OBSERVATION

I’ve noticed a trend observing Donald Trump in interviews that seems to have been picked up by the 38% that follow him. When confronted with a truth which is contrary to your position, switch to attack mode. It is here that we get to the name-calling and attempts to ridicule anyone who would challenge an established position with anything so arbitrary as facts.

We have all heard the president attack reporters who dare to challenge him with a legitimate question. It has become his stock in trade to dip into his quiver of nasty to rebuke inconvenient truths. He will expand this to include whatever corporate entity that questioner might represent. If he is particularly incensed he might go so far as to expand the nasty barbs to include even larger groups of possible associations and “coconspirators.” He was using WOKE for a while but, given his current proclivity for napping during meetings, that term is starting to generate giggles.

A friend recently posted comments he received from his new account on Truth Social. He would post a meme challenging right-wing rhetoric and they would respond. Not with opposing arguments, but with name-calling. As these accounts are anonymous, they can be brazen and respond with nastiness and vulgarity. These are their weapons of choice. If you don’t have the intellect to debate an issue, resort to vituperation. When you hear someone ask a question, and the response is to call the questioner stupid, just know that the name-caller has no argument.

This president has long had an affinity for wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Those sports rely on name-calling and trash talk to help generate ticket sales. Wrestling has long used the good versus evil story to generate buzz. There is the “babyface” (the hero) and the “heel” (the villain) that bring emotional stakes to the audience. Building on this, MMA takes it one step further. They use this vitriol to angle for bigger money fights and to promote brand value. Donald Trump has picked up on this and uses the same tactic for his political agenda. I find parallels between his methodology and the showmanship of Gorgeous George (see graphic).

Who would have ever thought that the elected president of the United States would be so petty as to say to a reporter, “Quiet Piggy,” or call them “obnoxious” or a “terrible reporter.” He has also used “stupid” and “ugly” if he doesn’t have a ready-made insult name. Then there are his Greatest Hits, “fake news” and “enemy of the people.” I’m sure that, had Donald Trump been in politics during the 1962-1981 reign of Walter Cronkite, he would have had a derogatory name for “the most trusted man in America.”

That’s my observation, “and that’s the way it is.”