Alan Zendell, August 29, 2024

The first half of 2024 was marked by constant attacks on Joe Biden’s fitness to serve as president for another four years. Were he re-elected, he would have been 86 when his second term ended. Love him or hate him, most people accept that dropping out of the race was the right thing for him to do. They may disagree about whether his decision to withdraw from the race was a noble act of self-sacrifice for the greater good of the country, or an action he was forced to take against his will, but history will likely view it as a fitting coda to his legacy, as will I.

The tell is how he responded afterward. He never said it was unfair, never whined about being forced out. Instead, he has behaved like the classy politician and leader he is, offering full-throated support to his successor for the nomination, Kamala Harris. Whenever he’s asked, he reminds us that the first and only priority in November is protecting the country from a second Trump administration and Project 2025.

Let’s put Donald Trump through the same wringer of public opinion and see how he fares. Despite more than sixty court rulings debunking his claim that the 2020 was stolen from him by a Democratic conspiracy, and dozens of investigations and recounts that found no evidence of the fraud Trump claims occurred, he is so obsessed with his defeat that he repeats his lies and complaints every time he has an audience. Most Republicans are appalled by his behavior, publicly begging him to stay on script.

His 2016 campaign playbook was to seize on the anger and grievances of everyone who was envious of people who were more successful or who had more money and expensive toys. Trump’s history tells us his primary talent is predation; he senses other people’s vulnerability and pounces on it, not letting go until they swear personal allegiance to him. He claims that’s just his style, and campaigning that way offers him the best chance of victory, but is it?

It’s time Trump supporters realized that style has nothing to do with his behavior. His dismal, frightening performances at campaign rallies since Kamala Harris was anointed as his opponent were driven by two things, both of which make him the worst possible choice to govern the United States. One is his inability to control his feelings, particularly his anger and his desperate need for power and adulation. These are well-established symptoms of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) he suffers from.

Make no mistake, NPD is a very serious mental illness. What would a competent source that has no political ax to grind tell us? The Mayo Clinic says, “Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.” If I didn’t know better, I might think that was intended as a description of Donald Trump. Is that the kind of unstable, filterless, irrational person we want leading us?

On top of his NPD, Donald Trump is 78. Biden’s undoing was a ninety-minute high-speed assault by Trump in his most vicious predator mode. At 81, while still competent to do his job, Biden didn’t have the physical or emotional stamina to withstand the kind of attack that Trump used to take down everyone who opposed him in either party. Biden attended what he thought was a debate. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t that.

Biden’s moment of truth occurred quickly, but Trump exhibits similar limitations and shortcomings more subtly. Critics all over the political spectrum are noting that Trump, who always hated having to obey laws and follow rules, no longer has any guardrails or boundaries. That’s a classical sign of cognitive decline. Consider: a former president of the United States who is running for re-election as much to avoid a prison sentence as to lead, who is in desperate legal trouble and plummeting in the polls, is told by every advisor and supporter that he must run a disciplined campaign. Yet, he shows no ability to do so. Is that style or is it a symptom of a self-absorbed decline into madness?

Do you really want a president who posts that his opponent accomplished what she has by offering blowjobs to powerful people? Or, depending on the moment, that she is stupid, a Communist, or not as pretty as he is? Is it not obvious by now that Trump is beyond dangerous, and our country might not survive another four years of autocratic ambitions?

One thing I will never understand about the last nine years is how people cannot see and understand what is right there in plain sight. Donald Trump is severely mentally ill, sociopathic, and completely lacking a moral center. He cannot ever be allowed near the White House again.