The whole thing is a con, for money and power.

The term "con game" or "con man" comes from "Confidence Trick."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidence_trick

Get your marks to believe they are smart and they will give you money. All of their money. Pat Robertson was a master at this. I used to watch his show back in the day like I would a horror movie. The way he would pray like he was passing a kidney stone was hysterical.

But it was also scary. He'd peddle these insane theories based upon the bible and bullshit and people sent him money. Lots of money. Because he projected this confidence that he was right, and by extension, if you believed him, you were right. Through the dopamine rush of constant indignation his viewers were smarter, more confident in their anger and hate - even though they were Christians. (Disclosure: I knew someone who was in the same college fraternity as Robertson. They thought he was a jerk.)

It's brilliant, actually. Requires an understanding of how humans think, what they believe, how to get them to just give you money. I could do this. You could too. It's honestly not that hard. But it ain't honest.

People are still giving the former guy money. But he's a billionaire, right? Why give money to a billionaire then complain about gasoline prices? Why give money to a preacher who says if you give them money, God will reward you with more money, that you can then send them?

But here is the trick: a confidence game works best on people that don't have confidence.