Trump’s Sadism Is Plain For All to See, If We’re Willing to See It

I have never tried to hide my antipathy for Donald Trump as both a person and a president. My feet have been solidly planted in the “Never Trump” camp ever since he came down that golden escalator in 2015. I have always sought, however, to be careful in how I express my distaste and judicious in my descriptions of Trump’s politics and character.

Words are powerful, even in this speech-saturated age of ours, and so I take very strongly the Bible’s admonition to be slow to speak and avoid rash and thoughtless speech. I do not want to be guilty of the same juvenile thinking that lies behind insults like “Demoncrat” and “Libtard.”

The words I’ve used to describe Trump in the past — “liar,” “narcissist,” “bully,” “grifter,” “racist,” — are all backed by verifiable facts, not the least of which are Trump’s own statements over the years. Tragically, we’ve now reached the point where those words, for all their accuracy, fail to adequately capture the evil that Trump so blithely celebrated when talking about Florida’s newly opened “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention center earlier this week.

Throughout the day, Trump advocated for stripping Americans of their citizenship, envisioned a system of concentration camps built across America, and chuckled when discussing the possibility of the center’s prisoners getting chased and eaten by alligators should they try and escape. These are the fruits of a soul driven by ambition, hatred, and zero-sum thinking, a soul unrestrained by compassion, civility, or virtue.

Trump has always idolized power and strength. But whereas a truly strong man knows how to restrain himself and ignore his baser instincts and desires, Trump doesn’t understand the meaning of those words. Ever the image-obsessed, Trump values the appearance of strength, but only in the form of brutality, retribution, and sadism.

Even as I write this, I confess to struggling with comprehending how things could get this bad. (Insert obligatory Nemik reference.) Trump can often seem cartoonish at times, with his rambling speeches, baseless braggadocio, and awkward invocations of God. But then the veil drops, as it did this week, and we see Trump for who he truly is, and what he truly represents.

Unfortunately, many Americans have chosen to turn a blind eye to Trump’s sadism. Perhaps they’ve stopped caring, or more understandably, have become exhausted by the constant assault on norms and dignity. But many Americans have stopped caring because Trump’s cruelty allows them to indulge in some cruelty of their own:

Shrewdly targeting the “right” groups (e.g., people with brown skin), Trump stokes fear, resentment, and hatred amongst his followers, who then trip over themselves to praise Trump’s agenda — even if his agenda ultimately ends up hurting them.

Originally published on The Atlantic back in 2018, Adam Serwer’s “The Cruelty Is the Point” remains one of the most insightful articles about Trump. I’d even go so far as to call Serwer “prophetic” as he reveals the moral rot at the heart of Trump’s presidency, a rot that has leeched its way into his followers’ souls:

Trump’s only true skill is the con; his only fundamental belief is that the United States is the birthright of straight, white, Christian men, and his only real, authentic pleasure is in cruelty. It is that cruelty, and the delight it brings them, that binds his most ardent supporters to him, in shared scorn for those they hate and fear: immigrants, black voters, feminists, and treasonous white men who empathize with any of those who would steal their birthright. The president’s ability to execute that cruelty through word and deed makes them euphoric. It makes them feel good, it makes them feel proud, it makes them feel happy, it makes them feel united. And as long as he makes them feel that way, they will let him get away with anything, no matter what it costs them.

At this point, if people don’t see Trump’s sadism or call out his evil for what it is, then it’s not because they can’t. It’s because they’ve chosen not to.

They’ve heard Trump’s hateful rhetoric. They’ve watched his reckless policies and strongman posturing. They’ve read about his plans to undermine our democracy’s foundational principles. They’ve seen ample evidence of his craven and immoral behavior. They’re aware of all of these things, and decided they’re totally OK with them.

By all indications, they believe such things are actually good and acceptable, that an America re-cast in Trump’s image is the exact sort of morally bankrupt hellhole in which they’d like to live. What they don’t realize, however, is that the reason such a version of America sounds so ideal is because they’ve already bankrupted some part of themselves.

They’ve sold a piece of themselves to Trump — a bit of decency, perhaps, or maybe some compassion or empathy — and they’re never getting it back.