An evaluative prediction from 9 years ago, spot on.

Nine years ago, I wrote the following posts: Will our next President be a psychopath?  and A psychopath slipped into the White House . . .

They showed you that Donald Trump was (and still is) a clinical psychopath.

The second post covered the Robert Hare Checklist of Psychopathy Symptoms, which includes 20 symptoms rated on a scale from 0 to 2.

(Spoiler alert: I concluded that Trump exhibits all 20 symptoms.) If you go to the post, you can examine those symptoms and see whether you agree with my analysis.

I just read, “What If We Could Treat Psychopathy in Childhood?” in the July/August edition of Scientific American Magazine (New strategies help to reduce callous and unemotional traits in children, guiding them toward productive lives) By Maia Szalavitz edited by Madhusree Mukerjee

Here are a few excerpts, along with my comments.

Lillyth Quillan knew almost immediately that something was wrong with her baby. At around eight months old with eight sharp new teeth, he began deliberately biting her breast as she fed him, then looking her in the eyes and laughing.

Even though she cried out and pulled him away for significant stretches of time, whenever she returned to nursing, he’d bite again—and then snicker. Within days she had to switch to bottle feeding.

Quillan’s son, Alex (his name has been changed for privacy), was almost expelled from preschool because he repeatedly hurt other children. In middle school he began stealing and selling his parents’ electronics. He would pretend to hug his mom, then headbutt her instead.

“I remember hitting my mom as a kid,” Alex says. “I know I shouldn’t have enjoyed it, but at the time, I did.” He adds, “If you’re looking for a reason, I wish I had it.” By high school he was using a gun to commit armed robberies.

According to Donald Trump’s own accounts and biographies, he was disruptive, aggressive, and hard to control as a child. He reportedly misbehaved frequently, and his parents became concerned about his behavior and lack of discipline.

At age 13, after some behavioral problems, his parents decided to send him to a military boarding school to instill discipline and structure.

The couple tried all types of discipline short of corporal punishment. They saw counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists; wasted thousands of dollars on brain scans; got diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Asperger’s syndrome; and tried medications, therapies and special education.

Nothing worked.

Finally, when Alex was 14, Quillan told her own therapist that she thought her son was a sociopath. The therapist said such terms weren’t used to describe children—but she diagnosed him with conduct disorder, which can be a precursor to psychopathy in adults.

Conduct disorder is characterized by defiance of rules, aggression toward people or animals, and ongoing cruelty such as bullying.

These three characteristics — defiance of rules, aggression toward people or animals, and ongoing cruelty such as bullying — perfectly define Trump.

The type that Alex turned out to have comes with so-called callous-unemotional (CU) traits and is seen in up to 2 percent of children. CU traits—a lack of empathy and generally low emotional response—can be caused or exacerbated by child abuse or neglect, but genetic predispositions alone can also spur their development.

Separating children from their parents and reveling in the harshness of the “Alligator Auschwitz” (Alcatraz) symbolize Trump’s lack of empathy.

When they appear as early as they did in Alex’s case, they are overwhelmingly driven by genetics and more likely to develop into adult psychopathy. (At least one relative on each side of Alex’s biological family seems to have some of these traits.)

According to reports, Donald’s father, Fred Trump, modeled ruthlessness and dominance, teaching Donald to view kindness as a sign of weakness.

He was hard-driving, ambitious, controlling, authoritarian, and demanding.

Success was measured almost entirely in financial or competitive terms, emotionally cold, practical to the point of ruthlessness, and not nurturing.

Fred promoted a clean image but was involved in questionable practices (e.g., racial discrimination in housing). This duality may have influenced Donald’s flexible morality and image obsession.

Donald’s mother, Mary Anne, reportedly prioritized appearances and social status.

She was emotionally distant. Her fascination with status and pageantry helped shape Donald’s later obsession with fame, wealth, and image.

Psychopathy sits at the uncomfortable intersection of mental illness and morality, with symptoms such as cruel behavior and remorselessness that inherently raise questions about the line between medicine and criminal law.

Television serials may dwell on the sadistic criminal, but research suggests executives and politicians also have high rates of psychopathic traits.

People with psychopathy can carry out cold, calculated crimes and cons that require significant planning, but they may also engage in wildly impulsive aggressive behavior.

They can understand the perspectives of other people well enough to manipulate their emotions but lack the intuitive emotional empathy that would help them care about causing harm.

Most disturbing, unlike people with classic psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, people with CU traits appear socially typical and may even be charismatic.

Trump has become the MAGA cult leader, not because of his intellect but because of his personal charisma.

Most MAGAs, know he is a liar, a cheat, and an incompetent, but they don’t care, because they feel they need him (even when he is hurting them, personally.)

That hypnotic spell is beginning to wear thin, as more people begin to resent looking like fools for supporting Trump.

According to a study published in 2021, among people imprisoned in the U.S., up to one quarter of men and up to 17 percent of women meet the criteria for psychopathy.

The condition is typically diagnosed based on a measure developed by psychologist Robert D. Hare.

Psychologist Christopher Patrick of Florida State University and his colleagues, divides psychopathic traits into three domains: boldness, meanness and disinhibition. The combination of fearlessness, callousness and remorselessness is unique to psychopathy.

Callous and unemotional traits are associated with alterations in the brain that impair the individual’s ability to experience sensations and emotions—especially negative ones—in themselves and in others. People with these characteristics have a reduced ability to feel pain.

In 2012 Jean Decety and his colleagues at the University of Chicago first showed that teens with CU traits have higher thresholds for their own pain and abnormal brain responses to images of other people in pain.

The researchers also measured brain-wave responses using electroencephalography (EEG) as these teens viewed pictures of others in painful situations.

Those with high levels of CU traits perceived others as having less pain than the other participants estimated. 

Alex says that when he was a child, he sometimes saw hitting his mother as being “playful.”

But, he adds, “If you flick my hand, I’m going to say ‘ow,’ but obviously it doesn’t hurt.” He literally did not perceive her pain.

He shows cruelty towards immigrants and political opponents, which does not bother him. He lacks empathy and compassion for others.

Psychopaths, despite their callous and unemotional traits easily make friends and—at least initially—seem charming.

Attention and focus are also aberrant in people with psychopathy.

Once CU children or psychopaths zero in on something they want to obtain or achieve, they tend to have an extremely restricted view of the world—so much so that they lose awareness of the potential for harm to themselves or others.

Trump appears indifferent to the people he hurts; their well-being does not seem to concern him.

“It’s like this ultrafocused attention on reaching a goal,” says neuropsychologist Inti Brazil of Radboud University in the Netherlands.

Viding, the developmental psychopathologist at University College London, for example, recalls working with a child who ritually killed ducks.

She describes it as a kind of habit for the child, resembling the type of obsessive interest and rigidly patterned behavior seen in some autistic children.

Those with CU traits easily make friends. They tend, however, to see relationships as ways to exert poweror get other things they want, not as reciprocal connections.

Callous-unemotional (CU) children deliberately violate laws and conventions. It is extraordinarily difficult to lovingly parent a child who doesn’t care about harming you or even enjoys it.

Yes, Donald Trump meets all the criteria for psychopathy. He is open about his callous disregard for human life.

However, what do psychologists say about his supporters—the voters, Republicans, and administration officials who lie on his behalf? What kind of individuals are most likely to follow a psychopath?

I posed this question to ChatGPT, and here is the response I received:

Psychologist Bob Altemeyer researched what he called Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) — not necessarily politically right-wing, but referring to people who: Submit to strong leaders, aggressively support those leaders against perceived enemies, and conform rigidly to group norms.

These followers tend to prefer black-and-white thinking, be uncomfortable with ambiguitym feel threatened by outsiders or change, and are especially vulnerable to charismatic, manipulative leaders—including psychopaths.

Translation: Followers look to Trump to save them from “evil” (his favorite epithet) immigrants and Democrats.

They believe the world is a competitive place where some groups should dominate others.

Translation: “My group should dominate all other groups.”

They are more likely to support leaders who show dominance, even cruelty, express contempt for the weak, violate norms to achieve power, and see psychopathic traits (e.g. ruthlessness, lying, manipulation) as signs of strength, not pathology.

Kidnap people ruthlessly from the streets, without trials, tear apart families, separate children, and imprison them in “Alligator Auschwitz” (or Alcatraz), then mock their suffering.

Some voters rationalize obvious lies, cruelty, or incompetencefrom a leader because they have committed their identity to that leader or movement. Admitting the truth would create psychological pain (cognitive dissonance).

They reinterpret facts to preserve self-image (“He’s a strong leader,” “The media is lying”), and this makes them stick with psychopaths even when confronted with overwhelming evidence.

Despite his losing over 60 trials, with no credible evidence found, Trump’s followers continue to repeat the false claim that the election was stolen.

Psychopathic leaders often create closed information loops: “Don’t trust the press.” “Only I tell the truth.” “We’re under attack.”

This isolates followers from alternative viewpoints, fostering cult-like loyalty. Social media algorithms, propaganda outlets, and partisan bubbles all intensify this.

Translation: Their only news comes from echo chambers like Fox News. Any news source that presents facts contradicting the party line is met with anger: “Immigrants (especially black- or brown-skinned) rape your women. They take your jobs. They commit violent crimes. I will Make America Great Again.”

Disempowered or economically anxious people may seek a “savior” figure who promises to punish the elites, break rules, restore lost status or identity.

Psychopathic leaders often position themselves as outsiders who will smash the system. This appeals to the alienated or resentful.

Examples: I will “drain the swamp” (despite him actually being the swamp). “They will not replace us.”

The “dark triad” in culture (Psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism) can become normalized or valorized, especially when media (i.e. Fox News et al) glamorizes antiheroes and rule-breakers. political culture rewards dominance over cooperation.

Followers mistake pathology for power, and cruelty for competence.

SUMMARY

Psychopathic leaders need willing followers. The psychology of those followers is shaped by fear, group identity, desire for order, emotional manipulation, and greed.

Followers are psychologically primed to respond to authority, charisma, threats, and promises of glory.

Sources: Chat GT; Bob Altemeyer – The Authoritarians; Erich Fromm – Escape from Freedom; Martha Stout – The Sociopath Next Door; Philip Zimbardo – The Lucifer Effect; Karen Stenner – The Authoritarian Dynamic; John Dean – Conservatives Without Conscience

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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