A profile in courage, a narcissist, and a fascist bootlicker walk into a bar…
By Rob’s already put up a thread about this, but I feel compelled to highlight this particular exchange:
I am pretty confident that the whole world was just treated to a “readout” of how Putin manipulates the shit out of Trump.
The confidence game is all there, out in the open:
- Putin builds “trust” and “rapport” with Trump around the “shared experience” of being “victimized together” by the same “enemies.”
- Putin plays to Trump’s deep insecurities and status anxiety not only by telling him how much he respects him, but also by assuring Trump that he’s better than Obama and Biden.
Yes, Trump’s affinity for Putin clearly predates 2017. Yes, I still think part of the story is that Trump wants admission into the “strongman’s club” — even though, as president of the most powerful country on the planet, Trump is actually much, much higher in the international pecking order than Putin, Erdoğan, and the rest of them combined.
But it sure sounds like Trump craves Putin’s approval at a more basic, psychological level.
In Trump’s mind, Putin is one of the few people who can “credibly” tell him that, yes, he really is the best president ever. Or at least that Trump is more deserving of respect than i) the smarter, far more attractive, more popular black guy who mocked Trump in public and ii) the white dude who beat Trump at the ballot box.
Ugh.
