PSYCHOLOGICAL PROJECTION

Mickey Skidmore, AMHSW, ACSW

Throughout the Trump era he has become a vortex to a library of lies in support of his twisted and convoluted alternate reality. Along the way to corrupting the Executive Branch; the Department of Justice; and the Supreme Court, he has also effectively commandeered the entire Republican Party (GOP) which now operates more like a mafia crime family rather than a major political party. And he has taken the lead and modelled the unbridled character assassination of numerous individuals who dared to challenge him towards these ends or hold him accountable for his crimes and malfeasance.

As a psychotherapist it seemed obvious to me that in concert with misinformation, disinformation, and lies, that Trump frequently engages in psychological projection. Projection alone means attributing one’s own ideas or impulses to another. By implication, this is done because one finds their own ideas or impulse objectionable (or wrong). It is the act of giving objective or seeming reality to what is subjective. 

The person who blames another for their own mistakes or seeks a scapegoat is using the projection mechanism. Whatever is painful or dangerous or threatening from within may be projected onto another person or upon some part of reality. Projection is one of the first defensive or protective measures employed by a child in defence of his narcissism. In other words, the individual deals with emotional conflict or internal or external stressors by falsely attributing to another his or her own unacceptable feelings, impulses, or thoughts (DSM).

The most recent and blatant example of this is in the new House of Representatives who won a narrow majority in the past mid-term election in the US. With their new found majority they have opted to pursue their own investigations on the “weaponisation of the government” in response to efforts within the legal system to hold Trump accountable for his (alleged) criminal actions. Their objections thus far, are based solely on innuendo and a seemingly endless regurgitation of previously disproven conspiracy theories and “what-aboutism” comparisons that are not really comparable. And while their objective is clearly to undermine the concept that no one is above the law (except Trump apparently), at the heart of this effort is psychological projection.

To be clear, there are numerous examples of when Trump has utilised this dynamic. And now his sycophants in the compromised GOP have followed his lead in taking up the mantle of this dynamic as well. Most of the discussions they have against other individuals are really looking in the mirror at themselves.

For months now there have been reports that a decision regarding a possible indictment in Georgia was “imminent.” The AG has signalled in this case that a decision is likely to be announced by August 2023. Earlier this year, Trump was indicted in New York regarding alleged hush money payments made to an adult film star. And more recently he has also  been federally indicted around the Government records being held at Marlago after the completion of Trump’s last term. Additionally, another federal indictment around the January 6th attempted coup appears to be showing increased momentum as well. I’m not sure whether the press or the lawyers are unclear about the term “imminent,” as several more months have passed and Trump continues to be successful in evading nearly any legal accountability for his escalating lawlessness (other than his conviction for sexual assault and defamation in a New York civil case).

Ayman Mohyeldin called the GOP committee efforts to interfere with the New York hush money case “the mother of all ironies” for “targeting a local prosecutor for an investigation they don’t like and bringing the full force of their congressional powers in the House against Alvin Bragg to try and stop him from doing his job.” It is also beyond ironic that the GOP’s committee to investigate the “weaponisation of the government” is a prime example of how the principle of projection is utilised, and in fact engages in a type of reverse verification system to justify its assertions.

The Republican Party has become the very cancel culture it pretends to rail against. One shouldn’t be surprised however, as Trump has been preparing followers for his martyrdom for years and evangelising to them the idea that any sanctioning of him is an attack on them. This transference of feelings of persecution and pain from manufactured victimhood is a classic psychological device of a cult leader. This is accomplished by engaging in gaslighting; misinformation; disinformation; repetitious lying; and the Orwellian twisting and contorting of the facts that works so well in concert with psychological projection.

Just a quick review of what has transpired in the Trump era as a result of these efforts for which I fear he may never be held accountable for:

Donald Trump lost re-election but refused to concede and instead claimed without basis that the election was stolen from him; then pushed state officials to change their tallies; hatched a plot to name fake electors; tried to persuade the vice-president to refuse to certify electoral college votes; sought access to voting-machine data and software; got his allies in Congress to agree to question the electoral votes and thereby shift the decision to the House of Representatives; and summoned his supporters to Washington on the day electoral votes were to be counted and urged them to march on the US Capitol, where they rioted and attempted an insurrection.

You can consider me “woke” if you wish. However, nearly any (legal) definition(s) this would be viewed as treason. Based on the adage “justice delayed is justice denied”, my own projection is the fear that the more time goes by, the less likely it is that Trump will be held legally accountable for any of his corruption.

REFERENCES

  1. Psychiatric Dictionary
  2. DSM, American Psychiatric Association, Copyright 2000, Washington, DC