As we approach the 2024 Presidential Election, we are facing something that began as a ‘freak show’ in 2016. Donald Trump truly began playing with the possibilities of running for President of the United States. At the time, he began to dabble with the possibilities of such a move, Bandy Lee and a Yale group of mental health professionals wrote an article that gave birth to a book entitled The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. This text focused on Trump not being emotionally stable enough to reside in the Oval Office.
What did these mental health professionals mean by ‘not being emotionally stable enough’ to reside in the Oval Office? They considered him, his behavior,
to be that of a sociopath. A sociopath is someone who lacks any sense of regard for other peoples’ needs and feelings. The way they view life is predicated on ‘me, myself and I.’ They have no social sense of what’s in the best interest of others. They only care about being in the center of attention to satisfy their needs for being important. In truth, someone like a Trump does not feel important and is deeply insecure.
In addition, they viewed him as being a ‘pathological liar.’ He will say whatever comes out of his mouth, whether- or- not it is truthful or untruthful. In fact, he has been known to utter a statement saying one thing, only to say something the opposite in his next breath. His performance in the first Presidential Debate of the 2024 Presidential season was replete with over 30 misstatements of the truth.
Added to this he has no sense of appropriateness in what he says about other people. When Carly Florina ran against him as one of candidates for the office of President, he said, ‘who would vote for a face like that?’ In his run for the Presidency against Barak Obama, he dropped the idea that Obama had not been born in the United State, and was in fact, not eligible to run for the Presidency. In fact, Obama was born in Honolulu Hawaii on August 4, 1961and was eligible to run for the Presidency. This was referred to as Trump’s ‘birther’ lie.
Trump has no sense of ethical right or wrong in his dealings with others. In fact, he has been convicted of 34 fraud charges in his business dealings with the State of New York. While he is the perspective 2024 GOP candidate for the Presidency, he is also a felon who may be sentenced to incarceration. In any case, he will have a parole officer through whom he must get the Courts permission to leave New York State or to conduct responsibilities that would be a part of his duties as President, should he be elected.
He has also been convicted of sexually attacking, raping, a woman he stated he, in fact, had never met. In his reactions involving her charges against him, he was charged with numerous defamations of character assertions and was ordered to pay a half a billion dollars in damages.
He says things that are intended to shock others. It is his way of gaining others undivided attention. In this run for the 2024 Presidency, he talks about ‘if I don’t win, there will be a blood bath’ or, that if he doesn’t win, there will not be another election in the United States. He believes in using violencein his retaliating against others who have not been supportive of him or with his ideas. He treats loyalty as a primary requirement in his interactions with others. Everyone who will be a member of his administration, should he win the Presidency, will have to agree that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
He is awaiting court date in his role in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. The attack on the Capitol was his attempt to change the election results of the 2020 Presidential Election that he claims was stolen from him. This claim was adjudicated by 60 court rulings, and it was determined that that the election had not been stolen. This was his attempt to interrupt the peaceful transition of power from his administration to that of the Biden Administration.
He also has decided attitudes about nonwhite members of society. He is considered as a racist in his attitudes and words regarding African Americans and other minority groups in the United States. He believes that immigrants are poising the blood of Americans. He also is a misogynist, viewing women as ‘eye candy’ and treating them as objects and not as human beings with feelings and needs.
In addition, this candidate for President in 2024 has no sense of the historical understanding about American’s role on the world stage. For instance, he is totally against the United States leadership within our NATO Alliance.
Trump has a fascination with dictators and wants to behave as a dictator on day one of his election. He wants to weaponize the presidency by making the office one with absolute control of all aspects of government.
Added to his emotional instability, he is intellectually limited. He has no interest in reading about or keeping up with issues that are swirling around. His ignorance was never on more display than in his lack of leadership in addressing the COVID pandemic. He suggested that people inject bleach into their bodies to get rid of the virus. He also had difficulty with understanding that you take the vaccine to give your body the immunity to defend against coming down with the virus. His thought was that you didn’t need to take the vaccine if you didn’t have the COVID virus already in your system.
His thinking process is often incoherent. He will often misuse words in expressing himself. In addition to his being emotionally a seven-year-old, he is intellectually ill equipped to deal with the issues, the creation of policies and following a path that leads to America’s stability in this twenty-first century.
He is often delusional about his place and role in everyday involvement with others. He believes that he and Jesus and Nelson Mandela are alike and have similar roles in society. Like Jesus and Mandela, Trump sees himself as a messiah for all those who have been mistreated by others and is ‘the only one who can fix the ills of those who feel that they have been mistreated by the government and the media.
In sum, PLEASE VOTE to preserve our American ideal that all people are equal before the law and have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of freedom. That the role of government is to meet the needs of all its people. We may still be imperfect as a society but we are in the process of becoming our true essence.
A vote for Trump is a vote for destroying our very American gift of being a part of a living democracy.
Thank you for your time and attention to the reading of this essay.
