Donald Trump presents the United States with what Dr. Robert Jay Lifton calls “malignant normality.”¹ This occurs when society begins to see forms of destructive and dangerous behavior as normal. Donald Trump and Trumpism render an array of malignant normality. Lifton is an American psychiatrist and author known for his studies of psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence. He has been one of the most outspoken critics of Donald Trump.

Science educator Charles “Kip” Ault, professor emeritus of science education at Lewis & Clark College, has suggested that Trump’s malignant normality includes megalomania, willful ignorance, dishonesty, and fraud.² Add Ault’s thinking to what Lifton says about Trump’s malignant normality and a condition of extreme abnormality emerges that replaces American democracy. The circumstance of Trump’s malignant normality includes extensive lying, falsification, systemic corruption, attacks on critics, disregard of intelligence agencies and findings, repudiation of climate change truths, embrace of dictators, and berating of international allies.³

Bearing Witness

Lifton’s writing influenced the purpose of my writing—bearing witness—and indeed supplied the support and rationale to write often on my blog about Trump and his actions. In short, Lifton believes it is important that witnessing professionals decide to document what they see and observe and make their observations available to others.

Jack Hassard, The Trump Files. Marietta: Northington-Hearn Publishing, 2022, p.7

For years now, many Americans have accepted Trump’s malignant normality. It doesn’t matter what Trump does, his cult of followers do not care, and even double-down supporting him even more.

The Fifth

Last week Trump took the Fifth Amendment more than 440 times refusing to answer New York attorney general’s questions. The New York AG is investigating the Trump Organization’s business practices. Yet, in front of a national audience, while debating Hilary Clinton, in 2016, he made the claim that anyone taking the fifth must be guilty.

Trump compels his followers to believe that every action against him is a witch hunt, starting with the Mueller investigation into Trump’s collaboration with Russia, to both of his impeachments, and the January 6th investigation of his instigation of the attack on the Congress.

On August 9, 2022, the FBI carried out a raid on the resort at Mar-a-Lago where Trump lives part of the year. Trump stole documents from the White House when he left office on January 20, 2021. Fifteen boxes were returned to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) last year, only after some key documents were missing. These included correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as the “sharpie-gate map that Trump had altered of Hurricane Dorian. However, The FBI found out that Trump was still hiding documents, some of them classified. Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, said “The Justice Department is saying, as I read this, ‘We’re fed up. We don’t trust you to be responsive. You’re playing games with us, and we’re going in and we’re taking what you haven’t returned, that you promised to return,’ “⁴

Past is Prologue

We should fear Donald Trump’s malignant normality. During the past week, Trump’s approval rating amongst Republicans rose. A large percentage of these folks want Trump to run for President in 2024. Trump is a tyrant, yet millions of Americans tune into right wing media and devour his every word. A tyrant has emerged in our midst. Consider this about what happened in Germany nearly 100 years ago.

Elizabeth Mika, writing in Dr. Bandy Lee’s book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, suggests that in the 1930s, many German moderates “underestimated” Hitler and as a result didn’t take him seriously. I believe we are doing the same with Trump. Consider this quote from Mika’s chapter:

Hitler was seen by many as a bombastic but harmless buffoon, while many others, including members of clergy, intellectual elites, and the wealthy were nevertheless mesmerized by his grand visions of Germany’s future glory, and eagerly supported his agenda.

Donald Trump controls the narrative at time, as least amongst republicans. While the earth’s climate is changing making many parts of world uninhabitable, America focuses on an ex-president who may be charged with swiping state secrets. While parts of Eastern Kentucky have been devastated with massive rainfall and flooding, Trump calls the New York AG a racist and a fool, and claims the FBI and Justice department are ganging up on him by raiding the Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump is dangerous, and his actions last week show that the political violence we witnessed on January 6, 2021 is still with us.

References

¹ R. J. Lifton, The Climate Swerve: Reflections on Mind, Hope, and Survival (New York: The New Press, 2017). Lifton’s concept of “malignant normality” emerged from of his study of Nazi doctors who over time and through perverse counseling, drinking together, and assurances and support of each other were adapted to evil.

² Kip Ault, personal email, August 6, 2021. Dr. Ault is the author of Challenging Science Standards, 2015, and Beyond Science Standards, 2021, Rowan & Littlefield Publishers.

³ R. J. Lifton, Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and the Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry (New York: The New Press, 2019), 189.

⁴ B. Sullivan, The Mystery at Mar-a-Lago. NPR. August 9, 2022.