this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2024
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I admit I do love it when Trump gets trolled.

(Weirdly, the post title didn't match the headline in the actual link, but the version Lemmy let me click on to make the title works better anyway.)

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

This has been tried many times before unfortunately. He's not going to release his medical information. The fact that it would have his actual height alone is enough reason for the narcissist to literally die before letting it come out.

So much of the authoritarian strong man mystique is the projection of strength and virility. One of the few things that could actually weaken his control over his supporters would be a medical report saying he's an average height male that is almost 80 and in below average health.

If that somehow came out without his permission, he, his campaign, and his most loyal operatives would invest tremendous effort in burying, denying, and obfuscating those facts. His followers would latch onto anything that would allow them to comfortably deny that.

Beyond the strong man thing, there is also an entire cohort of aging, white boomer men that have created a belief in their own worth, health, vitality, and importance through "seeing themselves" in Trump. He has become a central, dominant element of their personal identity and self image. If something made Trump's age, mental incompetence, and frailty undeniable, that entire cohort would have a complete mental and emotional breakdown. They would realize they're old, no longer central in culture, facing death, and have left a trail of wreckage where their friends and family used to be.

I'm not exaggerating when I say, I think there would be a dramatic increase in geriatric suicides.