NARCISSISM ON DISPLAY

Campaign reveals Trump’s hypocrisy

By STEVEN A COHEN

News Analysis

President Trump’s blatant hypocrisy must be a result of his narcissistic personality disorder. I can’t think of any other explanation for his criticism of former Vice President Joe Biden for allegedly using his position to enrich his family.

Trump and his children have turned the presidency into a private enterprise, which has netted them many millions of dollars, according to published reports. He also accuses Biden of wanting to stack the Supreme Court by adding justices to dilute the power of the three right wingers that he nominated. He and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, have pushed more than 200 judges through the Senate approval process in an effort to remake the federal judiciary into a bastion of right wingers who owe their lifetime sinecure to them. And after refusing to consider an election-year Supreme Court nomination by former President Barack Obama, McConnell is pushing through Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the court just days before the election. That will be his third nomination to the court which, incidentally, has no code of ethics. It’s doubtful any of them will recuse themselves if the vote is close enough to allow the court to interfere in the election.

Trump and his extremist supporters have undercut government programs intended to protect the American people and the environment – Trump out of spite and greed; Vice President Mike Pence and the right wing out of greed, and because they are “true believers.” The president, of course, means “me first “ when he says “America first.” True believers argue with platitudes (like “all politicians lie”), which makes it impossible to engage them in a meaningful discussion about issues.

America already is an oligarchy, with so few people accumulating most of the wealth. Trump and his supporters are speeding the county’s slide into feudalism. Many Americans believe the right wing’s Machiavellian rhetoric, which boils down to this: Tell the masses what they want to hear in order to win their support. Then do as you please, because when you screw people — and they realize you were lying — they are screwed individually, and as individuals, they can’t hurt you. These are the principles that Trump acts on intuitively.

According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of a narcissistic personality disorder include:

. An excessive need for admiration.

• Disregard for the feelings of others.
• An inability to handle any criticism.
• A sense of entitlement.

It’s a rare condition, but people with this psychological disorder, “expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it.” They exaggerate their achievement and talents and are “preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate.”

They also, “ monopolize conversations and belittle people they perceive as inferior.” They demand compliance with their expectations and have “an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others.”

Donald Trump displays all these characteristics.

No doubt most Republican U.S. senators who may be riding his coattails to oblivion in the Nov. 3 general election would have preferred someone other than Trump to have won the presidency in 2016. Current Trump syncophants, including Sens. McConnell, R- Ky., and Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, had said as much before the election four long years ago. The president’s hatred of anyone who opposes him is palpable. It takes incredible self-confidence, like the late Sen. John McCain, R-Az., displayed in refusing to vote for repeal of Obamacare, to withstand pressure from a president. McConnell and Graham face stiff challenges this year, in part because they didn’t have the backbone to stand up to Trump after he took the office through the Electoral College, though he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million.

Trump’s bizarre behavior began immediately, with inflated claims about the size of the crowd at his inauguration and even inaccurate reports about the weather that day. The new First Lady read a speech that was plagiarized from one that had been delivered by her predecessor.

Republicans in Congress became stewards of Trump’s Machievellian agenda, not from conviction, but out of fear of being ridiculed in one of the president’s sophomoric tweets, and thereby losing the support of his “base” among the voting public, as well as lobbyists and other monied interests. And now, following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a liberal icon, again will approve a replacement picked by Trump’s ultra-right-wing handlers.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic remains out of control in America, where the president , incredibly, has prevented medical experts from effectively fighting it. “It will go away, we’re rounding the corner,” Trump claimed as the number of daily Covid-19 cases rose to 80,000 in late October, surpassing the highest levels in the previous peak, which was in July. More than 225,000 people in the United States had died, nearly a quarter of the deaths worldwide.

Trump, who was impeached by the House in December, is threatening to not relinquish power if he loses the election. His hope lies mainly with the Supreme Court, which will have a 6–3 conservative majority with Senate approval of Judge Barrett, which is virtually certain. The Democrats are counting on a record voter turnout to win the election — and take power. Even the Supreme Court isn’t likely to reverse a landslide victory.