Trump appeared to have possibly been experiencing a hypo-manic episode at his rally in Iowa. It was a disturbing moment when he was sweating and yelling, “I want to kiss all the beautiful women and the men on their lips.” Even if we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic, that would sound creepy and unsanitary. However, with him having been hospitalized only 14 days ago with COVID-19, knowing that it is deadly enough to have killed over 215,000 Americans, that statement put in question his judgment and emotional stability. He has been noking about COVID at the rallies, mocking the names given to the virus, calling it ” China virus”, and focusing on himself, his recovery, and ignoring the ongoing dying of thousands of Americans. He may be having side effects from steroid medication or simply psychologically decompensating due to stress or other mental conditions.
Distinct behavioral patterns he exhibits are worsening. His addiction to insisting the Department of Justice investigate his opponents indicates vindictiveness that stems from his narcissism and paranoia. No other president in history has been consistently paranoid about being spied on. No other former U.S. president has been so politically vindictive as to call for the arrest of former and current members of the government. It has been speculated by hundreds if not thousands of psychologists and psychiatrists that his lack of focus on complicated policy is possibly due to cognitive limitations and/ or possibly learning disabilities he may suffer. It has been suggested this may be why he prefers rallies over town halls or serious debates. He substitutes discussing detailed policies and with jokes, attacks on opponents, and lies to create false narratives to gain adoring support from his supporters. His behavior since contracting COVID is revealing just how malignant his narcissism is. Each rally this week has had one topic; how GREAT HE IS!
White House insiders have become concerned about the self-sabotaging political decisions he is making with only three weeks until the election. The Washington Post recently wrote, “It seems clear that as Election Day approaches, he’ll be caught in an insane cycle in which he thinks the way to pull victory from the jaws of defeat is to double down on everything that’s driving voters against him.” Is that stupidity, arrogance, or cognitive decline? The content of his rally speeches this week are an example of this pattern. He didn’t mention a federal plan to deal with the out of control pandemic, expressed no empathy for COVID victims and their families, talked incessantly about himself, offered little detail on policy, called Joe Biden a “bad guy” ( despite Biden is widely known as a nice man), and continued to lie about noter fraud. A definition of insanity that fits Trump’s campaign strategy is ” doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.” As his poll numbers fall, he continues to repeat the rhetoric and behaviors that many hate about him.
Although Trump is gloating about Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s imminent confirmation, the rush to get it done before the election is not improving his public image. He has made it clear his motive is to overturn Obamacare and sees Judge Barrett as a pawn and the means to that end. The insane part of this unnecessary, hypocritical maneuver is he is trying to eliminate medical insurance for millions of people during a pandemic. His obsessive jealousy of Obama is pathological. His insecurities are severe, and his only coping mechanism is to try to denigrate others and to get constant attention on Twitter, television, and at rallies. His incessant need for attention is the kind that is common for people diagnosed with narcissism. In recent public appearances, he has continued to espouse disinformation about the coronavirus, Joe Biden, and the economy. These behaviors worry about his campaign as he is damaging his credibility, restricting the expansion of support from new voters, and validating the narrative he is emotionally unstable.
Most revealing and disturbing of his recent behaviors is his passionate directive to all states to “open up” while COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are drastically on the rise. Is his irresponsible disregard for the public’s health politically motivated or proof he is a mentally disordered person who needs psychiatric treatment? I prefer elected officials whose psychological stability is unquestionable.
