The Roots of Trump Derangement Syndrome Lie in Trump’s Own Pathology
President Trump tried to downplay the backlash to his roundly criticized meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week by tweeting, “Some people HATE the fact that I got along well with President Putin of Russia. They would rather go to war than see this. It’s called Trump Derangement Syndrome! (Here and Now)
This is a VERY important concept and issue that directly affects all of us, particularly those of us who are more politically active. I know I struggle with it myself, so I assume I am not alone. I agree in large part with what Andrew Bacevich asserts in his recent Op-Ed in the Boston Globe, but it is imperative that we have a clear etymology of the “syndrome” and how it operates.
First and foremost, as formulated by Charles Krauthammer (R.I.P.), “What distinguishes Trump Derangement Syndrome is not just general hysteria about the subject, but additionally the inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences on the one hand and signs of psychic pathology on the other [emphasis mine].” Now, while it is the critics or opponents of Trump who suffer from this “syndrome”, be clear on from where it stems, namely the “psychic pathology” of Trump himself.
It’s the tweets, of course. Trump sees them as a direct, “unfiltered” conduit to the public. What he doesn’t quite understand is that for him — indeed, for anyone — they are a direct conduit from the unfiltered id. They erase whatever membrane normally exists between one’s internal disturbances and their external manifestations. (Krauthammer)
This so-called Trump Derangement Syndrome is thus a predictable, if not intended, response to a form of abuse — much like we see in the victims of gaslighting. In a sense, we can see this as the inverse of Stockholm Syndrome, where captives develop an emotional dependence on their captors. With TDS, the endless stream of inane, irrational, inflammatory, infuriating comments coming from the mouth or Twitter of Trump acts as an accelerant to already raging reactions. The perverse irony is — again, much like with victims of gaslighting — it is now the critics who are dubbed “unhinged” or “haters” or “snowflakes”, etc. It produces and reproduces a deep, sadistic form of schadenfreude in Trump’s supporters, which further reinforces and exacerbates the divisions between the two groups.
In short, if “we” who oppose Trump on nearly every level suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, it must be fully acknowledged and understood as a natural response to the psychological “disease” of Trump’s narcissism and fragility. It is Trump who is the problem, not primarily the reactions his stupidity and ego induce in others. There is a clear cause and effect relationship, and it is an abusive relationship with but one perpetrator, the current President of the United States.
[Added 9/21/2019]
I am heartened to see, albeit over a year later, some vindication of my analysis.
