The final presidential debate this evening was another opportunity to witness the narcissistic, immature mind at work. As expected, we observed defensive and insulting interruptions during Secretary Clinton’s time on the microphone (e.g., “wrong,” “gimme a break,” “you’re the liar,” and “such a nasty woman”). In fact, tonight’s event may have been the first time a major political candidate (a 70-year-old man at that) employed the I-know-you-are -but-what-am-I defense when he repeatedly told Mrs. Clinton that she “was the puppet.”
As I have previously discussed, the child-like narcissistic mind is often in self-preservation mode and this is typically characterized by intimidation, a sense of self-entitlement, grandiosity, ruthlessness, and an out and out refusal to admit failure. For example, as stated by Mrs. Clinton, Donald Trump thinks belittling women makes him bigger.
The sense of conscience and feelings of empathy are also absent in the immature narcissistic mind. The ability to discriminate between what is right and what is wrong is often lost as is the capacity to feel guilt when one has wronged another person. Disputing the growing number of women coming forward with allegations of sexual assault as mere attempts at “fifteen minutes of fame” or as part of a conspiracy by the opponent (and attacking the Khan family, mimicking a disabled reporter, insulting prisoners of war) was consistent with this lack of conscience and empathy. Secretary Clinton summed it up quite succinctly tonight: “it’s not one thing, it is a pattern of divisiveness, dangerous vision of our country.”
Additionally, the child-like narcissist is without compassion. This could be observed in the verbal and nonverbal behavior displayed by Mr. Trump this evening with his numerous scowls, squints, smirks, eye-rolls, sneers, and dismissive head shaking…during times when the individual suffering of people in different parts of the world was being discussed (e.g., Syrian refugees, women’s health issues, Veterans and military service members). The narcissist’s goal is praise, validation, and the protection of the self from injury. Frankly, all others be damned.
A shocking development in tonight’s debate was Mr. Trump’s refusal to state for the record that he would accept the results of the election. More specifically, he said he would “look at it” and “keep [us] in suspense.” This goes against decades of historical precedent in our electoral system. What the viewers saw tonight may have been a result of the narcissist’s remarkable lack of insight and a disqualifying moment in this campaign. In many instances, the narcissist’s maintenance of the public persona takes priority at all costs…over conveying the truth…over national security concerns…over the advice of campaign strategists…and now over the long-standing tradition of the peaceful transfer of power. Simply put, under no circumstances can the immature narcissist admit he is a loser.
Mr. Trump’s refusal to accept the election results is truly stunning. However, there is great wisdom in the words of political analyst Hugh Hewitt: “You [the candidate] cannot be contingent about elections that are not close.”