The Savior of Women. A Trumpian Delusion.

Indiana, PA, 9/24/24. GOP candidate Donald J. Trump is frustrated at the large fraction of women who do not support him out of anger over the SCOTUS decision reversing Roe-v-Wade. In response, has come out with the statement in a speech that he will be the ‘protector’ of women and through him they will be protected from danger.

“I am your protector. I want to be your protector,” Trump said. “You will no longer be abandoned, lonely, or scared. You will no longer be in danger—you’re not going to be in danger any longer—you will no longer have anxiety from any of the problems our country has today, you will be protected, and I will be your protector.” He concluded, “You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”

This is at once pathetic and comical. Pathetic because of his abusive history with women and comical because it’s an image of a man clawing so desperately for votes that the irony of his words is imperceptible to him. It’s a Greek tragedy in real time.

I have been searching for the name of an archetype wherein someone is tragically never in doubt but frequently wrong. And THIS IS IT!! The Trumpian Delusion.

As someone who traffics in branding and the illusion of luxury, it is only natural that Trump would try to brand himself as a savior of women. What could be more tribal than the loyalty to and protection of women? Maybe he is sincere and believes in what he is saying- I don’t know. Regardless, it is political chicanery meant to distract from the many corrosive aspects of another Trump presidency. It is like a magician distracting his audience from what is really happening.

Trump is an excellent and persuasive public speaker from a theatrical standpoint. He and Ronald Reagan are very much alike in this way. His ability to grasp objective facts, however, seems nearly absent. But he doesn’t care. His specialty is soaring rhetoric appealing to a long-neglected demographic- the under educated, Christian fundamentalists and working poor.

Trump will utter 1 1/2 sentences of nonsense, but before the thought is complete, he switches his line of thought and lurches in another direction, yet his followers are only too eager to spoon in the gobbledygook. He dresses up as antiestablishment in the political arena but is deeply embedded in the American financial oligarchy.

He should retire and be an after-dinner speaker, that is his real talent.