Now that my post: “Does Trump Have Early Stage Alzheimer’s?” has reached over 730 likes, I found it intriguing to see the wide range of responses. They essentially fell into two camps. One was those who found the article reinforced their anti-Trump attitude and view that Trump really was nuts. The other camp was the Trump supporters who responded by attacking the “liberal” media, trashed the Huff Post, and accused Hillary for lying and being equally or more crazy. A few claimed I was “just a writer and no expert,” although my article primarily cited authorities on the topic.
I even got a message from one Trump supporter who stated that he was with a film production company and received an email from my company about a film project. He went on to say “So you know Donald J. Trump is my cousin” and complained that my Changemakers Publishing site was trashing him. He thought I “should no (sic) – nothing personal just business.” Was that an implied threat about not doing business together – or something more? I promptly took his company out of my database to be sure he didn’t get any emails from me or my associate.
I got the responses to my post in two ways. One way was by posting links to my Huffington Post article on Facebook posts of negative news stories and articles about Trump. The other way was promoting my post on my Changemakers Publishing page through a small Facebook ad campaign, where I found that many respondents were fervent pro-Trumpers and ready to bash anyone who dared to question his abilities or sanity. While some responses were directly in response to my article, others were part of a continuing conversation in which I posted a link to my article. In any case, I found it interesting to see the big split in the responses. I have not included any names to protect the identity of the commentators, though you might find them in the Facebook archives.
So here goes, starting with the Trump defenders, many of whom probably didn’t read my 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 the 10 core symptoms. These were references by many of the authorities I cited to support my suggestion that 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. I gave plenty of examples of Trump’s recent behavior to support this viewpoint, such as Trump 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. You can see my article on Trump and Alzheimer’s for specifics.
One way to dispute an unwanted message is to attack the messenger, which many Trump defenders did by attacking the media. As one Trumpkin commented: “Are there no depths too low for the media? Answer: no, there are not.” Another proclaimed: “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.” Another commented: “God the kooks are desperate to endlessly push this garbage.”
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,” to which another Trumpeteer added: “What lies!! Sickening…”, a sentiment echoed by another supporter who said: “Apparently journalism is dead,” and another who proclaimed: “Huff Post is not journalism.” Still another Trumpkin blasted the Huffington Post as “a liberal propaganda site spreading lies filtered through the ass of George Soros.”
Some seemed to think the media revelations about Trump actually helped him by backfiring on the media, though they were clearly wrong, and rather showed their own ignorance by responding with unsupported and uninformed posts. As one Trump defender put it: “The funny thing is that you people at the H Post actually think this kind of crap hurts him when it actually helps him because the more you spew your bullshit, the more we can see how corrupt the system is and support for Trump grows…what idiots you people are.”
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.”
“People will NOT forget what the DNC did no matter how much TRUMP does what ever and says what ever. That does NOT negate what she did to sanders. AND more emails are being released.”
“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 actual evidence is…KilLIARy Clinton suffering from epilepsy caused by issues in her brain like tumors, strokes…and evidence by multiple bouts of dizziness, fainting, and lethargy. She also looks like Evi Lyn’s even older aunt and has the same mentality of Skeletor.”
“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. P.S. She has a trail of destruction and dishonesty, but most importantly she has blood on her hands! Such a disgrace. 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.” Still another posted that the whole battle didn’t really matter, because “Everyone from opposing political parties deposits their money in the same banks. Guess who’s really getting paid.”
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. By contrast, as I’ll describe in a subsequent article, the anti-Trumpers were generally more well-informed and literate in responding and citing other sources they had read.
Given this ongoing election battle, I have written a series of articles and books about Trump and the election out of a genuine concern about the future of the United States and the potential damages Trump could inflict on America and the world, should he become the most powerful person as President of the United States.
You can see more examples of the dangers Trump presents in the books I have written. A listing of the full series is at Who Is Trump Really? (also accessible from http://www.trumpisnuts.net and http://www.trumpisanut.com. For my most recent books, I teamed up with a cartoonist and we wrote Trump Is Nuts! An Illustrated Guide and Coloring Book on the Many Ways that Trump Has Gone Nuts and Trump Is An Animal!
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