The Mass Psychology of Trumpism – New Lines Magazine (bê - /12/2024)
No more than five words
What if Trump wins? Mark Leibovic, author of “Thank you for your servitude” warns if Trump wins again
then we - Americans will need to let go of the soothing notion that this is not who we are. Who is we anyway?
Because it sure seems like a lot of this “we” keeps voting for Trump. How is it possible that a
(1)_______________ former president facing 91 criminal columns can now be favored to return to the Oval
Office? Why do his supporters (2)___________ when Trump promises to unleash an authoritarian regime as
president and to assume the role of dictator on day one? […] Since then countless observers have puzzled over
the unshakable hold he exerts on a vast (3)______________________________. Many factors economic,
political, cultural, psychological are surely at play in shaping Trump's abiding relationship with his supporters.
My argument as strange as it might sound is that Trump's enduring appeal stems from the perception his own
and others that he is not a person. In the minds of millions Trump is more than than a person and he is less than
a person too. In 1962 a prominent Harvard psychologist published a scholarly paper entitled “The Personality
and Career of Satan”. Henry A. Murray examined how for over 2,000 years (4)____________________ and
other writers have depicted the mythical figure of Satan projecting onto him human traits (5)-
_________________________. It is worth noting that Murray's characterization of Satan bears an uncanny
resemblance to the psychological portrait of Trump painted by many psychologists today. A malignant
narcissism rages at the core of Satan's personality cast out of heaven for his overmastering pride. Satan wants
to be God, resents the fact that he is not God and insists that his supreme worth entitles him to privileges that
nobody else should enjoy. While (6)__________________________ as Sovereign of the mortal world below,
wholly self-centered, cruel, vindictive and devoid of compassion and empathy Satan nonetheless possesses
substantial charisma and charm. Completely contractual in his approach to interpersonal relationships, he has
perfected the art of the deal as when in the Gospel of Luke, Satan tempts Jesus with earthly powers and riches
in return for (7)__________________________ will therefore worship me, all shall be thine.
The Mass Psychology of Trumpism – New Lines Magazine (bê - /12/2024)
No more than five words
What if Trump wins? Mark Leibovic, author of “Thank you for your servitude” warns if Trump wins again
then we - Americans will need to let go of the soothing notion that this is not who we are. Who is we anyway?
Because it sure seems like a lot of this “we” keeps voting for Trump. How is it possible that a
(1)_______________ former president facing 91 criminal columns can now be favored to return to the Oval
Office? Why do his supporters (2)___________ when Trump promises to unleash an authoritarian regime as
president and to assume the role of dictator on day one? […] Since then countless observers have puzzled over
the unshakable hold he exerts on a vast (3)______________________________. Many factors economic,
political, cultural, psychological are surely at play in shaping Trump's abiding relationship with his supporters.
My argument as strange as it might sound is that Trump's enduring appeal stems from the perception his own
and others that he is not a person. In the minds of millions Trump is more than than a person and he is less than
a person too. In 1962 a prominent Harvard psychologist published a scholarly paper entitled “The Personality
and Career of Satan”. Henry A. Murray examined how for over 2,000 years (4)____________________ and
other writers have depicted the mythical figure of Satan projecting onto him human traits (5)-
_________________________. It is worth noting that Murray's characterization of Satan bears an uncanny
resemblance to the psychological portrait of Trump painted by many psychologists today. A malignant
narcissism rages at the core of Satan's personality cast out of heaven for his overmastering pride. Satan wants
to be God, resents the fact that he is not God and insists that his supreme worth entitles him to privileges that
nobody else should enjoy. While (6)__________________________ as Sovereign of the mortal world below,
wholly self-centered, cruel, vindictive and devoid of compassion and empathy Satan nonetheless possesses
substantial charisma and charm. Completely contractual in his approach to interpersonal relationships, he has
perfected the art of the deal as when in the Gospel of Luke, Satan tempts Jesus with earthly powers and riches
in return for (7)__________________________ will therefore worship me, all shall be thine.
Situated in a middle ground between God and human beings, Satan is a liminal figure. He is like a person but
not quite a person. For one, he is gifted with superhuman powers of the sort Murray writes that children have
always imagined they might possess in the furthest reaches of their wish fulfilling fantasies. But he does not
possess certain qualities that adults especially value and recognize as part of the human Condition, he lacks
wisdom, for example, and love. He is not troubled by a complex inner life, by the doubts, ambivalences and
moral quandaries that routinely run through the consciousness of mature humans. He is instead like the modern
conception of a superhero, an idealized personification rather than (8)________________________. Donald
Trump sees himself in the same way. While Trump insists that he is force for good rather than evil, he truly
perceives himself to be qualitatively different from the rest of humankind. He has often compared himself to a
superhero. He has famously described himself as “a very stable genius” who has never made a mistake. He is
not lying when he makes these outrageous claims for Trump truly believes them to be true just as he believes
he won the 2020 election. At the same time Trump is incapable of describing an inner psychological life or of
identifying traces of reflection, emotional (9)______________________. Even though he talks about himself
all the time, Trump has never been able to explain his inner world or to narrate stories about how he has come
to be the person he is, as frustrated interviewers and biographers have repeatedly noted. At the center of
Trump's personality lies a narrative vacuum - the space with the self-defining life story should be but never
was. […] What Poniwozik meant is that Trump's behavior is not driven by the strategies, motivations and
beliefs that we typically attribute to (10)____________ people. If you want to gain insight into Trump ask
yourself this: what might happen next on television? what would a TV character do?
Situated in a middle ground between God and human beings, Satan is a liminal figure. He is like a person but
not quite a person. For one, he is gifted with superhuman powers of the sort Murray writes that children have
always imagined they might possess in the furthest reaches of their wish fulfilling fantasies. But he does not
possess certain qualities that adults especially value and recognize as part of the human Condition, he lacks
wisdom, for example, and love. He is not troubled by a complex inner life, by the doubts, ambivalences and
moral quandaries that routinely run through the consciousness of mature humans. He is instead like the modern
conception of a superhero, an idealized personification rather than (8)________________________. Donald
Trump sees himself in the same way. While Trump insists that he is force for good rather than evil, he truly
perceives himself to be qualitatively different from the rest of humankind. He has often compared himself to a
superhero. He has famously described himself as “a very stable genius” who has never made a mistake. He is
not lying when he makes these outrageous claims for Trump truly believes them to be true just as he believes
he won the 2020 election. At the same time Trump is incapable of describing an inner psychological life or of
identifying traces of reflection, emotional (9)______________________. Even though he talks about himself
all the time, Trump has never been able to explain his inner world or to narrate stories about how he has come
to be the person he is, as frustrated interviewers and biographers have repeatedly noted. At the center of
Trump's personality lies a narrative vacuum - the space with the self-defining life story should be but never
was. […] What Pony WK meant is that Trump's behavior is not driven by the strategies, motivations and
beliefs that we typically attribute to (10)____________ people. If you want to gain insight into Trump ask
yourself this: what might happen next on television? what would a TV character do?
1. twice impeached
2. not recoil
3. swap of the American electorate
4. Western theologians
5. perennially designated as evil
6. undergirding his reign
7. his adulation if thou
8. a fully articulated person
9. nuance, doubt or fallibility
10. full-fledged
