Trump’s White Cult Followers Deadly Coronavirus Rallies by Robert Covington Jr.
“The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness.” -Plato
Donald Trump is a narcissistic psychopath, an authoritarian fascist and at his core, a fundamentally violent and dangerous man. His violence is exercised through rhetoric, policy and action. He does not value human life and does not feel guilt or shame for causing harm, suffering or humiliation to others. The exploitation of others are permissible by his own thoughts of personal exoneration. In his pathological mind, he is free from norms, rules and consequences. Trump is a living nightmare and a menace to society.
The latest example of Trump’s absence of empathy and psychopathic evil is the scheduled Oklahoma rally on June 20th, 2020. To people of awareness and conscience, it is no surprise that Trump is ignoring Oklahoma’s health and political officials call to cancel the event amid the burgeoning health crisis in that state because of the coronavirus. Oklahoma is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city of Tulsa, and the state in general. The prospect of mass sickness and death of fellow Americans mean nothing to him. To a man like Trump, human life is transactional, sacrificial and functions to serve his narcissism.
The bigger story is Trump’s white cult followers that live in Oklahoma and are prepared to risk their lives, family members, coworkers and community members to the deadly virus. The indoor setting of the anticipated 19,000 supporters yelling, screaming and hollering for an hour or two as they spread aerosol droplets in the air with the vitriol of anger that inspired their presence in the first place. Not only that, the attendees of the death rally have agreed to sign a waiver removing any liability to Trump and his organization for anyone that contracts the coronavirus at the venue.
Their affinity and allegiance to Trump supersede rational thought and behavior. Their identification with Trump gives them the feeling of relevance, importance and self-worth. Their life’s failures are auctioned off to the great leader. Their past pain and abuse are ignored or repressed for the sake of convenience and denial.
Elizabeth Mika, mental health expert and one of the authors in the best selling book: The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump; puts the unhealthy identification with tyrants like Trump this way: “Through the process of identification, the tyrant’s followers absorb his omnipotence and glory and imagine themselves as powerful as he is, the winners in the game of life.” Mika also states: The people see in him their long-awaited savior and a father substitute, hinting at the narcissistic abuse implicated in the authoritarian upbringing that demands obedience and worship of the all-powerful parental figure.”
To a healthy person, trying to imagine emotional and psychological refuge in a man like Trump is unfathomable. However, Trump’s white cult followers represent a much larger portion of our sick society than many of us were willing to admit. They serve as a window into the harmful and abusive relationships that so many Americans find themselves in or have experienced at some point.
Trump sees so much of himself in them, a mutual relationship of self-destruction takes place. They feed his own avoidance of reality, which has always been too painful to deal with, with his compensating narcissism in the form of praise and adulation.
Trump’s white cult followers in Oklahoma willingness to get sick and die, just to feel special and fake loved by a fleeting con man exploiting their vulnerabilities as a human being, will undoubtedly be another dark chapter in the terrorizing presidency of Donald Trump.
Sadly, this is just the beginning of a summer and fall season filled with similarly horrifying coronavirus rallies across the country. Unfortunately for many Americans who will be exposed to the consequences of their callous and irresponsible actions of Trump’s white cult followers, November 3rd will be too late.
Follow me on twitter: @robcovingtonjr
