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Wacko Trump

by David Forgerson
6/15/2016
 


Part 1 – Donald Trump, A Wacko By Any Other Name


 
This is Part 1 in a series of articles cumulatively titled "Wacko Trump".

Donald Trump has a penchant for giving people nicknames.  These nicknames are not terms of endearment or friendship.  They are meant to be blatant insults.  Jeb Bush is “low-energy Jeb”, Bernie Sanders is “Crazy Bernie”, Marco Rubio is “Little Marco”, Ted Cruz is “Lyin Ted”, Hillary Clinton is “Crooked Hillary”, and Elizabeth Warren is “Pocahontas”.  In the same spirit that he has given these people nicknames, it is time to choose a nickname for Donald Trump.  First, let’s make a list of the possibilities.

1) “Racist Trump”.  On June 7, 2016 Paul Ryan (Republican Speaker of the House) said that Trump’s remarks about Judge Gonzalo Curiel were “the textbook definition of a racist comment.”  These were not Trump’s first racist comments about Judge Curiel.  Also, Trump has referred to Latino immigrants as “criminals” and “rapists”, and he has called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our countries representatives can figure out what is going on.”  The words “Trump” and “racist” appear so often together that they are almost becoming synonymous.  If you google “Donald Trump racist”, you get 48,900,000 matches.  Trump, of course, claims that he is not a racist.  I will believe that the day they have an NAACP meeting at Mar-a-Lago.  Despite its incredible applicability, this nickname has never stuck.  Maybe it just does not roll off of the tongue quite right.

2) “Misogynist Trump” or 3) “Sexist Trump”.  A misogynist is “a person that hates, dislikes, mistrusts, or mistreats women”.  Trump has made many disparaging remarks about women including, among many others, Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorina, Megyn Kelly, and Heidi Cruz.  Many articles have been written calling him a sexist or a misogynist.  The Democrats have already put together two attack ads describing Donald Trump as a misogynist.  The more recent one, called “Speak”, uses Trump’s own voice, so there is no doubt about his having made the comments.  Again, if the nickname were going to stick, it would have already done so.

4) “Alleged Rapist Trump”.  This one comes from his ex-wife.  In a 1989 divorce case deposition, Donald Trump’s first wife, Ivana, claimed that one time Trump raped her.  The allegation also appears in her book, “The Lost Tycoon:  The Many Lives of Donald Trump.”  On July 28, 2015 she revised her allegation as follows:

"[O]n one occasion during 1989, Mr. Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage.  As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent.  I referred to this as a 'rape', but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense."

Since this is just an allegation and since it is an awkward three word nickname, this nickname is not going to stick.  This incident does, however, provide substantial additional justification for the “Misogynist Trump” nickname.

5) “Twit Trump”.  Trump has added a new twist to tweeting on Twitter – the nasty tweet.  If Trump is reading this, he has probably already fired off at least one nasty tweet.  Just as one of your kids may be addicted to video games, Trump is addicted to tweeting.  Trump uses nasty tweets to try and bully other people, and being the presumptive GOP nominee has given him something of a bully pulpit (tweet-pit?).  Trump seems to have a magic touch when it comes to putting other people down.  In fact, he seems to be obsessed with it.  Trump has to have the last word, and the word apologize is not in his dictionary.  It has been replaced by “double down”.  Teachers should start teaching students about Twit Trump and nasty tweeting on Twitter when they talk about alliteration.


On May 3, 2016 Ted Cruz, Republican Senator from Texas, called Donald Trump “utterly amoral”, a “narcissist at a level I don’t think this country’s ever seen”, a “serial philanderer”, and a “pathological liar”.  Let’s consider these one by one.

6) “Amoral Trump”.  The definition of amoral is “having no moral standards, restraints, or principles; unaware of or indifferent to questions of right or wrong.”

Point 1:  A recent analysis by USA Today shows that Donald Trump and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions in the last 30 years.  That is a new legal action every 2.2 business days.  How could someone possibly find the time to both be POTUS and be involved in a new legal action every couple of days?  USA Today describes his business and legal practices as follows: 
“He sometimes responds to even small disputes with overwhelming legal force. He doesn’t hesitate to deploy his wealth and legal firepower against adversaries with limited resources, such as homeowners. He sometimes refuses to pay real estate brokers, lawyers and other vendors.” 
This is very far from the Christian Golden Rule.

Point 2:  Three lawsuits currently pending allege that Trump University (93% owned by Donald Trump) engaged in a variety of illegal business practices including fraud, false advertising, unfair business practices, civil racketeering, and even “financial elder abuse”.

Point 3:  With regard to morals and religion, Trump claims to be a Presbyterian and to attend Marble Collegiate Church, however the church says that he is not an active member.  Trump has said that although he participates in Holy Communion, he has not asked God for forgiveness for his sins.

Point 4:  Even his donations to charity seem to be more for his own personal gain than for helping others.  To boost his campaign among veterans, Trump claimed to have donated $1 million (0.01% of his alleged net worth of $10 billion) to veteran’s causes.  However, he did not actually make any donations until intense scrutiny from the press forced him to make good on his promise.

There seems to be very little evidence that Trump has any moral standards or principles.  Trump’s primary claim to being a moral person seems to be that he has not served any time in prison (yet).

7) “Narcissist Trump”.  A narcissist is “a person that gets erotic gratification from the admiration of his own physical or mental attributes”.  Since Trump considers himself to be his own brand, the nickname “Narcissist Trump” seems entirely accurate and appropriate.  Trump lives in Trump Tower.  Trump flies around in the Trump Jet.  Trump’s yacht is the Trump Princess.  Some of Trump’s businesses include Trump Place, Trump Taj Mahal, and Trump Plaza.  If Trump becomes president, are we going to have the Trump White House, Air Force Trump, Marine Trump, Camp Trump, and the U.S.S. Trump?  Other possible, very related nicknames are:

8) “Elitist Trump” -- claims to belong to an elite class.

9) “Egomaniac Trump” -- selfish or self-centered.

10) “Megalomaniac Trump” -- delusions of greatness, wealth, etc.  In Trump’s case, his wealth may or may not be a delusion.    While Trump estimates his net worth at $10 billion, independent estimates put his net worth in the $3-5 billion range.  Trump will not release his income tax statements or other records so that an accurate estimate can be made.  It appears that he strongly prefers the $10 billion delusion over the $4 billion reality.  Does it really matter?  Not much, in this case.  But if he makes 2X errors with the U.S. debt, budget, or GDP, it could be a very big deal.  How could you trust anything that he said about the U.S. economy if you knew that he was only interested in looking good and only required 2X accuracy?

11) “Philanderer Trump”.  A philanderer is “a man that makes love to a woman that he cannot or will not marry”.  Trump had an affair with Marla Maples for many months or years before he divorced Ivana Zelnickova.  Donald and Ivana divorced in 1991.  Trump and Marla’s daughter, Tiffany, was born in Oct. 1993.  Donald and Marla were married two months after the birth of their daughter, in Dec. 1993.  Donald married Melania Knauss in Jan. 2005.  Later that year, when Howard Stern asked Trump if he would have more kids with his new wife, Trump suggested that he was open to the idea because, “I mean, I won’t do anything to take care of them.”  Below is the transcript of a 1997 interview between Howard Stern and Donald Trump.  In it, Donald and Howard compare the perils of avoiding STD’s in the 1980’s to the perils of fighting in the Vietnam war -- a disgusting comparison that is an insult to all those that fought in Vietnam.  The interview was recorded in both audio and video, so there is no doubt about authenticity.

STERN: Now getting back to dating.  When you’ve gotta say to a woman, “You gotta go to my personal doctor and I'm gonna have you checked out.”  Is that a tough thing to say to a woman? Or do you just have the balls to say it?
TRUMP: It's amazing, I can't even believe it. I've been so lucky in terms of that whole world. 
STERN:  So, you’ve never gotten a social disease?
TRUMP:  It is a dangerous world out there.  It’s scary.  It's like Vietnam, sort of.
STERN: Hey it's your personal Vietnam isn't it?
TRUMP: It is my personal Vietnam.  I feel like a great and very brave soldier!
STERN: A lot of guys who went through Vietnam came out unscathed.  A lot of guys who have gone through the 80's having sex with different women came out with AIDS and all kinds of things.
TRUMP: This is better than Vietnam, but it's uh... it's more fun.
STERN: A little better, but every vagina is a landmine, haven't we both said that in private?
TRUMP: [laughter] I think it is a potential landmine.  There's some real danger there.
STERN: When you go to a bar, do you ever go with a fleet of doctors and have them check all the women, and then party with the uninfected?
TRUMP: [laughter] The few!  You mean the few uninfected!

It seems like Trump would not be offended by the nickname “philanderer”.  Instead, he would probably wear it as a badge of honor.

12) “Pathological Liar Trump”.  A pathological liar is “a person who tells lies frequently, with no rational motive for doing so”.  PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics.  PolitiFact is run by editors and reporters from the Tampa Bay Times.  Below are their latest results for Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Hillary Clinton.  The table is color coded where red is the least truthful and green is the most truthful.
 
Donald Trump    Ted Cruz    Hillary Clinton
True2%6%23%
Mostly True6%16%27%
Half True16%13%22%
Mostly False16%30%15%
False41%27%12%
Pants on Fire19%7%1%
   
Donald Trump is clearly the least truthful of the three, Hillary Clinton is the most truthful, and Ted Cruz is in the middle.  Trump’s nickname for Ted Cruz is “Lyin Ted”, but, according to the PolitiFact data, Trump himself is a much bigger liar than Ted Cruz.  So, the nickname “Lyin Trump” is entirely appropriate.  It is not clear whether Trump is pathological.  Pathological means “evidencing a mentally disturbed condition”.  Ted Cruz, who called Trump a “pathological liar”, is not a psychiatrist, but I am willing to accept Ted’s judgement on this.

13) “Billionaire Trump”.  Trump’s net worth is almost certainly more than $1 billion, although Trump will not release enough financial records to verify it (see “Narcissist Trump” above).  His net worth is why Trump, who is obsessed with winning and winners, considers himself to be a winner.  While a sports hero becomes a winner through his or her own ability, Trump’s so called winning is probably due more to a willingness to take big risks and to luck.  If you have 1000 millionaires each taking big financial risks, pretty soon at least one of them will become a billionaire – even if they invest randomly.  Unfortunately for them, many more of them will go broke.  Trump just happens to be one of the lucky ones that lucked out.  Evidence that Trump does not have any brilliant business or financial insight is that four of his businesses have undergone Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  The four bankruptcies are the Trump Taj Mahal in 1991, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in 1992, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts in 2004, and Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009.  The four bankruptcies do, however, show Trump’s willingness to take large financial risks and to over-leverage his businesses.  It is scary to think about what such financial management might do to the U.S. economy.

14) “Demagogue Donald”.  On May 31, 2016 renowned physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, called Donald Trump “a demagogue, who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator”.  A demagogue is “a political leader that gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people”.  Trump has consistently avoided talking about any substantive political issues during his campaign, and at times he has incited his supporters to violence.  Clearly he must be appealing to emotions, passions, and prejudices.  A+ to Steven Hawking for an accurate description of Trump.  The nickname has a little alliteration going for it, but it does not roll right off the tongue.  “Demagogue Donald” just does not sound quite right.

15) “Fascist Trump”.  On June 10, 2016 at a closed-door meeting of Republicans in Park City, Utah, Meg Whitman (current CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, former CEO of EBAY, and Republican mega-donor) reportedly compared Donald Trump to fascist leaders like Hitler and Mussolini.  A fascist is “an extreme white wing dictator” and fascism is typically associated with the radical authoritarian nationalism (the Nazi party) of early 20th century Europe.  While Trump seems to have a dictatorial bent, he does not really have the same politics as Hitler and Mussolini, so fascist may not be quite the right word to describe him.  Whereas Hitler advocated territorial expansion, Trump advocates territorial isolationism.  Whereas Hitler advocated anti-Semitism, Trump advocates an anti-Muslim policy.  Whereas Hitler advocated a totalitarian government, Trump advocates a semi-totalitarian government (Trump wants to be the CEO of the United States, not just the President).  What Meg is probably referring to is that Trump seems to be following Hitler’s playbook.  Trump is trying to incite authoritarian nationalism through the racism, demagoguery, and egomania discussed above.  Whether this is a good nickname for Trump, depends on exactly how you define the word fascist.  If racism, demagoguery, and egomania are included in the definition, then this would be a perfectly valid nickname for Trump.

Whether you believe that Trump has any similarities to Hitler or not, here are some questions for you:
 
What if a modern day Hitler did appear in American politics?  Someone with the following characteristics:
What would you do?  Would you refuse to vote for this person?  Would you hold up a sign in protest?  Would you go to jail in protest?  Would you give up your life in protest?  Or would you just go along with the majority?  Vote for him and hope for the best?  Donate money to his campaign?  Work on his staff? 

Say this person gets worse and worse, more and more radical.  What would you do then?  When would you act, and what would you do?  Did we really learn anything from WWII or can it all happen again?

What would you look for if you were on the alert for a modern day Hitler?  Looking for a man with a funny little mustache is not going to cut it.  Hopefully, a modern day Hitler would be the most disliked American politician of all time, and he would have the highest disapproval rating of all time in the national polls.  That would be an excellent danger signal.

16) “Wacko Trump”.  The term “wacko” is not very well defined, although we each have a pretty good idea of what a wacko is.  A reasonable definition of a wacko is “a person that has bizarre, strange, unpredictable, and/or irrational behavior; a nut or a lunatic”.  The term wacko applies, in particular, when a person has a range of strange behaviors as opposed to just a single strange behavior.  The reason that the term “wacko” is particularly applicable to Trump is because the nickname “Wacko Trump” is number 16 on the list.  We have already seen 15 strange behaviors, and we need a way to sum them all up in one word.  Another advantage of the term wacko is that it does not have any scientific or clinical connotations.  While Donald Trump is an awfully strange dude and way out there on the bell curve, there is no apparent reason to believe that he is psychotic (I think).

There are 16 possible nicknames for Donald Trump on the list above.  Part the reason that, so far, no nickname has stuck to Trump is that there are just too many to choose from.  No one nickname really stands out from the rest.  I really like the nickname “Twit Trump”, but my all time favorite nickname is “Wacko Trump”.  It rolls off the tongue pretty well, and it does not limit itself to any one particular character flaw.  Instead, it describes the broad spectrum of lunacy and irrationality in Donald Trump.  Also, it does a good job of describing Trump’s total unfitness to hold a public office, much less be President of the United States.


References and Acknowledgements


1.  Donald Trump’s nicknames for other people:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2016/04/20/little-marco-lying-ted-crooked-hillary-donald-trumps-winning-strategy-nouns/

2.  “Racist Trump” and Paul Ryan’s comment:  http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/07/politics/paul-ryan-donald-trump-racist-comment/

3.  “Racist Trump” and comments about Latino Immigrants:   http://new.www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/9-outrageous-things-donald-trump-has-said-about-latinos_us_55e483a1e4b0c818f618904b

4.  “Racist Trump” and comments about Muslims:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration/

5.  Most word definitions are taken from:  http://www.dictionary.com/

6.  “Misogynist Trump” and Democrat ads:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/18/us/politics/ads-against-trump.html  

7.  “Alleged Rapist Trump” and Ivana’s statements:  http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/time-to-press-donald-on-raping-his-wife 

8.  Ted Cruz’s names for Donald Trump:  http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/03/politics/donald-trump-rafael-cruz-indiana/

9.  “Amoral Trump” Point 1, Trump’s legal actions:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/01/donald-trump-lawsuits-legal-battles/84995854/

10.  “Amoral Trump” Point 2, Trump University lawsuits:  http://fortune.com/2016/03/08/trump-university-financial-elder-abuse-charges/

11.  “Amoral Trump” Point 3, Trump and religion:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump#Religious_views

12.  “Amoral Trump” Point 4, Trump and contributions to veterans:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/24/four-months-later-donald-trump-says-he-gave-1-million-to-veterans-group/

13.  “Narcissist Trump” and Trump’s net worth:  http://new.www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trumps-biggest-lie_us_573f4194e4b045cc9a70d772 

14.  “Philanderer Trump” and kids with Melania:  http://new.www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-howard-stern-women_us_573f5178e4b0613b512a337a

15.  “Philanderer Trump” and Howerd Stern video:  https://buzzfeed-video1.s3.amazonaws.com/video/2016/02/17/TrumpSTIs-456x340.mp4

16.  “Philanderer Trump” and Howard Stern transcript:  http://www.redstate.com/diary/Anteater/2016/02/17/trumps-vulgar-admission-avoiding-stds-women-personal-vietnam/

17.  “Pathological Liar Trump” and PolitiFact:  http://www.politifact.com/

18.  “Billionaire Trump” and Trump’s bankruptcies:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump#Bankruptcies_of_four_businesses

19.  “Demagogue Donald” and Stephen Hawking:  http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/31/politics/stephen-hawking-donald-trump-demagogue/

20.  “Fascist Trump” and Meg Whitman:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/us/politics/meg-whitman-likens-donald-trump-to-fascists-at-republican-retreat.html

21.  "Amoral Trump" Point 3, Trump and religion:  http://www.npr.org/2016/06/26/483506379/as-trump-defies-expectations-of-faith-might-we-be-entering-a-new-era