“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
-Maya Angelou
It is past time to publicly recognize that the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is mentally unfit to govern and must be removed from office. Instead of identifying him as a malignant narcissist or sociopath let’s begin by speaking truth to ourselves.
The Truth: President Trump is an egotistical, malicious, lunatic who is unstable and dangerous.
Increasingly, mental health professionals are disregarding the so-called ‘Goldwater Rule’ which came about as a lawsuit by presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. In 1964 he sued, and won, a lawsuit against the magazine Fact who asked psychiatrists and psychologists to diagnose him without meeting with him. Since then it has been used as, essentially, a gag order to not analyze the mental state of public figures. However the Declaration of Geneva, originally written in response to Nazism, mandates that a physician will “Solemnly pledge to dedicate my life to the service of humanity…share my medical knowledge for the…advancement of healthcare…[and] will practice my profession with conscience and dignity.” This pledge requires not only doctors, but everyday citizens, to speak up for humanitarian reasons now. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2658261
Dr. Robert J. Lifton, a former Yale professor of psychiatry, came up with an important concept in relation to describing Trump and his followers. He terms it “malignant normality”. He defines it as “arrangements put forward as being normal when in fact they are dangerous and destructive.” In other words Trump is an abuser.
Lifton goes on to say “it’s not unlikely that he [Trump] could seek to create some kind of crisis, if he found himself in a very bad light in relation to public opinion and close to removal from office.” This is something we need to be very mindful of as November 3rd, election day, approaches.
https://billmoyers.com/story/dangerous-case-donald-trump-robert-jay-lifton-bill-moyers-duty-warn/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/decoding-trauma/201807/interview-psychiatrist-robert-jay-lifton
Co-opted members of the Coronavirus Task Force, Republican allies, violent MAGA followers, and some of the media have bought into this “malignant normality”. Instead of identifying and warning the public about what we are seeing on the national stage they are enabling this destructive, lying behavior by treating him as if he were extreme, but ‘normal’.
We must, collectively, speak out against our abuser. He is abnormal and he is hurting us.
My assessment about Mr. Trump is based solely upon hours of watching press conferences, campaign rallies, published articles, TV clips, tweets, and his White House Corona Virus Task Force Briefings. What follows are the indicators of his mental instability with, in many cases, verbatim/video proof. Don’t take my word for his lunacy; view them yourself in the embedded links and the list of references at the end of this article to do your own fact-checking.
Donald Trump: Indicators of Egotistical, Malicious Lunacy
1. He feels no guilt, remorse, or regret for hurting others, doesn’t consider the safety of others.
President Trump In response to a reporter’s question about why he would allow Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify before a committee of the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate but not the Democratic-majority House of Representatives: “Because the House is a setup. The House is a bunch of Trump-haters. They put every Trump hater on the committee, the same old stuff. They, frankly, want our situation to be unsuccessful, which means death, which means death, and our situation is going to be very successful…Democrats want us to fail so they can win an election, which they’re not going to win.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/trump-accuses-democrats-of-wanting-his-coronavirus-response-to-fail-offers-no-evidence-idUSKBN22H211
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/05/coronavirus-trump-blocked-anthony-fauci-house-testimony-because-of-haters.html
“I see the disinfectant that knocks it [coronavirus] out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.” April 23rd , 2020
Reporter: “Maryland and other states, Gov. Larry Hogan specifically said, they’ve seen a spike in people using disinfectant after your comments last week. I know you said they were sarcastic, but do you take any responsibility if someone were to die?”
President: “No, I don’t. No, I can’t imagine – I can’t imagine that.” April 27th, 2020
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/04/27/face-death-and-disease-whos-sorry- now-not-donald-trump-yet
https://www.nationalmemo.com/trump-i-dont-take-responsibility-for-people-drinking-bleach
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s, like, incredible.” [Before a crowd at Dordt University, a private Christian liberal arts university in Sioux Center Iowa in 2016] https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/23/464129029/donald-trump-i-could-shoot-somebody-and-i-wouldnt-lose-any-voters
2. He lies repeatedly despite evidence to the contrary:
As of Jan 19, 2020, his 1,095th day in office, Trump has made 16,242 false or misleading claims. www.washingtonpost.com/…
A recent lie was delivered on April 30, 2020:
Trump: “The last administration left us nothing. We started off with bad, broken tests, and obsolete tests.”
Jim Acosta of CNN: “You say ‘broken tests’ – it’s a new virus, so how could the tests be broken?”
Trump: “We had broken tests. We had tests that were obsolete. We had tests that didn’t take care of people.” https://www.vox.com/2020/4/30/21243117/trump-blames-obama-coronavirus-broken-tests-jim-acosta
Here are just some of the other things he has lied about for years:
“The military shelves were also empty. We had no ammunition, literally.”
“A lot of people cheat with mail-in voting”
“I didn’t say a date [when the corona virus was going away]…I said it’s going away and it is going away.” (note this was on April 2nd, 2020)
“Nobody could ever have assumed that something like this happened.”; “So not since 100 years ago--more than 100 years ago has this [pandemic]—a thing like this happened.”
“[the U.S. has] more coronavirus tests than any other country in the world, both in terms of the raw numbers and also on a per-capita basis.”
“I cut off China early [Feb. 2nd , 2020 behind Italy and Australia)”
“I cut off Europe early. [March 11, 2020]”
“The sources [news] don’t exist. They’re fake person, ok?”
“I think we’ve done phenomenally [treating Covid-19].”
“[the U.S. has the] strongest economy in the world” “best economy in the history of the world, bigger than China”; “Four weeks ago, we had the greatest economy in the history of the world. [No, the US had a better economy in 1950-1951, 1962-1966, 1997, 1998, 1999]
“The defense Production Act (DPA) has been consistently used by my team”.
The list goes on, see:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/20/president-trump-made-16241-false-or-misleading-claims-his-first-three-years/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/?utm_term=.b04b1667f114&tid=lk_inline_manual_2&tid=lk_inline_manual_3&tid=lk_inline_manual_4&tid=lk_inline_manual_2&itid=lk_inline_manual_2
3. He shows aggressive or aggravated behavior, attacks others, monopolizes conversations, calls names and belittles or looks down on people.
“Progressive Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don't they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-progressive-congresswomen-should-go-back-where-they-came-n1029676
Jim Acosta of CNN: “What do you say to Americans who believe that you got this (the threat of the coronavirus) wrong?”
Trump: “It’s why people just don’t want to listen to CNN any more,… Instead of asking a nasty, snarky question like that, you should ask a real question.”
Trump: “Why don’t you (Ms. Alcindor) act in a little more positive? It’s always trying to ‘get you, get you, get you’. And you know what? That’s why nobody trusts the media any more. That’s why people –”
Yamiche Alcindor, PBS NewsHour : “My question to you is: How is that going to impact –”
Trump: “Excuse me. You didn’t hear me. That’s why you used to work for the Times and now you work for somebody else. Look, let me tell you something: be nice. Don’t be threatening.
Peter Alexander of NBC News (March 20): “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?”
Trump“I say that you’re a terrible reporter. That’s what I say.”
Yamniche Alcindor: “Mr. President you said several times that the United States has ramped up testing but the United States is still not testing per capita as many residents—as many res—as many people as other countries like South Korea. Why is that and when do you think that the number will be on par with other countries”
Trump “…you should be saying congratulations instead of asking a really snarky question because I know exactly what you mean by that. You should be saying congratulations to the men and women who have done this job who have inherited a broken testing system…”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/01/us-coronavirus-outbreak-donald-trump-media-latest
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/03/30/trump_vs_pbss_yamiche_alcindor_you_should_be_saying_congratulations_instead_of_snarky_comments.html
Trump “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!” Anonymous, A Warning 2019, Hachette Book Group/Grand Central Publishing p.78
4. He has an exaggerated sense of self-importance
Former President George W. Bush: “We are not partisan combatants…We’re human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God. We rise or fall together…remember how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat.”
Trump tweet “ Oh by the way, I appreciate the message from former President
Bush, but where was he during Impeachment calling for putting partisanship
aside. He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in
American history!”
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/03/politics/george-w-bush-coronavirus-partisanship- trump/index.html
“When somebody’s the President of the United States, the authority is total, and that’s the way it’s got to be…The authority of the President of the United States having to do with the subject we’re talking about [lifting state-imposed restrictions] is total...They [local governments] can’t do anything without the approval of the President of the United States.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/14/politics/fact-check-trump-president-total-authority-coronavirus-states/index.html
“My IQ is one of the highest—and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault.”
“My twitter has become so powerful that I can actually make my enemies tell the truth.”
“I’m just thinking to myself right now, we should just cancel the election and just give it to Trump, right?”
“This isn’t my trade war [with China], this is a trade war that should have taken place a long time ago, Somebody had to do it.” He added, while looking to the heavens: “I am the Chosen One. Somebody had to do it, so I’m taking on China. I’m taking on China on trade, and you know what? We’re winning.”
The list goes on.
https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/people/donald-trump-quotes-57213
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/21/i-am-the-chosen-one-trump-proclaims-as-he-defends-china-trade-war.html
5. He has no respect for social norms:
‘You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.”
“I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
“You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything….Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
The list goes on. https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/people/donald-trump-quotes-57213
Other proofs that Trump is unfit and dangerous to lead are there for all to see and hear. In addition to the five cited above, other observable indicators of his instability include:
-He refuses to take responsibility for his words/actions.
-He repeatedly shows poor judgment and decision-making.
-He has mood swings.
-He claims to be an expert on issues he knows little about. Anonymous, A Warning 2019, Hachette Book Group, page 63.
-He praises authoritarian rulers (Vladimir Putin of Russia, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Xi Jinping of China, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey) https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/politics/donald-trump-dictators-kim-jong-un-vladimir-putin/index.html
-He uses Trumpspeak and swears to abuse others (“Fake news”, “Bad journalist”, literally swearing at ‘enemies’ and saying “Goddamn” twice at a rally in NC 7-17-19.)
-He requires excessive and constant admiration and applause.
-He fires those on his team who disagree with him (86% turnover of his ‘A’ Team as of May 1, 2020 https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/)
-He requires followers to be blindly loyal and aggressively defend his false reality.
-He expects to be praised even if he doesn’t deserve it.
-He is easily, and visibly, angered.
This list could go on.
Collectively, all residents of the United States have a compelling First Amendment right and duty to warn about a threat to our democracy and our country. Donald Trump is doing the equivalent of shouting “Fire” in a movie theater every time he lies to the public. Donald Trump is, by any definition, a clear and present danger to our country.
Remember that Adolf Hitler was democratically elected Chancellor in 1933 and wrote in Mein Kampf (1925):
“…in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.
It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. (my emphasis)
— Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol. I, ch. X http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200601.txt
Donald Trump has lied over 16,000 times publicly and the count continues to rise. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/20/president-trump-made-16241-false-or-misleading-claims-his-first-three-years/
We must all recognize that he regularly, and deliberately, lies and demands that others buy into his personal fantasy world. We must loudly and publicly speak truth to power. Impeachment, the invoking of the 25th Amendment “that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”, and the vote are the only ways to remove him. The first two are unlikely so we must vote him out of office. https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xxv
He will not go quietly and will do whatever he can to stay in power so expect more lies, unlawful actions, and smear campaigns in the coming months.
Citizens must stand up, vote, and be counted. The media must push harder on his inability to govern and ask much tougher questions than they have. All politicians have to publicly challenge his lies and abuse because he is hurting all Americans whether they are Democrats, Republicans, or Independents. Congress, the Vice President, and the Cabinet must consider invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office because he is mentally unfit to serve.
He will, like all egotistical, malicious lunatics, throw anyone and everyone under the bus to feed his greed for attention and power. Anyone in the Republican party who doubts this need only look at his statements about John McCain, Mitt Romney, the Lincoln Project, George W. Bush and, surprisingly, Fox News.
This is not Germany in 1933, but we are perilously close to repeating history if we don’t remove him from office. As Maya Angelou says:
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
References
- American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- Revised (DSM-5). Washington DC
- Angelou, Maya (2011-10-26). "When people show you who they are, believe them" Oprah's Lifeclass. Season 1.Episode 13. Oprah Winfrey Network.
- Anonymous, A Warning 2019, Hachette Book Group/Grand Central Publishing
- Freeman, Rhonda Ph.D How to Tell You’re Dealing with a Malignant Narcissist, Psychology Today, Posted Feb. 22, 2017 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neurosagacity/201702/how-tell-youre- dealing-malignant-narcissist
- Fromm, Erich (1964). The Heart of Man: Its Genius for Good and Evil. Brooklyn, New York City: Lantern Books. ISBN 978-1590561867
- Golner-Vukov, Mila & Laurie Jo Moore, Malignant Narcissism: From Fairy Tales to Harsh Reality http://www.psychiatria-danubina.com/UserDocsImages/pdf/dnb_vol22_no3/dnb_vol22_no3_392.pdf
- Lee, Bandy X. M.D. The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President, 2019 St. Martin’s Publishing Group
- Masciotra, David April 18, 2020, Trump is insane: And it’s time for leading Democrats to say that out loud https://www.salon.com/2020/04/18/trump-is-insane-and-its-time-for-leading-democrats-to-say-that-out-loud/
- Panetta, Grace Nov. 8, 2019 Trump staffers worry about the president’s mental capacities, according to the anonymous administration official’s upcoming book https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-staffers-worry-about-the-presidents-mental-capacities-book-2019-11?r=US&IR=T
- Porter, Tom Dec. 5, 2019 350 health professionals sign letter to Congress claiming Trump’s mental health is deteriorating dangerously amid impeachment proceedings https://www.businessinsider.com/psychiatrists-submit-warning-trumps-mental-health-deteriorating-2019-12
- Sheehy, Gail April 23, 2017 This is Not Normal: At Yale, Psychiatrists Cite Their ‘Duty to Warn’ about an Unfit President https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/04/yale-psychiatrists-cite-duty-to-warn-about-unfit-president.html