Serious question: has there ever, in the entire history of the world, been anyone as narcissistic as Donald Trump?
I mean, seriously. We have all heard of some of those Roman Emperors, particularly Nero and his allegedly playing the fiddle while Rome burned. We know that King Louis XIV called himself the "Sun King" and that he wanted nothing less than the magnificence of Versailles to reflect his grandeur, and he brought as many nobles to Versailles largely to control them. Napoleon was also a legendary narcissist, thinking that he could win pretty much every battle. Then we have Adolf Hitler, who took over Germany and made the country pledge their allegiance to him, and to have everyone greet each other with "Heil Hitler."
Those are some examples of classic narcissists of the past, and there are surely others who I did not mention here. But Donald Trump really seems to take the cake for making sure everything is about him, at all times, with everything. This is a man who made a point of naming everything possible after himself, no matter what the quality of the product. From all of those Trump Towers that dominate the skylines of first American cities, and then cities around the world, to Trump University, Trump Magazine, Trump steaks, Trump ties, and so on and so forth. This is a man who decided to run for the highest office in the nation and broke promises before he even took the oath of office, by not separating himself from his businesses. He boasts about how great his presidency has been, always suggesting that it has been historically good, and more often than not, he outright claims to be the "greatest" president in American history.
Not surprisingly, he has a short-term memory, conveniently forgetting some things that he has said and done in the past which contradict his own greatness and/or honesty. He certainly does not loudly admit that his ties and trademark MAGA hats were made in sweatshops in impoverished, third world nations, for example, and not here in America. He would like for everyone to forget that he criticized Obama for spending too much playing golf and promised that, once in the White House, he would be too busy to play golf. He wants everyone to forget that he promised to make Mexico pay for the wall ("Mark my words," he said), and then tried to alter that years later by claiming that "of course" he did not mean that literally. He would just love it if you forgot that he used bone spurs as an excuse to get out of service in Vietnam after receiving an elite military education, and then, decades later, insulted the records of veterans who had fought in that war that he dodged. And he would really, really like you to forget that he came from an extremely wealthy and influential family, and that he lived a life of glitz and glamour from the first, born with a silver spoon in his big mouth. If he had it his way, everyone would believe that he came from humble origins and built his financial empire on his own, but his father made sure that he was "earning" $200,000 a year back when he was just three years old, which is equivalent to well over two million dollars per yer in today's money. Trump is hardly a self-made man, having gladly taken daddy's money, and benefiting from his family's well-known and rather convenient name, as well as all of those lovely business connections.
Since taking office, Trump has betrayed his authoritarian tendencies, and outright acted like a dictator numerous times. He has betrayed the spirit of the Constitution that he swore to uphold. Of course, if you listen to him, or to his blindly loyal followers, who regurgitate everything that their idiot leader tells them, the only people who are opposed to him would be liberal extremists, dominated, of course, by the "Fake News" media, which he dubs the "lamestream media." Such wit, I know. He has referred to the media in a different way as well, suggesting that they are the "enemy of the people," but that was a little too transparently close to the way that brutal, authoritarians leaders of the past described the media, so he seems to have finally backed off from it. But his attacks on the spirit of the Constitution have not abated, especially when it comes to criticisms of him and his administration. And again, if you believe him, all of the criticisms, which includes high profile and very damning criticism from members of his own Republican Party, including many individuals who he personally handpicked to be members of his administration, it is all just a part of some "lamestream media" bashing and amounts to "Fake News." It never seems to occur to his loyal followers that maybe, just maybe, Trump deserves the criticism that he gets, and that much of the criticism seems to be largely the same. Indeed, he does often sound like a "fucking moron," as his former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Recently, Trump's former national Security advisor, John Bolton, stated that Trump is unfit for office, and he said that quite a few high-ranking Trump administration officials, including the sitting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, refer to Trump as a moron behind his back. And not long ago, Trump's former Secretary of Defense General Jim Mattis said that Trump was the first American president not to even try to unite the American people during a crisis, and Trump's former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly agreed. Another former Trump official, former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, has also been very critical of Trump and his approach to the presidency.
All of these guys worked very closely with Trump, and were picked by him, in fact. Trump initially heaped praise on them, and has since damned them at every possible opportunity. They all came away with sour experiences of their boss, and all seem to be in clear agreement about one thing: Trump is not fit for the office that he holds. Many other Republicans seem to feel that way as well, including the Bush family, Colin Powell, as well as Mitt Romney, among others who have less of a high profile. Indeed, there are plenty, as just days ago, an ad by a group that calls itself Republican Voters Against Trump received a lot of publicity. This guy just rubs far too many people the wrong way to just shrug it off as coincidence, or the product of "Fake News" from the "lamestream media." Indeed, there is something wrong with him.
And yes, he is a classic narcissist, even one of legendary proportions. This is not some side issue, but indeed, probably one of the main things that really make people - even those who Trump surrounds himself with - feel that he just is not fit for the office that he holds.
This clown is such a MAGAlomaniac, that he makes almost literally everything about him. Then, when he receives the inevitable criticism for his mistakes as well as for his staggering levels of sheer narcissism, his enablers - that loyal following that can literally find no wrong in him - criticize everyone else for not making it all about him. This has the elements of being both a comedy and a tragedy.
The latest example of this is a piece of news coming out earlier today.
We all know about the coronavirus pandemic, and how wearing masks is supposed to limit the spread of the disease. And we all also know that Trump had a problem with the idea of wearing a mask, because he is such a shallow jackass, that he thought wearing one would make him look ridiculous (as if his fake orange tan and ridiculous hair - to say nothing of his legendary ignorance and general buffoonery - did not do accomplish that already). In fact, he seemed to express that he felt it would make him look weak, which is something that an aspiring strong man wanna be like Trump just cannot abide by.
So, he basically dumped the idea of wearing a mask. And this has become a point of contention with experts, who insist that wearing a mask is a necessity to try and contain the outbreak of what had become a global pandemic. Never mind the experts, though. Never mind the fact that efforts to contain the Covid-19 crisis seemed to be more successful in nations where people actually wore those masks. No, none of that mattered to Trump. All that mattered was that he did not want to wear the mask, and so he refused.
And then this resistance by Trump, and then by his administration and by his followers, itself became a news story.
Now, Trump has gone a step further, raising the stakes even more. Indeed, Trump apparently now believes that there are Americans wearing masks not to try and contain the coronavirus pandemic, but just to spite him. As some kind of visible statement that they do not approve of him or the job that he is doing.
It is always, always, always about him. The fact that experts in the medical field recommend wearing masks does not matter. The fact that masks like this were actually already commonplace in numerous Asian nations before this also apparently does not matter. The fact that he himself seemed to endorse the wearing of masks - admittedly in a lukewarm manner - before doing a 180 and now believing that wearing a mask is like some secret sign of resisting Trump and his policies (and his idiocy) does not matter.
Again, with a narcissist like this, he will literally make everything, every story out there, about him, if it generates more publicity, more free press.
Truly pathetic. Another sad chapter in this nation's darkest days, known as the Trump era.
Here is the link to the story that got me on this topic to begin with:
Trump says he thinks some Americans are wearing masks to show they disapprove of him and not as a preventive measure during the pandemic Sonam Sheth, June 18, 2020:
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-americans-wearing-masks-show-disapproval-not-as-preventive-measure-2020-6?fbclid=IwAR3WJWay35kjCziLyA5RKmpmaYshTp6WldCL-X2Q-SmWLHsVDuSXh6Z_V7w
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