Donald Trump has been in the White House for less than three years. In that short time, the absurd became the norm, ignorance became a virtue and lying has sadly become the order of the day. His moral lapses, notoriety, vulgarity and self-deceit are beyond the pale of human disorder.
In view of that evidence, here is how his name D-O-N-A-L-D-J.-T-R-U-M-P is really spelled, letter for letter:
D = Demagogue
Being a demagogue is second nature to Trump — he will say anything, however contradictory and absurd, only to arouse his base.
He made a campaign and inauguration pledge to eradicate Islamic terrorism from the face of the earth, knowing that this will never happen.
In his inauguration speech, he stated: “Every decision… will be made to benefit American workers and American families”—a phony claim, as the tax bill shows.
He craves pomp and circumstance, claiming “That military may be flying over New York City and Washington, D.C., for parades. I mean, we’re going to be showing our military.” Demagoguery, to be sure, became Trump’s staple diet on which he feeds.
O = Obsessive
Trump’s obsessive behavior spills out like waste from a corroded pipeline. He is obsessed with his looks, especially his thinning hair, and obsessed with people he hates, calling them by derogatory names.
He refers to former VP Biden, who is likely to be his rival in 2020, “sleepy Joe.”
His obsession with image is tied up with his decades-long lust for being named Time’s Person of the Year. He lashed out at this year’s honoree, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, decrying on Twitter “So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!”
He never let go of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails and wallows in conspiracy theories, such as the one claiming Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election on Clinton’s behalf, not Russia on his own.
In a competition for the title of the most obsessed person in the world, Trump would win it easily.
N = Narcissist
When it comes to being a Narcissist, Trump trumps them all — Putin, Erdogan, Netanyahu and even Kim Jong Un.
Everything Trump does is designed to make it solely about him. When campaigning for failed Republican Senate candidate Luther Strange, he said “I’m taking a big risk because if Luther does not make it, they are going to go after me.”
Even in tragedy he pulls attention back around to himself: “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism…” On his desk, instead of having a Truman-esque plaque that reads “The Buck Stops Here,” Trump’s should read “It is me, me, me, all about me.”
A = Arrogant
To say that Trump is Arrogant understates his propensity to show off his presumed skills as a negotiator, alleged business acumen and supposed grasp of complex issues.
He constantly claims that he is smarter than everyone around him, even insulting the U.S. military by stating “There’s nobody bigger or better at the military than I am,” and “I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me.”
He feels empowered when he wakes up to “enlighten the world” with his early morning stream of twisted tweets, which only puts his arrogance and shallowness on full display.
L = Liar
If nothing else, Trump is known as a compulsive liar, and his political ascendance was built on lies. He really believes that if one repeats a lie time and again, it becomes the accepted truth, and that is good enough for his base.
The Washington Post, which tallies Trump’s lies, reports that Trump lied or made misleading statements over 15,000 times since he became president.
He lied about voter fraud, protesters paid to oppose him, Obama wiretapping his phones, how many times he was on the cover of Time — the list goes on and on. His file in Politifact says he has outright lied over 50% of the time.
At a rally in Pensacola, FL, he said “Black homeownership just hit the highest level it has ever been in the history of our country,” but it’s actually fallen almost yearly since 2004. Trump is in his element when he is living in a world of colorful lies.
D = Dumb
Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that being dumb is a virtue, especially when he pretends to know everything. He suggested that Frederick Douglass is still alive, offering “Frederick Douglass as an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice.”
He took pride in the fact that he was tutored by Chinese President Xi Jinping about Korean-Chinese relations at a dinner. That’s what a quick learner he is.
When discussing healthcare, he stated “Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated.” Of course not. Trump thought that repeating “repeal and replace” is all it takes to resolve America’s healthcare problem.
J = Juvenile
Trump talks, walks, and brags like a Juvenile. He continuously tweets memes that no self-respecting adult would dream of doing – his head photoshopped onto the character Rocky Balboa’s body, himself awarding a fake medal to the dog injured in the raid on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his team imagining him as the genocidal villain Thanos from the Avengers films, wiping out his Democratic rivals.
Offline, he left this month’s NATO conference early after a video circulated of other leaders venting about his erratic actions. So, if you walk, talk and brag like a juvenile, you are qualified to replace Trump.
T = Toxic
There has been a rise in hate crimes and antisemitism since Trump took office. Trump’s selfishness poisons the civilian and political atmosphere, infecting Congress and splitting the GOP.
The list of current and past government officials, conservative media editors and columnists and intelligence officials in opposition to Trump is incomparable to any of his predecessors.
Trump’s hatred toward anyone he views as opposed to him has long since become toxic. At his recent rally in Michigan, he viciously attacked Rep. Debbie Dingell, saying that her late husband, widely respected former Rep. John Dingell, may be “looking up” from hell, after her vote to impeach hm.
Such a toxic and hateful statement was widely condemned from both sides of the aisle. Trump wanted to “drain the swamp” in Washington, but all he has done is make the swamp larger while leaving toxic waste in his wake.
R = Racist
Trump is a racist man to the bone. Only a person who is disposed to white supremacy could draw a moral equivalence between white nationalists in the Charlottesville rallies and law- abiding counter-protestors, some of whom turned violent.
His opposition to immigration is based totally on race. He made it clear that he wants to shut the border to immigrants from Central and South America precisely because they are Hispanic, while welcoming any white Europeans to immigrate.
He claimed that one of the federal judges acting in the class action case against Trump University couldn’t do his job because “he’s a Mexican.”
And no one can deny the fact that there was a notable difference in his response to Hurricane Maria (which devastated Puerto Rico) versus his prompt and immediate generous aid to victims of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, which affected Florida and Texas.
From Trump’s perspective, white supremacy is only natural, as is the “inferiority” of minorities.
U = Unstable
Many people are concerned about Trump’s unstable behavior, and even more are deeply troubled about its implications on his mental acuity.
Time and again, Trump has demonstrated how unhinged he is. He is compulsive and reacts to matters unrelated to governance, getting into Twitter fights with people for no logical reason.
Trump is dangerously losing touch with reality. His erratic behavior, abrupt change of position about people and policy all point out a chronic mental disorder.
Thousands of psychiatrists and psychologists from around the country who have been following his conduct and utterances strongly suggest that given his erratic behavior, he has a mental illness.
Only an unstable person such as Trump would have penned the 6-page letter he sent to Nancy Pelosi on the eve of his impeachment, full of lines such as “…you know from the [Ukraine] transcript…that the paragraph in question was perfect,” “you have found NOTHING!,” in reference to the pre-impeachment hearings (which did in fact uncover a great deal of information) and referring to the last presidential election as “the great Election of 2016,” among many other unhinged statements.
M = Manipulator
As a master manipulator, Trump uses language to galvanize voters — for instance, by using the marketable slogan “Make America Great Again,” he made his politics an easy sale.
He has licensed and sold his name to give the appearance of success and stability. He used terrorist attacks in London and Egypt to push his travel ban. He condemns actions that others have done, to cover his own despicable delinquency (like his tweet in response to Al Franken’s sexual misconduct, when in fact he is the sexual predator-in-chief).
For Trump, manipulation is a sort of twisted art form, and he should probably have his picture on the cover of Time magazine with the caption “The Manipulator of the Year.”
P = Polarizing
When it comes to polarizing, you’ve got to give Trump an A+. His policies and behaviors polarize the public: Such as the wall, the travel ban, his reactions towards the press, his treatment of immigrants… Trump’s name itself is polarizing.
He sees everything in black and white, no middle ground, which has become increasingly painful for him in dealing with seriously complex issues.
Since he came to office, the political and social divisiveness in the country grew ever wider, and “Us vs. Them” became the refrain of the day.
The country has never been as divided politically as it currently is since he came to office. To keep his base, Trump plays one group against another while enjoying the tension he creates.
This article is republished from The Globalist: On a daily basis, we rethink globalization and how the world really hangs together. Thought-provoking cross-country comparisons and insights from contributors from all continents. Exploring what unites and what divides us in politics and culture. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. And sign up for our highlights email here.
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