[quote=svelte]I still can’t figure Trump out. I don’t think he is stupid. So why exactly is he doing what he’s doing?
Theories I haven’t eliminated yet:
– He wants to throw the election to the Dems. (he’s doing a bang-up job)
– He loves the attention. (again, bang-up job)
– He has equal parts crazy to go with the intelligence. (totally plausible)
I thought maybe there was a fourth option that he saw himself as more popular than he is, but his recent statements that it’s OK if he loses lean me away from that theory.[/quote]
Trump is not smart. Smart people can spell. Smart people can string together a coherent sentence.
He probably has some animal cunning which has helped him in his business dealings (along with healthy doses of luck, inheritance, and a willingness to screw everyone else over). But I don’t think he is “smart” in the typically accepted sense.
His reason for running seems pretty clear to me: he has severe narcissistic personality disorder, and winning the presidency would be the ultimate ego high. His inability to make good decisions or stop screwing up is part of his mental illness. He literally cannot recognize what a buffoon he is, thinking instead that the problem is with everyone else, all of whom are inferior to him.
What’s a lot more surprising to me is how many people have fallen for his incredibly obvious act. It’s extremely disappointing.
