I’ve dealt with more than one malignant narcissist in my lifetime. One thing I’ve noticed about all of them is that, as with malignant narcissist Donald Trump, they lie without a care that five minutes later you’re likely to discover their lie, or that even as the lie comes out of their mouths, you’ll realize they’re lying.
They’re addicted to lying, because in the moment, it’s a rush for them. For a moment, their extraordinary lie gets them that hero worship they crave. They know that as long as they hold their enablers, say, the MAGAs, under their spell by making them feel “special,” they’ll be forgiven over and over for lying as long as they continue promising the next “thrill” for their enabler. God forbid that someone should stand up to their nonsense….The challenger had better be ready to be humiliated, mocked, belittled, and ostracized.
As I watched Donald Trump lie so irresponsibly yesterday about a drug that will be “available immediately” for the coronavirus, I saw Dr. Birx’ expression change ever so subtlely behind Trump as this feckless claim came out of his mouth.
And as Stephen Hahn, the head of the FDA, diplomatically clarified that, no, it wasn’t approved for coronavirus yet, and it was only in early trials, and it may be months, and it may not even work, I thought to myself, it doesn’t even matter that Trump was caught in this dangerous lie. As they always do, as with all of the other deliberate lies he’s told, his enablers, the MAGAs, will pour fuel on the gaslight that will follow when Trump says—and he will —“I never said that.”
And when we do get to the end of this crisis, whether or not this or another drug is found effective for managing the Coronavirus, Donald Trump, despite his lies, his ineptness, and his narcissism that directly led to the chaotic crisis we’re in now, and despite the heroic actions that local and state governments were compelled to take in response to the incompetence of our leader, the MAGAs will hail Donald Trump as the hero.
Donald Trump has been completely successful at creating a cult that believes that he is the source of all Truth. Disagreement, challenge, and questioning are not tolerated.
Because Trump’s base are so programmed to believe Trump, no matter what, they believed him when he said this virus was being politicized by the Democrats (“their latest hoax”). They put their faith in him when he said that it was nothing to worry about, instead of believing the science that warned of its potential deadliness. Some of them took the lie further and propagated additional and more outlandish conspiracy theories. The most dangerous conspiracy theory, though, was that “the media” (and, of course, the “liberals”) were exaggerating it all, it wasn’t as bad as the flu, and they should all continue “living their lives.”
Even now, though Donald Trump has finally acknowledged the threat of this virus, many of his devout find themselves unable to make that sharp turn along with him. But in the event that they do, Donald Trump has already provided them with the lie that they can use as their lifeline: his statement, “I’ve been saying all along that this was a pandemic.”
In the meantime, however, these are the people who have actively worked to convince their fellow humans that taking precautions was stupid. They posted memes; they parroted the latest pronouncements from Fox News. They asked each other, “has anyone actually KNOWN someone with the coronavirus?” (No? then it MUST be a conspiracy.) These are the people who have flouted safety and good sense, and stubbornly “lived their lives,” endangering all of the rest of us as we try our futile best to prevent its spread.
And now, even if Donald Trump’s enablers do come around to realizing that this is all real, it may not be soon enough. It’s already too late for so many of the people who tried to warn them. They can only hope that they weren’t responsible for 1, 5, 25 or more casualties or deaths, as they heeded their leader’s message and “lived their lives.” What is the promised thrill from their leader at this point?
Trump Supporters Believe Coronavirus Could Be A ‘Nothing Burger’ | NBC News [2020-02-28]
10 times Trump downplayed the coronavirus | Washington Post
[2020-03-05]
