Why America Roots for the Bad Guy...and How Trump Rode That Instinct to Power

The Cultural Addiction That Turns Criminals Into Heroes...and Politicians Into Kings

Why America Roots for the Bad Guy…and How Trump Rode That Instinct to Power

The Cultural Addiction That Turns Criminals Into Heroes…and Politicians Into Kings

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #534: Wednesday, September 10th, 2025

Why do Americans keep rooting for the crook…the con…the outlaw…the guy who lies… cheats…steals…and breaks every rule in the book?

More importantly… why does the support for that guy often get stronger the more outrageous…shameless…and destructive he becomes?

If you don’t understand this…you will never understand Donald Trump.

And if you think this is just about politics…you’re wrong. This is about something baked into the American psyche itself. Something Hollywood’s been cashing in on for decades. Something Trump…and people like him…ride like a surfboard straight to power.

“Rooting for the Bad Guys”

Think about the movies and shows you love…or at least the ones that made an impact:

In Macon County Line (1974)

You’ve got sheriff’s deputies chasing down poor boys who aren’t angels themselves. Yet the tension…the underdog setup…makes you root for the outlaws…not the badge.

In Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Burt Reynolds makes a career out of outrunning “the law”…and we all cheer for him as he thumbs his nose at authority.

In Goodfellas (1990)

Scorsese gave us Ray Liotta…De Niro…and Joe Pesci playing gangsters who commit brutal…unforgivable crimes… and yet audiences loved them…quoted them…idolized them.

Add in The Godfather. Scarface. Breaking Bad. The Sopranos. Hell…even Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The American film tradition is littered with anti-heroes who do terrible things…yet the worse they are…the more magnetism they project.

Now, stop pretending this is “just entertainment.” Hollywood’s job is to tap into something inside us and amplify it on screen. The fact that generation after generation of Americans root for the outlaw means the wiring is already there.

Trump didn’t create it. He exploited it.

Outlaw Psychology 101

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

People don’t cheer for the outlaw because he’s good. They cheer because:

He gets away with what they can’t.

Breaking rules…insulting enemies…living without consequence…it’s intoxicating to watch someone else do what you wish you could.

He makes the system look foolish.

Every time Trump dodges a scandal or mocks “the establishment,” it’s the outlaw humiliating “the sheriff.” For millions…that’s cathartic.

He doesn’t apologize.

Most of us live under the crushing weight of guilt…shame…rules…and expectations. The outlaw shrugs all that off.

When Trump lies…cheats…or abuses power…and doubles down instead of backing down…it’s the same appeal as Pesci shooting Spider in Goodfellas. Horrific… but in the twisted wiring of audience psychology…weirdly thrilling.

Why the Worse He Gets…the More Support He Gains

This is the part polite analysts never get.

They think: “Surely Trump’s base will abandon him once he crosses this line.”

Wrong. They don’t leave. They cheer louder.

Why?

Because each escalation is another plot twist.

When Walter White goes from cooking meth in secret to murdering people in Breaking Bad…do audiences abandon him? No. They lean in closer. They’re hypnotized.

When Tony Soprano strangles someone in broad daylight…do viewers turn off HBO in disgust? No. They binge the next episode.

Trump fans are caught in the same narrative loop. Every new scandal…every new outrage…every new crime isn’t a disqualifier. It’s a season finale cliffhanger.

And the worse it gets…the more locked-in they feel.

The American Outlaw as Folk Hero

Don’t underestimate the cultural DNA here.

From Jesse James to Al Capone to Bonnie & Clyde…Americans have a long history of romanticizing criminals.

• Outlaws represent freedom in a system that feels rigged.

• Criminals who “beat the system” get lionized because most people feel crushed by it.

• Every outlaw story lets people imagine: “Maybe the rules are the problem…not the guy breaking them.”

Trump packaged himself as that outlaw. The guy who spits on political correctness… laughs at the rules…and “fights the swamp.”

And his base eats it up…because deep down…Americans have been conditioned by their own stories to see that outlaw as the only guy worth rooting for.

“But He’s Different…He’s Dangerous!”

You’re right. There’s a difference.

Unlike Burt Reynolds outrunning Jackie Gleason…or De Niro pulling a heist…Trump isn’t just breaking laws on screen. He’s breaking the Constitution in real time.

But psychology doesn’t distinguish. Once the audience buys the outlaw narrative… reality doesn’t matter. That’s why facts…scandals…and investigations bounce off him.

Trump supporters don’t hear “he’s a threat to democracy.” They hear:
“The sheriff’s after the Bandit again! The system’s trying to take down our guy!”

That’s why his indictments boosted his poll numbers. That’s why his scandals make him stronger…not weaker.

Because in the outlaw narrative…every attack from “the system” is proof that the outlaw is winning.

Where This Ends

In Goodfellas…Henry Hill ends up in witness protection.

In The Godfather…Michael dies alone. In Breaking Bad…Walter White finally collapses.

The outlaw story always ends in collapse.

But in real life? The collapse drags the audience…and the country…down with it.

That’s the danger here. America isn’t just watching a movie. America is the movie. And half the audience has decided they’d rather cheer for Scarface than save the system Scarface is burning down.

The Jack Hopkins Point You Need to Take Away

If you want to beat Trump…or anyone who masters the outlaw archetype…you can’t just wave facts…charts…and indictments.

You can’t just cry “he’s unfit!”

Because that’s the sheriff yelling at the Bandit. That’s the FBI warning about Henry Hill. That’s the DEA trying to bust Walter White.

The outlaw’s power is psychological…not rational.

And until you understand that Americans like rooting for the bad guy…you’ll never understand why his base sticks like glue…or why his numbers climb the worse his behavior gets.

The Challenge for Democracy

The question now is simple:

Can America snap out of its addiction to outlaw heroes before the entire system collapses?

Or will we keep cheering for the guy robbing the bank while the bank burns down around us?

Hollywood gets to yell “cut” and roll credits. We don’t.

I’ll be back soon. Excitedly so.

Together…we are strong.

-Jack

P.S. What you’ve just read isn’t just analysis…it’s insulation. The more you understand outlaw psychology…the less likely you are to get played by it.

Most Americans are still hooked on the show. That’s why I’ll keep writing pieces like this…because if you don’t recognize the script…you’ll end up cast as the sucker in the movie.

The paid subscriber version I’m dropping later today?

I call it the “$10,000 article.” That’s the least I would have charged in consulting fees when I was flying coast to coast…almost twenty years ago….to training rooms at The Pentagon, Boeing, NIH, MasterCard, The Honda Headquarters, and other names you’d recognize instantly.

You’re getting that same level of insight…sharper…more urgent…more usable…and condensed into a paid subscriber issue of JHN…for the pennies on the dollar.

And…just as important…you’ll be helping get the Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter in front of thousands more people. That…in and of itself…his one hell of a big deal.

And if you stay free, fine…you now know more about outlaw psychology than 95% of Americans. But if you want the deeper…field-tested playbook… upgrading to paid is the smartest move you can make.