The psychotic President was the immediate cause. But the psychotic President was elected by popular vote, pushing the psychosis back to that level. Perhaps on

The psychotic President was the immediate cause. But the psychotic President was elected by popular vote, pushing the psychosis back to that level. Perhaps one could say that this psychosis was introduced by people who were not themselves psychotic, but rationally pursuing their own goals spreading propaganda. That propaganda broke the ability of a large swath of the public to tell the difference between truth and fiction.