From Dilbert to The Donald

Dilbert creator Scott Adams never expected to become a political lightning rod, said Rob Dozier in BreakerMag.com. Bored with his job in the financial analysis department of a phone company nearly 30 years ago, Adams began poking fun at workplace absurdities in his cartoon, which now runs in 2,000 newspapers across 57 countries. There isn’t much that’s divisive about cubicle-based comedy, but in 2015, Adams began expressing admiration for then-candidate Donald Trump. When he saw Trump’s early speeches, “I knew that I was recognizing a technique that would be invisible to other people,” says Adams, 61. “In my 20s I trained to become a hypnotist.” Adams, who says he’s actually to the “left of Bernie [Sanders],” used his blog to describe Trump’s gift for speaking in a “visual language.” Trump “will talk about the wall instead of just the concepts of immigration,” Adams says. “He’ll talk about specific criminals instead of talking about the concept of crime. You know, half of persuasion is making sure that you’re paying attention and you’re not paying attention to the other people.” His insights about Trump have made him a celebrity of sorts in online conservative circles—and anathema to liberals. “It probably cost me 30 to 40 percent of my income on the Dilbert side of things,” he says. But he doesn’t regret trying to explain Trump’s marketing genius. “It’s sort of become a mission.”