Donald Trump, invalid
Donald Trump has long had psychological failings, which escalated during the course of the campaign and have become painfully clear since he’s taken office. Experts have debated whether it’s malignant narcissism or sociopathy, but whatever it is, it’s undeniable. However, what we’re now increasingly seeing from Trump is something else entirely: he’s rather swiftly descending into invalid status.
Trump gave a speech about the Hurricane Harvey disaster on Tuesday while standing atop a firetruck, yet he seemed to have no idea what the situation was. It was one thing for him to be narcissistic enough to get excited that a sizable crowd had turned out to hear him talk about the deadly flooding. It was another for him to blurt it out, with seemingly no awareness of how much that kind of admission could hurt him. The problem for Trump is that he went off script – and at this point his handlers seem compelled to try to script everything for him. Otherwise we end up with moments like this one and, as we’ve seen, far worse.
By Wednesday, Trump was giving a speech about a tax cut plan which he had no clue doesn’t exist. He demanded that Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill vote for it, even though, again, it doesn’t exist. In this instance the Republican Senate appeared to have given him talking points to push, and so he pushed them, with no awareness that he’s being played for a fool. Whether the GOP leadership is desperately trying to win over McCaskill’s vote on the tax bill, or whether it’s simply trying to tag something on her for when she’s up for reelection in the 2018 midterms, Trump had no clue why he was even saying what he was saying. These are merely the most recent examples.
Donald Trump gave a speech to a group of Boy Scouts and ad libbed a story about his friend’s lascivious life on a yacht, with seemingly no awareness that he was speaking to children. He gets confused and wanders away from bill signings, motorcades, and press conferences as his handlers chase after him. He no longer even seems to have a grasp on the underhanded political strategies that he used during the campaign. At this point his handlers just prop him up and pray he sticks to the script – because when he goes off it and tries speaking in his own words, it’s clear that he’s rapidly becoming little more than a very disturbed invalid.
