What happens when a narcissist loses?
Narcissists are people who have an exaggerated sense of self-importance and grandeur. These people believe that they are superior to everybody else and that they are entitled to special treatment. Moreover, they tend to be obsessed with fame, success, and popularity. When such a person loses, you ought to expect rage, denial, and terror. Narcissists will never admit that they have made a mistake or that they have failed. Accepting defeat means accepting that you are not superior or entitled to special treatment. Of course, a narcissist views this as impossible.
Psychologists claim that President Donald Trump fits the psychological profile of a narcissist.
Speaking to Salon, Dr. Brandy X. Lee explained, “One does not have to diagnose to recognize pathological or toxic narcissism […] This is behavior, not a diagnosis — and the media need not fixate so much on ‘the Goldwater rule,’ which applies to only 6% of practicing mental health professionals.” The aforementioned Goldwater Rule states that “it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement.”
Donald Trump’s refusal to admit defeat is the perfect example of how a narcissist reacts to failure.
On November 3, Donald Trump lost the 2020 US Presidential Election. Ever since, he has refused to admit his loss and has reacted by denying the facts. CNN’s John Harwood discusses this as he writes that Donald Trump denied reality, faulted the election, and dismissed votes against him as illegal. This behavior is typical of a narcissist as those with NPD will never admit defeat. Instead, they will deny everything, ignore the facts, and even try to prove that evidence is fake.
President Donald Trump will stop at nothing to subvert the election.
On December 2, Trump released a 46-minute speech on Facebook in which he explained that there is solid evidence that the election was manipulated. AP reported that in his statement, President Trump “said there were facts and evidence of a mass conspiracy created by Democrats to steal the election”. Of course, as one might expect, Trump’s argument was not factual but rather “filled with conspiracies, misstatements and vows”.
The speech was seen as a narcissist’s desperate attempt to deny reality.
Kent Greenfield, a professor at Boston College Law School commented on the sitting president’s reaction to the election: “The depths of his petulance and narcissism continues to surprise me”. In addition to this, the Attorney General of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro also commented on the 46-minute speech as he tweeted:
Yes, I've seen that new video from the sitting president.
Yes, I'd like that time back.
No, I didn't hear any facts or evidence. What I did hear was a sad Facebook rant from a man who lost an election.
— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) December 2, 2020
Trump’s narcissism has resulted in “one of the darkest moments in the history of our democracy”.
On Wednesday, a mob of Trump supporters caused terror and chaos as they stormed the US Capitol building. BBC reports that the rioters stormed the building while lawmakers and Members of Congress had gathered “to count electoral votes to officially confirm Joe Biden’s victory.” At least four people have died as a result of the unrest and many were left injured. The Washington Post emphasized that “Trump has blood on his hands” as he had reportedly incited the mob violence. Marc A. Thiessen wrote that “The president of the United States invited a crowd of his supporters to Washington, ginned them up with lies about a stolen election, attacked members of Congress for being complicit in that theft and then sent them to the U.S. Capitol.”
Instead of condemning the behavior of the rioters, Trump said “We love you”.
What we witnessed yesterday was not dissent — it was disorder.
They weren’t protestors — they were rioters, insurrectionists, and domestic terrorists.
I wish we could say we couldn’t see it coming, but that isn’t true. We could.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 7, 2021
Before the election, psychologists predicted that we must expect chaos and terror.
Dr. Ramani Durvasula explained that if Donald Trump were to lose, the world would witness the adult version of a three-year-old refusing to go to bed: “They will just stand there, poignantly in their Superman pajamas and say NO, I am NOT going to bed, and drop to the ground and scream […] Plan on an adult version of that. As is often the case when a difficult personality style like this faces disappointment we tend to see a cascade of reactions – oppositionality, denial, rage, despair, paranoia, more rage, entitlement, victimhood, and vindictiveness.” What is worse, psychologists warn that on January 20, President Trump might just simply refuse to leave.
BBC reported that Donald Trump’s social media accounts have now been suspended.
More importantly, members of his cabinet are trying to find ways to remove his presidential powers before his term ends on January 20.
