Literally everyone who isn’t part of Trump’s cult can see that Obama lives rent-free in that area of Donald Trump’s head where a brain would otherwise be. President Obama couldn’t even deliver a short and vague high school commencement address – one that didn’t mention Trump, or anyone, specifically – without Trump firing off all kinds of over-the-top criticism, and this comes at the end of a week where Trump has been tweeting “OBAMAGATE!” and calling for Obama to be imprisoned. We won’t even get into the fact that Trump got his start in politics by famously demanding to see Obama’s “long-form” birth certificate and alleging Obama was “Kenyan.”
Trump’s obvious inferiority complex and insane jealousy have people talking about what it is about Obama that drives Trump to such lengths.
An article in today’s Guardian [1] interviewed a couple of insiders that have a pretty damn good theory:
There are a few reasons, argues Setmayer, host of the Honestly Speaking podcast. [2] “First off, Donald Trump has a problem where I think he’s just jealous of the fact that President Obama is still so admired. Number two, I think he has a problem with people of color who are in authority that don’t do the kind of song and dance that he wants them to do.
Obama is “uppity,” he never “asked” for the right to be with the elite. He demanded it, or – put more properly, his entire persona “commanded it.” If one wasn’t racist, one wanted to take him seriously and wanted his effort and input.
But I don’t think that’s the biggest thing. I think Mathew Miller – former Justice Department spokesperson – hit the biggest thing:
“There’s some racism there but, most of all, it’s driven by the fact that Obama has the thing that Trump has always craved but never achieved, and that’s respect. I’ve always thought that the respect that Barack Obama [3] gets from people in this country and around the world is something that just eats Trump alive inside.”
Yes, especially when that respect is given to a black man who won’t “shuck and jive” the way Trump expects.
Trump has always craved the respect of the elite. He hates his own supporters, he wants Obama’s supporters. He moved his father’s empire to Manhattan the moment he could, he wanted to be among “the best,” the biggest, the whatever. Obama can walk into any room in the elite world and be welcomed. There are very few in which Trump can walk and have people happy to see him.
The good news? This is no secret. And the campaign is just warming up. Obama can drive Trump absolutely insane, and when Trump is going particularly insane, he makes even more mistakes than usual. It should be very interesting to watch, as it becomes a strategy to have Obama say things that drive Trump insane.
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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom