I already apologize for bringing politics onto the site but after some extensive research and news watching, I have come to the conclusion that Trump acts like a cult leader who suffers from Delusion of Grandeur.
In this blog, I hope to show you why I came to this realization and not the conclusion that he is a dictator in the making .
First, let us look at the Delusion of Grandeur claim.
When looking at the definition of this Delusion in the Encyclopedia it tells us
"People with a delusion of grandeur often have the conviction of having some great but unrecognized talent or insight. They may also believe they have made some important discovery that others don’t understand or appreciate."
Now we know Trump does this, but a lot of other people do as well, it's this next part that makes it more cemented.
"Sometimes, in popular language, this disorder may be known as “megalomania,” but is more accurately referred to as narcissistic personality disorder if it is a core component of a person’s personality and identity. In such disorders, the person has a greatly out-of-proportion sense of their own worth and value in the world. People with this issue can also sometimes have a taste for the finer, more extravagant things in life."
Now, this part makes things more interesting, as Trump has been cited to say that his resorts have helped a community with jobs for the people there(this is also a bit why I tied it to him acting like a cult leader, more about that later). This could be linked to the out-of-proportion sense of their own worth and value in the world. During the election race, he was also cited to have estimated his net worth much higher than fact checkers found out it was, even after he was told it was not how high he said it was, did he keep telling his worth was his previous stated number.(which can also be tied to cult leader behavior)
Another "talent" he has shared was about the times he had been on times Magazine and shows more Delusion of grandeur
"Time magazine—and I have been on their cover, like, 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all-time record in the history of Time magazine. Like, if Tom Brady is on the cover, it's one time, because he won the Super Bowl or something, right? I've been on it for 15 times this year. I don’t think that's a record, Mike, that can ever be broken."
This is a rather bold claim and when we fact check thist we find out that Richard Nixon featured on Time's cover 55 times. Time told Politico's Playbook Mr Trump had been on the cover 11 times.
Making it that he has this "Talent" Of being on the cover of times Magazine. (yes he did n ot state that with those words but we can read between the lines)
But it was not until this part
"Grandiose delusions may have religious content, such as the person believes he or she has received a special message from God or another deity."
that I realized the assumption I made might actually be true. as trump said on 21st of January at the CIA headquarters.
"The rain should have scared them away. But God looked down and he said, 'We’re not going to let it rain on your speech.' In fact, when I first started I said, "Oh no." First line, I got hit by a couple of drops. And I said, 'Oh, this is, this is too bad, but we’ll go right through it.' But the truth is that it stopped immediately. It was amazing. And then it became really sunny, and then I walked off and it poured right after I left."
And we all know that is not Treu either and by the way he said it, it even looked like he was saying it like it was a message from god to him that he was the right guy in the white house.
The religious content of the Delusion is why I suddenly realized that Trump showed signs of cult (the bad kind) leaders.
So googeling for warning signs i found this list
- . Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
- Now I am not shure if Trump is showing this behavior, or not. but I think he does, seeing his travel(muslim) ban tries twice, from countries where terrorists have not came from, this would make the accountability for it meaningless. (If i am wrong LEt me know please.)
- . No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
- This one has to be crystal clear, Trump has turned away protestors (roughly) and reporters who were critical of him. Even during press events he ignored or belittled critical reporters.
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- . No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
- Well, He promised to release his taxes (right?) but so far has only done it for taxes from over 2 decades ago, making that disclosure meaningless. It means we know little about his financial state right now.
- . Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
- Well we all know about the Wiretap accusations he hurled at Obama, We also know he is so fearful of the Mexicans that he wants to build a border wall to keep them from sending their worst. And let's not forget that travel ban again
- . There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
- Now I won't call it leaving, but Trump used to be close with the Clintons. When he run against Hillary she suddenly was evil incarnate.
- . Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
- Once again not really former members, but Employees have reported against Trump for sexual harassment and abuse. Business owners have similar grievances with him not footing bills and such.
- . There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
- The news has reported on it, in most media have there been accounts of what he has been accused of doing (I say accused as it has yet to go before court)
- . Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
- This is once again not really a Follower thing and yet again it might as well be. This is about the stories his children tell, they have had the feeling not being good enough, and always trying harder to impress Trump
- . The group/leader is always right.
- Well, this is a dead giveaway is it not?
- . The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.
- Did Anybody say Fake news? and the claims he has made, a lot of them, and when he was ousted as being wrong, he kept telling it was fake news and he had alternate fact (ok Conway said that but that is a part of cult mentality.)
This Is because when we look at cult members and the warning signs of people in a cult we see another list
- . Extreme obsessiveness regarding the group/leader resulting in the exclusion of almost every practical consideration.
- A lot of trump voters i see online (and on the news) show this trait, they see him as the only one who can save the USA, and believe the things that come out of his mouth even when presented with facts do they disregard it.
- Individual identity, the group, the leader and/or God as distinct and separate categories of existence become increasingly blurred. Instead, in the follower's mind these identities become substantially and increasingly fused--as that person's involvement with the group/leader continues and deepens.
- I seen a thing on women calling them self the Trumpettes, And a lot of Trump voters show this behavior as well. As a lot of people who voted trump feel they did so because the and through him they would make America great again.
Whenever the group/leader is criticized or questioned it is characterized as "persecution".
This is also seen a lot on social media, People speaking about hired protesters, and calling it a witch hunt on Trump.
- Uncharacteristically stilted and seemingly programmed conversation and mannerisms, cloning of the group/leader in personal behavior.
- Her we get to the meat and bones of the "Grab them by the pussy" thing, people defended Trump(even women) by saying it was just Locker room talk, Something they had heard from others or in the media that seems to love trump. (not all media loves him, but thats the best way i could put it) His calls for violence against protestors have been done, and could be seen as a somewhat programmed mannerism.
- Dependency upon the group/leader for problem solving, solutions, and definitions without meaningful reflective thought. A seeming inability to think independently or analyze situations without group/leader involvement.
- Well, this is clear too is it not? Makin gAmerica great starts with its people, but the people voting for trump seem to believe to a default that he is the one they need to fix the country.
- Hyperactivity centered on the group/leader agenda, which seems to supercede any personal goals or individual interests.
- This is a difficult one for me to point at, but I do see this behavior at videos of his campaign rallies, but its something you see at most candidates.
- A dramatic loss of spontaneity and sense of humor.
- This is more about the loss of humor. Every satire or Baldwin impression of Trump is suddenly seen as offencive and not funny.
- Increasing isolation from family and old friends unless they demonstrate an interest in the group/leader.
- Now this one Is seen also, I have seen "friends" Of mine on facebook show less interest in me and isolating them self from people that do not agree with Trump.
- Anything the group/leader does can be justified no matter how harsh or harmful.
- Another Dead giveaway, the mocking of a disabled person was justified, same as "Grab them by the pussy"and his racist claims about Mexican people. All of those claims no matter how harsh they were have been justified by a lot/most of his voters.
- Former followers are at best-considered negative or worse evil and under bad influences. They can not be trusted and personal contact is avoided.
- Another hard one for me to say "I see this" As he has not been president long enough to see this happening yet, so keep an open eye for this one.
Now don't go thinking I am saying every American is in this Cult, as that would be a big misconception or blatant ignorant answer. As I see a lot of people going against this bigoted and sexist "man" And It was not my intention to insult anyone.
So I hope you read this for the sake of argument. For the sake of seeing my point of view.
And I do hope to get people's reactions. I would love to talk more about this.
And If you see something in here that you had not seen ort thought about before, let me know too. (even if you think I am total eurotrash who has to shut up, but dont tell me like that though. )