Donald Trump displayed dangerousness on March 25th in Waco, Texas, at his first rally. A new cult of followers waved signs of “witch hunt,” “I stand with Trump,” and “Trump 2024.” However, the old Donald Trump was on the stage. He repeated a stream of lies, misrepresentation of facts, racist rants, and even a song. The song praised the January 6th rioters who were in prison.
According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, “dangerousness” is the state in which individuals become likely to do harm to themselves or to others representing a threat to their own or other people’s safety.
Donald Trump’s dangerousness becomes visible when we acknowledge that Trump and Trumpism are an assault on reality. Trump has created a community of zealous believers, which you can witness anytime you view a video of one of his rallies.
Robert Jay Lifton, an American psychiatrist, and the author describe Trump’s extreme grandiosity as the perfect remedy for those who attended his rallies and voted for him. But, unfortunately, Trump’s dangerousness also appears when his falsehoods morph into government policy, as it did when he sent troops to the border or Portland and other cities around the country.
Trump’s Dangerous Narrative
Trump lacks any form of ideology, but according to Lifton, he does have a narrative.
His narrative is dangerous. Lifton describes Trump’s narrative as an assault on reality. Trump has created a community of zealous believers, which you can witness anytime you view a video of one of his rallies. He appointed people who opposed those agencies’ actual work to his cabinet positions. Robert Jay Lifton describes Trump’s extreme grandiosity as the perfect remedy for those who attended his rallies and voted for him. His dangerousness also appears when his falsehoods morph into government policy, as it did when he sent troops to the border or Portland and other cities around the country.
The gravity of Donald Trump as president of the United States couldn’t be any more apparent than what happened on January 6, 2021. On that day, he incited mobs of white supremacists to storm the Capitol and try an insurrection and takeover of the United States government. Trump led a failed coup. Trump’s Big Lie drove this mob of individuals. Their actions stand for what has become of the Republican Party.
Trump lacks any form of ideology, but according to Lifton, he does have a narrative. His narrative appeared when he announced his run for the presidency and then was repeated at every one of his hundreds of rallies during the 2016 and 2020 elections. His narrative is dangerous and solipsistic. Lifton describes Trump’s narrative as:
America has been great in the past but has been in the wrong hands and allowed to become weak and misused by foreign forces, especially allies, who cheat and take advantage of us. He, Trump, and only he, has both the strength and negotiating skills to “make America great again.
MAGA Anthem
Litany of Lies
Daniel Dale was interviewed on CNN to discuss Trump’s false assertions at the Waco rally on March 25. He discusses the following assertions:
- The 2020 presidential election was rigged.
- Trade deficit with China
- Tariffs on Chinese Goods
- The Wall
- Latin American deportations
- Military equipment left to the Taliban
- Cost of embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
Trump’s Manufacture of Falsehoods
To finish this post, I would like to reference the writing of Robert Jay Lifton for a second time. Donald Trump is a remarkable liar and manufacturer of falsehoods.
Throughout his presidency and up until now Trump has created his own reality by living in a world of his own falsehoods. Lifton says this about Trump’s falsehoods:
In that sense Trump has an extraordinary psychological capacity for sustained solipsism. Have we ever encountered a public figure who has so consistently reversed truth and falsehood and done so on so such a vast scale? David Leonhardt, the journalist who has done most to track Trump’s lies, describes him (with co-writers) as “virtually indifferent to reality, often saying what helps him make the case he’s trying to make,” and as “trying to make truth irrelevant.” It is difficult to overestimate the dangers that stem from such extreme assaults on reality by a man who holds the most powerful office in the world.
Robert Jay Lifton, The Assault on Reality. Dissent Magazine. April 10, 2018.
Trump Indicted
The dangerousness that Trump displays will now play out in New York. His indictment by a Manhattan grand jury on more than two dozen charges has finally happened. Although not the most severe charges facing Trump, this case will rally his troops and possibly lead to violence. Marjorie Taylor Green plans to demonstrate in front of the Manhattan courthouse where Trump will be charged. Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan demand that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg come to Washington and answer they’re critical questions. Brag said, “Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy: hands off NYC and quit meddling in ongoing investigations. That goes for you, too, MTG.
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