Trump-Enabling Republican Congress: The Science of Morality and Why It Doesn’t Work Like We Think

What Robert Sapolsky, neuroscience, and social psychology reveal about how Trump’s GOP hijacks the wiring of morality...and why the fight for democracy won’t be won by “calling out hypocrisy.”

Trump-Enabling Republican Congress: The Science of Morality and Why It Doesn’t Work Like We Think

What Robert Sapolsky, neuroscience, and social psychology reveal about how Trump’s GOP hijacks the wiring of morality…and why the fight for democracy won’t be won by “calling out hypocrisy.”

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #550: Monday, September 15th, 2025.

For more than two decades I’ve kept a relentless habit: a book a week, every week, year after year.

Thousands of hours…hundreds of titles…and more dog-eared pages than I can count. (If you’re thinking there’s no way I can live a balanced life…you’re right. I’ve been obsessed with my area of expertise for a long time.)

Most books move fast…I devour them. But Robert Sapolsky’s Behave was different.

It slowed me down.

Not only because of its sheer length…but because I kept stopping to think…scribble notes…and wrestle with its ideas. Much…though not all…of what I write here traces back to Behave, because it’s one of those rare works that rewires how you see the world.

Why Everything You Think About Morality Is Wrong

Let me lay it on the line: morality isn’t what you think it is.

It isn’t a stable compass in people’s heads…pointing true north toward good and evil. It isn’t about fairness…justice…or truth.

And it sure as hell isn’t about hypocrisy…because if morality worked the way you think…Trump wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in politics…let alone commanded a cult strong enough to bully a Republican Congress into submission.

Instead…morality is slippery. It’s messy. It’s a Rube Goldberg machine of neurons… hormones…culture…fear…and history…all colliding in a way that makes people believe…deep down…that their side is right…no matter how outrageous the behavior.

If you understand that…you’ll stop tearing your hair out over “double standards” and “Why don’t they see the contradiction?!” If you don’t understand it…you’ll keep losing ground to a political movement that has weaponized moral psychology like a scalpel.

And that’s where Robert Sapolsky’s masterpiece Behave comes in. Let’s dig into the science of morality…and why the Republican Congress enabling Trump is not a fluke. It’s the logical conclusion of how human morality really works.

The Hollywood Myth of Morality

We’ve been sold a Hollywood version of morality.

In the storybook…morality is a light switch. You flip it on…and people suddenly know right from wrong. You see a hypocrite caught red-handed…the crowd gasps…and the villain slinks off the stage.

But the science laughs at this fairy tale.

Sapolsky shows us morality is not one thing. It’s a battlefield of competing brain regions:

• The amygdala reacting with fear or disgust.

• The prefrontal cortex stepping in to rationalize (not prevent) the behavior.

• Hormones like oxytocin…which can make us kinder to our in-group while sharpening our knives for outsiders.

In other words:

Morality isn’t consistent. It’s tribal. It’s situational. It’s biological machinery fine-tuned by culture…history…and hormones.

This is why Republicans in Congress can watch Trump shred norms…torch allies… wink at authoritarian tactics…and still claim moral high ground. Their brains aren’t “failing to notice the contradiction.”

Their brains are working exactly as designed: protecting the tribe at all costs.

Morality as Tribe Survival

Sapolsky hammers home that our morality evolved for group survival… not universal fairness.

Think about it: in a hunter-gatherer band…loyalty to your group mattered more than abstract consistency. If your tribe leader cheated…lied…or killed…but kept your people fed and safe…you didn’t exile him for hypocrisy. You followed him. Because survival trumped principle.

That wiring hasn’t gone away.

It’s been dressed up in modern clothes…flags…parties…“family values”…but it’s the same ancient circuitry.

Republican Congressmen enabling Trump aren’t suffering from a lack of integrity. They’re performing the deepest integrity of all…loyalty to the tribe. In their wiring… betraying Trump is a bigger sin than betraying truth.

Why Hypocrisy Doesn’t Land

Let’s tackle the one thing that drives Democrats insane: hypocrisy.

• A Senator thunders about “law and order” then covers for Trump’s lawlessness.

• They scream about “family values” while looking the other way at Trump’s moral rot.

• They rail against deficits…then blow open the treasury when it suits their power.

And Democrats think:

“Gotcha!” They expect exposure to hypocrisy to break the spell.

But Sapolsky’s science says otherwise: hypocrisy doesn’t break the spell…it strengthens it.

Why? Because calling out hypocrisy activates tribal defense. You’re not pointing out contradiction…you’re attacking the leader. And when the leader is attacked…loyalty becomes sacred.

In-group morality doesn’t say “be consistent.” It says, “protect the tribe.”

That’s why every “gotcha” headline bounces off Trump and his enablers like bullets off armor.

The Hormonal Kick

Here’s where it gets wilder. Morality isn’t just neural…it’s hormonal.

Testosterone:

Not “the aggression hormone,” but the status hormone. It fuels behavior that protects hierarchy. That means defending Trump’s dominance at all costs.

Oxytocin:

Known as the “love hormone.” But Sapolsky shows it’s parochial love. It bonds you to your group but can make you more hostile to outsiders. Every “MAGA rally high” is oxytocin in action.

Cortisol:

Chronic stress locks people into fear-based moral judgments. A constant drumbeat of “crime, chaos, invasion” isn’t just rhetoric…it’s biochemical engineering.

Now put this together:

Trump and his enablers saturate the ecosystem with fear…stress…and tribal loyalty. Congressmen don’t just rationalize his behavior…they feel morally righteous defending it. That’s not hypocrisy. That’s neurochemistry.

Culture + Biology = Weaponized Morality

Sapolsky doesn’t stop at the brain. He zooms out: morality is also cultural software running on biological hardware.

Religion:

Shapes in-group vs. out-group judgments.

History:

Legacies of racism and authoritarianism set the cultural frame.

Media ecosystems:

Fox…OAN…social media feeds…constant reinforcement loops of “us vs. them.”

In Sapolsky’s terms…morality is “situated.” It’s not a universal compass…it’s culture weaponizing biology.

So when Trump deploys the National Guard…or when Republican Congress blocks accountability…their supporters don’t see authoritarianism.

They see protection. They see the tribe defended. And morality says: that’s good.

Why Democrats Keep Misfiring

Here’s the part that stings: Democrats keep fighting the wrong battle.

They think morality is about principles…rules…and rational consistency. They think exposing hypocrisy will move people.

They think citing the Constitution…precedent… or norms will shame Congress into compliance.

Wrong.

The science says people don’t act on abstract principle…they act on tribal loyalty and emotional cues.

What the Science Demands We Do

So, what do we do with this? If morality isn’t what we think, how do you fight an authoritarian takeover fueled by warped moral instincts?

Stop expecting hypocrisy to break them:

It won’t.

Start framing loyalty differently.

Reframe betrayal of democracy as betrayal of tribe survival.

Trigger the right moral instincts.

Appeal to fairness…protection of family…dignity…not abstract legality.

Build collective efficacy.

As Sapolsky and Sampson’s sociological work both show…communities fight back better when they see themselves as strong…cohesive…and righteous.

Hammer emotion first, reason second.

Lead with the gut…reinforce with facts.

Why This Isn’t Just About Trump

Don’t make the mistake of thinking this all dies when Trump does.

The Republican Congress enabling him isn’t just about one man. It’s about an entire political strategy that figured out how to hijack the machinery of human morality.

No, there’s no one right now who could step in a replace Trump…and have the same impact on the movement that he has had.

However, collectively…the organization he has created will still be there. How long? Part of that is up to us.

If you don’t understand the science…you’ll keep fighting shadows. If you do…you can fight back where it matters: at the level of emotion, tribe, and loyalty.

The Stakes

Sapolsky’s Behave is clear:

Humans are capable of stunning cruelty and stunning compassion. Which side we land on isn’t dictated by abstract morality…it’s dictated by context…framing…and leadership.

Right now…Trump and his Republican Congress are engineering the context for cruelty. They’ve built an empire on moral instincts that don’t work the way you think.

If you want to win…you’d better stop waiting for hypocrisy to sink them.

Start speaking in the language of loyalty…fairness…and tribe survival. Because until you do…they’ll keep using the science of morality to dismantle democracy…while you’re left scratching your head…asking, “How can they not see the contradiction?”

Tonight’s Paid Subscriber Article: The Advanced Playbook

Here’s what I will share later today with paid subscribers:

• The exact Sapolsky passages on oxytocin and in-group morality you can use to dismantle the “love hormone” myth.

• How Jonathan Haidt’s moral foundations theory aligns with Sapolsky…and how Republicans exploit “loyalty, authority, sanctity” instincts to dominate the moral narrative.

• The three-word frames (tested in political psychology) that make tribal loyalty work for democracy instead of against it.

• Why “rule of law” language fails and what to replace it with to trigger moral urgency.

Because free readers deserve the wake-up call. Paid subscribers-those who literally make this newsletter possible- deserve the ammunition to actually fight back.

One thing I can promise you, even with this FREE article, if you truly think on…and absorb what you have read…maybe even reading it again…it will give you a clear advantage over others when it comes to understanding what seems so elusive to those who don’t know what you do…now.

Back soon.

-Jack