My view on Trump

clarification

Some readers and viewers have communicated to me that they think I have gone too far in “supporting Trump” or “Republicans.” They ask, basically, how I can be such a hypocrite. How does a guy who talks about narcissistic personalities so much end up “supporting Trump”? Some have been measured in their tone; others have been passive-aggressive and accusatory.

When people find a writer or show host they like, and then they disagree with him on something important, they often feel emotionally betrayed. I understand that feeling, but I try to fight it in myself, remembering that no one is obliged to agree with every position I take.

Let me lay out my views on Donald Trump and “small-c-conservatism.”

1. Donald Trump is a narcissist. I have been saying this publicly for years, all the way back to the days when I was a progressive leftist. Even though I’m a conservative now, I still recognize that Donald Trump is a narcissist.

2. What I changed my mind about is how dangerous a narcissist he is, in our current political context. I used to think he was a sadistic, Machiavellian figure who would turn literal tyrant and enslave the country. That was progressive emotionalism on my part.
   
   I think Donald Trump is the kind of narcissist who is more like a child. Self-centered, insecure, vain, and very biddable by people who flatter him in the right way. On the flip side of the same coin, he instantly casts out those who don’t flatter him correctly, or who disagree with him publicly.
   
   I do not believe he is unusually sadistic, nor do I believe he has aspirations to be an extra-Constitutional dictator.
   
   I recognize that his narcissistic flaws pose dangers. He is very bad at picking staff because his vulnerability to flattery and sycophancy overrides better judgment.
   

3. Nearly every other person who gets to the heights of becoming a presidential candidate is a narcissist, or has enough of the traits to be close enough. Donald Trump is in no way unique. He happens to have a brash and unusual style that draws attention. Others, such as Barack Obama, also a narcissist (and I would say far more Machiavellian), are covert. They disguise their character through smoother speech and the claim that they’re working to bend the moral arc toward justice.

4. Joe Biden is a narcissist, a pathological liar, and fundamentally cruel, in my view. He—really, more his administration as he’s in mental decline—is far more dangerous to the body politic than Donald Trump. Everything I worried in 2016 that Trump would do, Biden has actually done, or worse.
   
   His economic policies, his border policies, his support for mutilating “trans” children, his invitation to the LGBTQ set to co-opt his administration, his handling of “Covid” and much more has been a nightmare. More damage has been done to this country by Biden than by any other president in recent memory.
   
   I am genuinely frightened as a citizen of the prospect of four more years of Biden, or a Democrat, in the White House.

5. This means I have made a context-dependent, strategic decision to support Trump as a presidential candidate. The following is not hard to understand: I am choosing the lesser of two evils. You, reading this right now, make these same choices in your life every day. We are not different. I am not “off the rails”, as one recent former subscriber felt compelled to tell me.

6. I do believe that, given the choices available to Americans, that Trump is the better of two bad choices. I also leave open the possibility that he may do a great deal of good. After examining his actual policy acts in office, and comparing them to what the Democrats were doing, I realized I supported many, but not all, of Trump’s actions.

7. I am not a Republican. I used to be a registered Democrat. I have not re-registered with the Republicans, or with any party, and I doubt that I will do so again. Candidates who best align with my views, or who are the better of two bad choices, will get my vote, regardless of party affiliation.
   
   My issue with the Republicans is that I think they are out of touch, weak, don’t know how to fight effectively, pick exactly the wrong culture issues to fight on while ignoring the ones that moral duty calls them to (and that they could win). I think they are feckless as a party.
   
   But today, in 2024, I think the Democrats are far more dangerous to every American citizen than the Republicans are to any demographic bloc.

8. I think I have detected among some women readers that they are particularly opposed to Trump because of how they believe he views and treats women. I understand this position. But I think I also detect that some may be upset with me for not making their concerns my primary concerns. I think I detect a sense of “betrayal”. This is familiar to me as a gay man who has had and lost many female friendships. There has often been an element of “you’re one of the good guys/gays, so I can’t tolerate it when you don’t see abortion/feminism the way I do.”
   
   Women’s issues are not my primary concern, and I will not make them my primary concern. Abortion will not be my primary concern. Feminist desires will not be my primary concern.
   
   I do not owe this, and I will not take up that burden.

I have been so wrong about so many political issues over the years. Becoming a conservative was the last thing I could have imagined. But it happened. In 10 years or 20, I may revise my views radically again. If anything, the past 10 years has taught me not to think of any of my views as permanent, or any of my analyses as obviously correct until the end of time.

And, I know I cannot please every reader or viewer. I hope, though, that I have clarified my position for those who are curious. Thank you for reading.