Today’s article in Politico exposed that a ” herd immunity” narrative existed within the administration’s circle of health officials. Science advisor Paul Anderson was appointed by Trump and shared the president’s anti-prevention approach to the COVID pandemic. Based on the results of Trump’s anti-science stance on COVID, over 307,000 are dead, thousands of families are grieving the loss of friends and family and the virus spread is at record levels. Sociopaths are indifferent to the sufferings of others and a sociopathic president can make decisions that leads to needless cost of life.
Since he lost re-election, Trump has been defiant, delusional, and vindictive. He has refused to acknowledge he lost re-election. He has not co-operated with the transition of power protocol and is defying all norms of presidential decorum. His delusional statements that he ” won big” in the swing states and therefore won re-election are symptomatic of the kind of grandiose thinking common in malignant narcissism. To defend against the shame of losing he must believe it didn’t happen. Presidents should be strong-minded enough to deal with reality. It is hard to determine whether Trump’s delusional statements are organically generated or if they are conscious manipulative lies.
Whatever the origin of his concerning reactions to losing the election, he is corrupting the integrity of elected officials and damaging the ability for his followers to think rationally and objectively about his assault on democracy.Perhaps the most disturbing behavior exhibited by Trump is his vindictiveness. In his book, “The Narcissist You Know”, Joseph Burgo names the Vindictiveness Narcissist as a type. This person experiences tremendous shame and fears his ahame will be revealed to others. Burgo explains this type is ” thin-skinned and vulnerable to anything that looks like an attack. When he feels attacked, he reacts with no- holds barred.” Trump supporters find his vengeance macho and funny, but what actually it is deviant behavior.
Trump is showing his uncontrollable impulses to attack anyone who acknowledges the validity of Biden’s victory. The loss of the presidency is creating a psychological crisis he is incapable of navigating. His default behavior is to deny he lost re-election and to seek vengeance on those who will not join his undemocratic assault on the results. This type of narcissist seeks revenge to inflict suffering on his victims. Attorney General William Barr is his latest target. Barr was pushed to resign as punishment for declaring there was no election fraud. After all the personal bidding he did for Trump, to the detriment of our democratic values, the disloyal, vengeful narcissist discarded Barr like a useless piece of garbage.
He has also attacked Republican governors and election officials that he once endorsed because they refused to overturn the legal votes of millions of Americans. Senator Mitch McConnell has finally publicly acknowledged Joe Biden as the President-elect and was predictably disparaged by Trump. The ultimate pathological act by Trump during his revenge spree is the insistence on an investigation of Hunter Biden. The passion Trump has for vengeance against Joe Biden for defeating him is on full display for the world to see. Had our Vice President been a patriot with a spine, the 25th amendment would have been enacted.
The fact that over 70,000 million voters are not put off by Trump’s embarrassingly crude, immature, corrupt persona is a sociological mystery. Foreign countries seem to understand he is unworthy of the honor of being the President of the United States. Americans are known worldwide for being celebrity addicts so that might explain how Trump has survived despite his despicable personality and ineptitude at governance. January 20th, morality, democracy, and competence returns to power. Bipartisanship and civility will go a long way to stabilize our injured country.
