Anne Applebaum has a piece on Mr. Lindell at the Atlantic, which happens to tie in with my reading of Vedantam's Useful Illusions.
Vedantam analyzes the possible usefulness of illusions using evolutionary arguments. Because you can find illusions throughout human history, there must be a evolutionary reason humans are prone to such illusions. He argues it's useful to form social links, whether in religion or nationalism, whether in fraternities or tribal conflicts, etc.
So why "Trump as Hero"? Possibly part of the illusion surrounding the Trump phenomena is heroism. Trump is, or presents himself, as the embattled warrior, fighting against all odds, against the media, the Democrats, the bad people in the world such as immigrants or China, sometimes victorious, sometimes just surviving to fight another day, surrounded by dragons but always stalwart, wielding his magic sword of bluster and venom. And his supporters, what of them? They're critical to his battle, whether through their cheers or donations, a part of the grand effort. By identifying with his fight and following his efforts they participate in a narrative of our time, one which rises above the humdrum.
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