of us, but he understands two things very well: indoctrination and the cult of personality that allows him and others like him to separate his followers from their money. Copeland has such an acute understanding that it's allowed him to become enormously wealthy and live a lavish lifestyle far beyond any other televangelist around.

So it's not surprising that he understands the cult-like appeal of Donald Trump, and is far more savvy about it, than any of the political or media pundits around. So what does he do when Trump apparently loses an election? Does he try to make a reasoned argument that will get his flock thinking? No, he just laughs like a maniac because that's what he wants to impart on those listening to him so that they too start laughing like crazed hyenas. That indelible association will strike them immediately from then on. It's brutal and effective.

Source: Slate

Evangelical leader and huge Donald Trump supporter Kenneth Copeland had a hearty laugh over Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. But the word laugh doesn’t quite capture what he does during a prayer service. “The media said what?” Copeland said before bursting out laughing in the video posted by Right Wing Watch. “The media said Joe Biden’s president!” And that’s where he starts laughing maniacally with such forced HAHAs that at first it almost seems funny until he goes on for such an uncomfortable amount of time and those watching him begin laughing for real.

Although the clip might be amusing, and that’s likely at least part of the reason why it spread like wildfire on social media, some were quick to caution that the obviously fake laugh is a strategy to get a reaction from those listening. “This is professional brainwashing for your viewing pleasure. It works,” writer Laird Barron tweeted.

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