What is it about Hillary that drives Trump nuts?
Partly it’s because she’s a woman. Trump has never gotten along with women as equals. Sure, he likes to have sex with them (provided they’re Barbie dolls), but he doesn’t see them as fully human, and certainly not on a par with the rich, powerful male clique he likes to play golf with.
But partly, too, it’s because Hillary has the nerve to be smart. She stands up to Trump’s insults and lies, which is something Trump can’t tolerate. He’s bullied others all his life and gotten away with it. If he can’t threaten or cajole, he sues. But Hillary is a strong woman whom Trump can’t intimidate. He hates that.
Then, too, Hillary got three million more votes in 2016 than Trump did, a fact that eats away at him like wormwood. He’s lied about the popular vote often, and his mentally incompetent followers actually believe he got more votes than she did. But lies can’t erase the truth.
| Donald J. Trump | Republican | 62,980,160 |
| Hillary R. Clinton | Democratic | 65,845,063 |
But I think his fear and hatred of Hillary also is based on deeper, more troubling psychological factors, of which we are only dimly aware. If you think about a serial killer (who is almost always male), he tends to have grown up with massive, unresolved resentment against certain groups: women, foreigners, people of color, gay men, or in some cases his co-workers. He can’t explain why these people make him so angry, but he’s not interested in self-understanding, he’s interested only in acting out his visions of revenge and retribution. These are deeply sick individuals: Ted Bundy, Dennis Rader “The BTK Murderer,” Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy. Trump has much in common with them. His wealth, of course, has insulated him from having to act out the desperate crimes of passion that poorer white men often resort to. But there’s no underlying difference between Trump and these maniacs. All share common psychological traits: emotionally barren except for rage; an inability to feel guilt or remorse; an obsession with power; master manipulators; low self-esteem with a corresponding need to grandiosity; an inability to tell right from wrong.
I suspect that if Trump had been born into an average-to-poor family, he would have indulged his penchant for hostile behavior in more overt ways—perhaps by murdering prostitutes, of whom he is inordinately fond. We have to ask why a sane, adult male would be so obsessed with strippers, escorts, sex workers (not that there’s anything wrong with those lines of work). That these are Trump’s favorite sexual partners—the women with whom he cheats on whomever his current wife is–is clear. It’s also clear that having sex with them requires no real communication, no recognition on his part of their essential humanity. They are human blowup dolls for his pleasure and nothing else. As Trump has used and discarded every professional relationship he’s ever had, so too he uses women for momentary excitement, and then gets rid of them in the most convenient and efficient way when he grows bored with them.
Something, then, about Hillary Clinton pushes the deepest, darkest buttons in Trump’s dark soul. Were he to undergo intensive psychotherapy or psychoanalysis, he might after many years begin to understand why he reacts to her as he does. But part of the nature of Trump’s particular form of psychopathy is that he cannot admit to himself that he has a problem. Therefore, he tells himself he doesn’t need any help in resolving it. We’ve seen this part of him over and over: the refusal to accept advice even from well-meaning supporters, the inability to understand that he’s his own worst enemy, the inability to see himself the way others see him. And then, the projection upon others of all that is most twisted within himself.
I feel no sorrow for Trump. It’s hard to feel empathy for someone so destructive of others. I feel no sorrow, either, for his family. Surely, his children see his mental problems. Surely they’ve suffered as a result. It’s not easy for the child of a sociopath to accept that the parent is severely damaged; they have too much invested in preserving the status quo, especially when a few billion dollars are involved. But these children—Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka—are the very ones who profit from their father’s callous behavior. They are rich, powerful, famous—members of the lucky sperm club who would be voids without their father. To criticize him would be equivalent to throwing all that away. This, they cannot do. And so, they are complicit in Trump’s crimes.
Nor can I find a shred of sorrow for Melania. Objectively, I appreciate the fact that she suffers. Trump has embarrassed her from Day One of their marriage. Ten years ago, she was shamed only in the relatively confined pages of The New York Post. Now, she’s shamed before the entire world. She should leave him, now. If she had any self-respect, any sense of self-worth, she’d serve him divorce papers, move permanently to Trump Tower and fight for her share of the money.
But poor Melania—a refugee-immigrant herself—does not have self-respect, perhaps due to growing up in the slavo-machismo culture of the Balkans. She is subservient: to meekly accept her lot in life (a bullying, adulterous husband), in exchange for the pieces of silver that pay for her lavish lifestyle. Melania made her own bed; now she must sleep in it. Sad, but true.
I hate to say it, but I think your analysis of Trump is totally accurate. The reason I hate to say it is because we’re talking about the leader of our country, who has so much power.
I think it’s difficult even for professional diagnosticians to state exactly what’s wrong with Trump’s mind. But we laymen can agree there’s something seriously and dangerously amiss there. I’m constantly struck by the admission of even some of Trump’s most loyal henchmen (Franklin Graham, for example) that they realize he’s amoral and mentally deranged, but they’ll continue to support him as long as he pushes their radical rightwing agenda. I, personally, can’t imagine putting politics before morality in my elected leaders, but there you have it: a republican party that has thrown values and religious morality overboard, in the name of sheer power.
I believe you people are between full blown haters of both the standing President and suffer with Derangement Syndrome.
I’m referring to the writer of this article! And you wonder WHY we need the sometimes annoying Tweets, rally’s and speeches?? Because we cannot get the straight forward facts from you people! You insist on putting your personal “opinions and thoughts” in which, are relevant to absolutely NOTHING burgers.
So, Steve Heinoff, why would We The People want to purchase a book you wrote that despises our values to your own, “Opinion” as if it is facts?? You’re NOT stating facts but opinions! Try the facts and this 5 letter cuss word. The TRUTH. I rest my case. Unlike you on your hateful lorals
I love publishing comments like this one, from unstable, ignorant “christians” who are trump supporters. This writer, Voigt, is so stupid and anti-American. He, she or it (who knows?) admits to putting out annoying tweets, rallies (which he, she or it can’t even spell correctly) and speeches. Look, stop annoying America! We’re tired of you and your fuehrer, trump. We’re going to overthrow him, and then when he’s out of office, we’re going to sue his ass on everything he’s done, bankrupt him and put his fat white ass in jail! As for you, Voigt, we’ll catch up with you, too. Later, dude…By the way, BLUE WAVE 2020!!!!!