Trump's obsession with past presidents may reveal deeper mental fitness concerns

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump blasted a torrent of AI-slop across social media, much of which was intended to portray him as “the badass that he isn’t and will never be.” According to Boston Globe columnist Renee Graham, however, rather than making him look great, the president’s “cringe-worthy nonsense” exposed his own version of “derangement syndrome.” In Trump’s case, his derangement involves Barack Obama.

“Among the many asinine AI-generated images that President Trump posted on his social media site on Saturday, anything pertaining to the solemn 82d anniversary of World War II’s D-Day invasion was not among them,” noted Graham. “Instead there was an AI slop music video of Trump skydiving; carrying a pizza with tomato sauce fashioned into a self-portrait; riding a lion and a motorcycle; and being the badass that he isn’t and will never be. There was also a lot of other cringe-worthy nonsense unlikely to quell growing alarm about his mental fitness.”

At some point, Trump turned the aim of his social media slop on Obama.

“For the second time in recent days, Trump depicted the soon-to-open Obama Presidential Center in Chicago as a dumpster topped with a garbage bag, this time surrounded by a squalid tent city,” Graham explained. “Of the four living former presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Joe Biden, and Obama — Trump is most obsessed with the man whose presidency preceded his own first term.”

Why? According to Graham, “He hates him because he ain’t him.”As an example, she said one needs look no further than Monday’s Knicks game.

“Remember that time Obama attended a sporting event and got mercilessly booed? You probably don’t because it has never happened. In any arena he’s visited, Obama has been greeted warmly,” wrote Graham. “But when Trump appeared on the Jumbotron at Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, he was ferociously booed.”

Afterward, Trump tried to spin the humiliating scene, telling reporters, “It was, I think, mostly cheers. It was loud, and it was very enthusiastic.” But according to Graham, “What millions heard was the sound of a nation’s deepening dissatisfaction with Trump. Yet instead of trying to salvage his presidency with policies that work for a majority of Americans instead of only his wealthy pals, Trump is dissing Obama’s library and the man himself.”

While Trump and his allies have spent years claiming that anyone who criticized him had “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Graham asserts that “as usual with Trump, every accusation is a confession. It’s Trump who is completely deranged when it comes to Obama.”

She pointed out that even before entering politics, Trump attempted to delegitimize Obama’s presidency with lies regarding his birthplace, claiming he was born in Kenya. Later as president, Trump claimed that Obama had committed “treason” and had tried to “steal” the 2016 election for Hilary Clinton. More recently, he posted an AI-generated video portraying both Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, which prompted so much outrage that he took the rare step of deleting the post.

And according to Graham, while much of it may seem like “infantile” nonsense, in the real world, “the ramifications of Trump’s Obama derangement syndrome are far more grim.”

In 2018, Trump withdrew from his predecessor’s peace deal with Iran, and leaks later revealed that he did it “to spite Obama.” Now, as Trump’s war with Iran drags on with no end in sight, “Trump, according to a recent report in The Atlantic, is desperate to make a deal that doesn’t fall short of Obama’s.”

Graham’s assessment of why Trump is so bothered by Obama would likely rankle the former’s syndrome regarding the latter.

“It should go without saying that Trump’s disdain for Obama is driven by racism — the heartbeat of MAGA,” Graham explained. “Trump can’t fathom how a Black man was twice elected president, led this nation for eight years without a major scandal, has an admired marriage to an accomplished woman, and is arguably one of the most revered former presidents in American history. At a time when Trump’s administration is diminishing, if not outright erasing, the achievements of anyone who isn’t a straight white man, Obama’s star remains undimmable. In every way, Obama is the anti-Trump, and it drives Trump crazy.”