The 4 henchmen of Trump’s deteriorating mental state

Now 16 months into his second presidency, Donald Trump is generating considerable anxiety among his critics for a range of policies — from the Iran war to extreme gerrymandering to criminal investigations of Trump foes at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Another major concern is Trump's mental state, which journalists Molly Jong-Fast and Michael Tomasky examine in The New Republic.

Some of Trump's recent actions, Jong-Fast and Tomasky observe, have shocked and offended even parts of his hardcore MAGA base — raising questions about his mental health.

"That moment on April 12, when Trump reposted an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus, on the same day he was picking a fight with the Pope, was a little much even for his admirers," Jong-Fast and Tomasky, both frequent guests on MS NOW, note in their New Republic piece. "He took it down and, laughably, tried to say it was an image of him as a doctor."

Angelo Carusone of the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America believes that Trump's mental health is much worse during his second term than it was during his first.

Carusone, in an interview with Jong-Fast and Tomasky, said of Trump's deterioration, "The past year, I will say it's accelerated more than anything. It's really noticeable…. There's a lack of crispness in his articulation…. He just reads the room less effectively. He's less nimble.… less responsive to where the crowd is."

Jong-Fast and Tomasky lay out four henchmen of Trump's deteriorating "mental state," all of which, they warn, indicate that he is "mentally unfit."

They are: (1) "age," (2) "dementia," (3) "arrogance," and (4) "stupidity."

"Whatever the explanation," Jong-Fast and Tomasky warn, "the bottom line is sobering. The person with the power to sic the Justice Department on perceived political foes; to send masked, heavily armed, and poorly trained troops out among the populace; and to order a nuclear attack is slipping. Maybe fast. And the chance that his Cabinet or his party will do anything about it is zero, which means we're going to have to survive two and a half more years of this."

Psychologist Mary Trump, the president's niece, has had a lot to say about her uncle's mental state — which, she believes, is even worse now than when she wrote her 2020 book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man." President Trump, according to his anti-MAGA niece, suffers from both extreme arrogance and deep insecurity at the same time.

"This is the really dark and twisted side of Trump's arrogance," Jong-Fast and Tomasky warn. "He needs to be right about everything because deep down, he knows that he knows nothing — about history or economic policy or health care. He needs to dominate because deep down, he's massively insecure. He is contemptuous of everyone — his enemies, of course, and 'Sleepy Joe,' and radical left lunatics — but also, of a lot of his groveling supporters. Do you think he has an ounce of respect for, say, former U.S. Attorney General) Pam Bondi or (Sen.) Ted Cruz?"

Jong-Fast and Tomasky continue, "But in the end, ('Art of the Deal' co-author Tony) Schwartz believes, 'There is nobody he's more contemptuous of than himself.' The arrogance and grandiosity are a mask. That's what makes the title of Mary Trump’s 2020 book about her uncle so brilliant: 'Too Much and Never Enough.' He always needs too much, and yet, it's never enough for him…. The more vulnerable he feels, the more arrogant he'll become — the more likely he'll be to post about, oh, destroying an entire civilization."