We're watching how this happens in real time. Created an atmosphere of distrust. Point to yourself and select others as the 'truth bearers'. Diminish the power of the masses to make decisions (oppressive voting measures, redistricting, and nurturing distrust in the voting process). Fox News has for a long time been the delivery mechanism of choice for disinformation. It's all right there in plain sight, 20 something years of it.
In the past we would look at third world countries with dictatorships and scratch our heads, wondering "how do they let themselves get trapped under that regime?" Now you know.