Making Sense of POTUS: Part IV--Traits 5 and 6

On to the next two traits! They are:
5--POTUS feels entitled to special treatment and thus also feels victimized by others' criticism of him.

6--When Mr. Trump feels victimized, he becomes angry and publicly shames the object(s) of his ire.

 

Examples of these attributes are ubiquitous. So, let's use the ongoing Trump Campaign-Russian Influence scandal to illustrate them. To frame the discussion, the elements of each attribute will be treated individually.

Entitled to Special Treatment The President requested a loyalty oath from James Comey, former Director of the FBI. The former seems to define loyalty as willingness to publically defend his antics. It is unclear whether Trump includes in this antics that are also illegal.

Criticism Narcissists, like those with other personality disorders, think in black or white terms at a significantly higher rate than the general population. As such, declining to pledge his loyalty (however gracefully it was done) would be interpreted by Trump to mean that Mr. Comey was declaring himself an adversary. 

This was tolerable until two things became clear. First, evidence was mounting that Trump himself would be implicated in the Campaign-Russia scandal. Since then, there have been several unconfirmed reports that POTUS was formally notified that he is the target of a federal investigation. Here is the Department of Justice' general explanation of what that means: 

 

 

Second, it became clear that Director Comey would likely be testifying before congress and, potentially, a grand jury. Since then, he has agreed to publically testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Richard Burr (R-NC), and the House Oversight Committee led by the retiring Jason Chafetz (R-UT).

 

Victimization The combination of being investigated by Mr. Comey's FBI, and likely being publically implicated by Comey's testimony, was not tolerable to Mr. Trump. He concluded that the disloyal Director aimed to bring him down. And at that moment, Comey became President Trump's victimizer. 

So, he fired the Director.

Anger and Shaming Equally important is the way in which Mr. Comey was terminated--disrespectfully and publically. It was done by letter, a copy of which was released to reporters by the White House as the original was in transit. Consequently, the public learned of the termination before Mr. Comey, who then found out from news reports that came out while he was addressing his staff. This outcome was calculated by POTUS, who was obviously acting out anger in the form of public shaming.

Still not a pretty picture. 

Musings on 5/31/16: The Real Donald Trump... T-shirt

An anecdote from twenty years ago.

Running into a colleague as I left the office one evening, I expressed frustration with my unsuccessful efforts to get through to a patient in the Borderline range of development (psychologically speaking). He smiled wryly, nodded knowingly, and said, remember, they all wear t-shirts that say ALWAYS THE VICTIM; NEVER RESPONSIBLE; AND REALLY ANGRY. This phrase has always stuck with me.
                                                                           ~

It also happens to describe Trump perfectly (which makes sense since narcissism is a variation of borderline personality). Think about it:

Trump is Always the Victim. The Donald's belief in his victimization can be seen in his perpetual pattern of perceiving people to have treated him unfairly. Indeed, this is his default explanation for loosing a primary or caucus, not winning an argument, and being outplayed politically. Examples abound.

Trump is Never Responsible. His primary method of responding to public approbation and confrontation by journalists, after another of his nauseating declarations, is denial. He flat-out denies saying what he said. This, even in the face of news outlets spending weeks airing video showing his denial to be untrue. Narcissists lean heavily on defensive denial. However, when the Donald is not using this primitive defense, he uses a conscious version of it, plausible deniability. See Musings on 3/4: Applied Clinton Speak for a complete explanation of this.

Trump is Really Angry. In 1,000 words...

That about sums it up. 

To be, or not to be: Part IV--The Composite

The composite Trumpster is a man or woman over the age of 45, with a high school degree or less and, to lesser extent, having some college, an associates degree or a bachelor's degree. Most supporters are Independents and some are Republicans. In terms of ideology, they describe themselves as moderates, somewhat conservative and, at times, conservative. Trumpsters tend to be first time voters, or caucus goers, and like The Donald for three reasons. They view him as a political outsider who tells it like it is, and as the candidate most likely to bring change. What supporters want changed is primarily the immigration system, followed closely by the economy and terrorism risk. Trumpsters are angry at the government.

Now we can return to the question of the nature of the dynamic-between Trump and his minions-that results in their acceptance of his perpetually pestilential presentation. The simple answer is that they are being manipulated by a charismatic candidate who connects with voters by being one-of-the-guys, and by waving the Flag.

MUSSOLINI and HITLER (r)

Putting aside the topic of the incalculable risk inherent in being governed by someone who politics with a mixture of charisma, populism and nationalism (consider Adolph Hitler, as an extreme example), this answer needs significant elaboration to be complete.

So, let's look at how Trump's narcissism and an angry electorate interact...

To be, or not to be (surprised by Trump), that is the question: Part I

I get a kick out of people being surprised by something Donald Trump says or does. Not because I reasonably expect bad behavior and base commentary, considering his long history of public childishness, bigotry, bombast, vapidity, contradiction, and absurdity. But, because Trump's efforts to amass more power are incessant and nakedly obvious. Moreover, his efforts are generally successful, making them even more conspicuous. Consider his wealth, his empire, his campaign to become the leader of the free world. Yet, some people are still surprised.

To be fair, though, others are not. And while the unsurprised are probably Trump supporters, one still wonders how they can shrug off his crass style. Certainly, as many have said, Trumpsters are angry. They also believe that Trump will aggressively pursue reaching their goals, so-as the narrative goes- they give him a pass. This explanation is true but insufficient in this way. Angry people like to tell the objects of their anger that they are wrong. Are we to believe that there is not even one finger-wagger among all of these stewing sycophants? Of course there is, and surely many more. 

So, what is it about the dynamic between Trump and his supporters that keeps this from bubbling up?