About a week ago, the article "Does Trump Have Early Stage Alzheimer's?" http://tinyurl.com/z64hltk by writer/sociologist Gini Graham Scott reached over 1100 likes. Numerous experts suggested that might be the case, in addition to having the mental disorders of being a narcissist and sociopath. So what did the Trump supporters think of this diagnosis?
Scott examined a sampling of responses over the next two days, and found they fell into two camps. One was those who found the article reinforced their anti-Trump view that he really was nuts. The other camp was the Trump supporters who attacked the "liberal" media, trashed the Huff Post, and accused Hillary of lying and being equally or more crazy.
Among other things, Scott found that many Trump supporters apparently didn't read her article, since they didn't understand what it meant to suggest that Trump might have early stage Alzheimer's, based on the Alzheimer's Association's description of 10 core symptoms. As Scott described, Trump showed over half the signs of this illness, including a memory loss that disrupts daily life, difficulty in concentrating, having decreased or poor judgment, and changes in mood or personality. She gave plenty of examples of Trump's recent behavior to support this viewpoint, such as him forgetting about Russia taking over the Ukraine, his difficulty in staying on a subject, and his being increasingly on edge, paranoid, and ready to attack, like an animal or child.
But instead of recognizing the signs, many Trump defenders simply attacked the media – a case of trashing the messenger because you don't like the message. As one Trumpkin commented: "You morons in the media…You have to stop with all this made up crap & grow up and be journalists not writers for the National Enquirer, but then again at least the(sic) admit they fudge the truth, the mainstream media should be ashamed of themselves…Just saying."
Some tried to attack the reputation of the Huffington Post by calling it "tabloid journalism," despite its illustrious roster of experts and authorities. As one Trumpeteer proclaimed: "You guys at huff and puff have it full brown." Still another Trumpkin blasted the Huffington Post as "a liberal propaganda site spreading lies filtered through the ass of George Soros."
Other Trumpkins sought to counterpunch by turning an attack on Trump into an attack on Hillary, the Clintons, and the Democrats, frequently citing inaccurate information and writing in barely literate English. For example, some of their comments were:
"I see a rabid DEM write this inflammatory piece of crapola lol."
"Media and Obama and Hillary are just making anything up too (sic) stop trump and the American people."
"Nothing wrong with Trump but Hillary has some pretty serious mental issues, that I am sure."
"Hillary has seizures on a daily basis."
"The DEVIL wants Hillary."
"Hillary is a thief and a liar."
"Trump is sharp as a tack. Killary is an enormous risk to our national security and our freedoms. Vote Trump, the only one not already bought and paid for by people who hate us... Go Trump! Make American Great Again!!!"
"Trump…is the lesser of two evils. He speaks his mind, he is not part of the establishment, and he does not give in to lobbyists. Oblama and Hitlary are trying their best to turn American into a Socialist country."
Still other respondents were so anti-Hillary that they believed that Trump was a Hillary plant, designed to say such outrageous things that he would lose the election and Hillary would win. In their view, Trump was simply acting as if he was nuts, but wasn't really, so it was all part of an entertainment game for a political end. As one respondent replied to my question about Trump having early-stage Alzheimer's. "Nonsense. He's working with the Clintons."
In short, the Trump supporters were ready to put down the media for bringing a message they didn't want to hear, or they attacked like Trump to denigrate Hillary, with the actual facts of little concern. They were just hurling damaging information against her based on rumor, innuendo, and misinformation, and they turned any questions about Trump's mental health into questions about the mental ability of Hillary and anyone who might dare to question Trump's mental fitness. Some even accused Hillary of treason and seeking to undermine America.
Given this ongoing election battle and the potential damages Trump could inflict on America and the world, should he become the President of the United States, Scott has written a series of books about the dangers Trump presents. A listing of the full series is at Who Is Trump Really? www.whoistrumpreally.com (also accessible from www.trumpisnuts.net and www.trumpisanut.com.
For her most recent books, Scott teamed up with a cartoonist and wrote Trump Is Nuts! An Illustrated Guide and Coloring Book on the Many Ways that Trump Has Gone Nuts https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Nuts-Illustrated-Guide-Coloring/dp/0692738037 and Trump Is An Animal! https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Animal-Illustrated-Coloring-Different/dp/1535223154 Trump Is Nuts! features satiric cartoons depicting Trump as all kinds of nuts from cashews to pecans and ending up as a nut case and in the nuthouse. The book combines cartoons with incisive commentary about the many ways that Trump's behavior is mentally disturbed or nuts. Trump Is an Animal! features Trump as a number of animals, from kangaroos to chimps and fur seals, who are fighting for power, territory, and mates, much like Trump strikes out and fights with anyone who threatens his position.
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Gini Graham Scott, PhD, writes frequently about social trends and everyday life. She is the author of over 50 books with major publishers and has published 30 books through her company Changemakers Publishing and Writing. She writes books and proposals for clients and has written and produced over 50 short videos through Changemakers Productions and is a partner in a service that connects writers to publishers, agents, and the film industry. Her latest books include: Resolving Conflict and Lies and Liars: How and Why Sociopaths Lie and How to Detect and Deal With Them