I must admit that when I first heard the term Trump Derangement Syndrome, I figured that it referred to crazy, sycophantic Trump supporters. I suppose I should have known that it was another lame Republican attempt to “own the libs,” by making the ridiculous claim that people who could not stand Donald Trump were somehow deranged, and delusional in their opposition to him.
As it turns out, I was correct in the first place, as die-hard supporters of Trump, especially since he lost the 2020 election, have made clear. It is easy to find short videos of Trump supporters making various unhinged claims. These claims include asserting that Trump is still the president, and to the contrary (while apparently unaware of the contradiction) that Biden stole the election in 2020, repeating Trump’s consistent whacko claims. Other crazy talk from Trump supporters tends to focus on Q-Anon type stuff like the idea that “everything will soon be revealed” about the grand conspiracy to rob the most victimy victim in the history of the world, Donald Trump, of power, and ruin our great nation by, well, they don’t really know yet, but it involves Democrats, communism, pedophiles, girly-boy and girl Democratic Party politicians, sellouts (ironically) to other nations, the “deep state,” and other nasty stuff that “The Pillow Guy” is about to reveal.
As David Pakman pointed out in one such video, when he airs such interviews, he always gets questions from citizens of other nations asking what in the world has happened to the United States. The truth is, political craziness is not confined to the United States or to this era, but more importantly, these whack-jobs who identify with Donald Trump as their “savior” somehow, who isn’t afraid to “speak his (demented) mind,” do not represent the typical citizen of the United States. However, they do represent far, far too many of our fellow country persons, and that is a huge problem. In fact, Trump has the inside lane to the 2024 Republican Party nomination, despite his already vast and still increasing legal troubles, due to his cultish political following among the Republican base.
The craziness of this genuine Trump Derangement Syndrome has crept into the realm of Republican politicians, and when that happens, it is indeed dangerous, not just idle talk. Several Republican politicians that we often hear about in the news making increasingly crazy and downright dangerous statements in defense of Trump. Recently, representatives Andy Biggs and Clay Higgins, and failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, all suggested violence against their opponents and in support of Donald Trump (Trump Supporters’ Violent Rhetoric
in His Defense Disturbs Experts – The New York Times (nytimes.com).
In addition, Kari Lake made the ludicrous claim that 300 million Americans are Donald Trump supporters. As Pakman pointed out, there are not even 300 million people who are old enough to vote in the United States. And these people call others who think that Trump is bad for U.S. politics, sufferers of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Well, I guess it’s just another case of Republican projection. Clearly, they are the people who are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, only they are deranged in their support of Trump rather than their opposition.
My hope and expectation is that as Trump’s troubles mount, his base will gradually diminish (as it has been since the 2016 election, but slowly due to fanatical nature of his support). I am certain that history will tell another cautionary political tale regarding the political career of Donald Trump, and will find fault with his supporters, his fellow Republicans and the system which made all of this possible. We need to educate the public on these matters, go after Trump and his enablers and accomplices with all we’ve got, and put this entire sordid episode of U.S. history in the rearview mirror as soon as possible.