Donald Trump has been in our political minds for close to a decade now, and probably will continue further into the future. This whole time since his election in 2016 – to which my response was not anger when he got elected, but more of a “wow that’s hilarious” – a question I have asked people who have a strong vitriolic reaction to him is why do you hate Donald Trump? What did he do to you to make you feel this way? In asking these questions I have received a bevy of different answers.
“He says mean things and is degrading to people, notably women.”
“I don’t like how he talks to people and his demeanor.”
“He’s crass and not statesman like, you know, like Obama.”
“I don’t like his, and Republican Party, policies.”
I can make sense of the last statement, if you don’t like Republican policies, you don’t like the policies and that is a justified argument. But solely on his demeanor and the things he says it inevitably leads to my next question “why do you care what he says?” Most don’t have an answer to this, the only answer they can provide, commonly, is “oh, so you don’t care about the crass or rude things he says?” This is what’s called a strawman fallacy, if X is making a statement about something, Y is trying to clarify the statement, and X attempts to distort and oversimplify X’s position rather than addressing the actual point, that would be a strawman fallacy. When this fallacy is pointed out, usually people disengage and say “He is just bad, and you know it!” This is an example of Begging the Question fallacy – or petitio principii. This statement presupposes the very thing that needs to be proven—namely, that “he is bad” causing circular reasoning.
Person A: He is bad?
Person B: But why is he bad?
Person A: He’s bad and you know it.
Person B: But why?
And so on…
The statement of “he’s not a statesman, you know, like Obama.” I would tend to agree with this sentiment because he is not a statesman. Trump has run on the characteristic that he is NOT a politician and is here to shake up the system and “drain the swamp” as he puts it. Perhaps, this is a question of perception, people who hate that he is not a statesman like Obama draws ire. I would agree, but I don’t hate it, or that it draws ire – I think it’s silly and funny. I have always remained firm on saying Trump is a dork and a goof with his words, but I think it’s hilarious.
Going back to the Republican Party policies – this is actually a good argument if it can be articulated. What specifically about his policies don’t you like? Is it his tax policies, foreign policy, economics? Most detractors lack any description in what specific policies he’s proposed that they dislike. Furthermore, not even realizing that most of his policies during his first administration were in-line with a lot of Washington Democrat policies. Congressman Dan Crenshaw on Real Time with Bill Maher outlined specific policies that Trump has stated only to ask Maher and resident loon James Carville who’s policies these belonged to. Only to reveal these were the policies presented by Democrat Bill Clinton in 1996 – and that they are similar.
(I can’t find the video for this, but it was the most recent episode of Real Time on 8/23/2024)
I can understand if someone can make a clear policy debate against Trump, but this goes beyond why people hate Trump. I can think the Affordable Care Act is not good in many areas, but I don’t ‘hate’ Barack Obama for pushing it. I strongly dislike Biden but for other reasons beyond the idiotic Inflation Reduction Act. If someone were to say “I dislike Trump because of policies A, B, and C”, I would be willing to have a deep conversation – perhaps debate – on those policies. But this is not what is going on right now, most can’t articulate the policies of Trump, even after experiencing 4 years of him, yet the vitriolic hate and comparisons to the “Third Reich” and “Hitler” keep popping up. What is really going on?
Deeper Analysis
Trump himself is not an enigma, but the narrative around him is. For over 8 years now, I have been wondering why this hate for a man is so profound within a large subset of people, and I think I have figured it out.
I believe this is the real reason why people hate Trump, he was supposed to be a joke, and this was supposed to be a coronation of Queen Hillary passed down from King Obama. It was supposed to be the perfect ending, the first black president then the first female president, Hillary finally gets to the White House after all her years of ‘service’ to the government and the Democratic Party. It was not supposed to happen like it did – and when it did happen, everyone was embroiled with anger, I don’t think that feeling has ever gone away for almost a decade.
People don’t mind being wrong when evidence is provided, but they don’t like being shown they’re wrong and embarrassed while it happens. I don’t know the psychological reasoning for this? Perhaps a deep-seeded narcissism, or a defense mechanism of some sort to fight back when embarrassed. A deep seeded hatred and belittlement out of fear of embarrassment? That is some next level Jungian stuff there.
One counter to this is someone may claim, they are not embarrassed he is literally “that dangerous of a person!” How can you say this when we had 4 years of Trump already, and America was for the most part going quite well. There was prosperity, job growth, no useless money being spent on wars, no inflation. Even Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat controlled Congress from 2018-2020 approved the military budgets for the Trump Administration. Why would a Democrat who thinks Trump is an existential threat allow Trump access to billions of dollars worth of military spending?
What I find shocking is the lengths the government and media would go to attack Trump with vitriolic remarks, which led to two impeachments, all the lawfare in 2024, and an assassination attempt on his life. Even after that they still treat him with vitriolic anger. If this is some deep seeded embarrassment, and continuing vendetta from 2016 – the Democrat Party has to be some of the worst groups of human beings in modern history.
Why are People Angry?
Does this outgrowth of anger start and end with Trump? Or is this a systematic pattern that we are seeing in the world today? Not just why are people angry at Trump; rather, why are people just angry? I happen to think Trump is merely a watershed moment that caused a lot of deep seeded anger to finally boil over. Reddit is mostly a cesspool, but once in a while you get an insightful post by some random account, this one came across that was interesting, answering the question on r/deepthoughts, why are people so angry?
“Because we are average or below average. We are not rich. We are not famous. We never loved someone, or we did and our heart was broken. We work because we have to not because it’s a calling. We may have talents but nobody cares or recognizes it. We underachieved. We have regrets about trips, experiences, or relationships we never had. We care about what others think. We are constantly fighting to have a good life and it’s exhausting and there is no point to any of all this suffering until you decide that there is, and that takes effort and suffering and people treat one another without respect. Some reasons…I think.”
I have shared this quote with some, and they see it as a screed of whining and complaining, I see it a little bit different, I see it as a mirror reflecting back on us. Our anger is our own doing. “We care about what others think”. This is social media in a nutshell and a key reason as to why the pandemic lasted so long, no one wanted to end the cosplay of being wanted and loved through a sense of power and respect. I think this reflects the same anger towards Donald Trump, are you trying to be something? Are you trying to show your virtuousness, by craping on the guy with the strange haircut and the uncouth rhetoric? Do you think that you’re a much better person?
This is not just a problem on the left-wing side of the party either, many right-wingers have shown a dislike for Trump, have it be the Never-Trumpers like The Lincoln Project – who are just neocon/neolib shills for the military industrial complex – or the Never Trump #StillWithDeSantis crowd who have the same Trump rhetoric grievances and are blinded by their religious idolatry when it comes to abortion. If a man – who I have called, and Joe Rogan has called a stand-up comedian president – makes you so angry, perhaps you need to take a reflective look at your own characteristics.
I feel that the disdain people have for Donald Trump is a psychological characteristic of your own inferiority, lack of meaning, and reflection of your own shortcomings. People who have been angry at fools and jokesters that make people laugh have always been considered fools in their own right. Trump is like a Jester, and in many ancient societies, up to medieval times, getting angry at a jester can imply a lack of understanding or an inability to appreciate humor and satire, which are key elements of the jester’s craft. It suggests taking oneself too seriously, which contrasts with the jester’s role of deflating egos and reminding everyone of their humanity and fallibility. The jester’s job is to mock and jest, often pointing out the absurdities and contradictions in society or the behavior of the powerful, all while maintaining a guise of playfulness. The defensiveness of this reflects a misunderstanding of yourself and your fallibility, perhaps a sign of deep-seeded narcissism.
Ultimately, I would like to see Trump win for these reasons, and some of these reasons may be a reflection of my own Schadenfreude (the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, pain, and suffering of others), but at least I can admit it and be honest with myself.
- I truly believe Trump’s policies are better than Harris’. I want less immigration, I want stronger police to limit crime in specific neighborhoods with high crime, I want a booming economy again, I don’t want to fund foreign wars, I want safe, legal, and rare abortions including the exceptions of rape, incest, and life of the mother. I believe contraception is not a sin and that life begins at conception is not scientific – it is man in the sky myth.
- Trump is hilarious in his uncouth language, and I get massive pleasure from the sulking of people who can’t stand him when he does well. Mainly because these are the people who derive a sense of pleasure from berating people who don’t follow their neocosmopolitan way of life. It’s a lesson in being grounded.
- I like seeing the media get pie on their face and fail, because we have not had real journalism in a long time.
- Trump is the political underdog, no scratch that, Trump is the popular jock who joins student politics, and the ones who have dedicated their whole time to politics get angry that this person who is in our space and winning, since we put so much hard work in creating a fake persona that cares, but really we just want a sense of power and control because we are insignificant in high school ecosystem.
Does this make me an evil person like Trump? Am I the bad guy? That of course is subjective. You may feel this way by reading this post. But if you do, maybe find a mirror and reflect upon yourself because, I’m quite comfortable in my opinions, and if you don’t like it…well…
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