President Trump's Narcissism and Covid-19 — Letters that should have been in the new york times

To the editor

3.9.20

Jennifer Senior (NYT, 3.9.20, President Trump is Unfit for this Crisis. Period.) convincingly argues that President Trump's narcissism profoundly interferes with his capacity to fulfill his obligations to keep America safe in light of the multiple threats linked to the coronavirus. While for many of us this is a painfully old and familiar insight, one can wonder whether it will be any different this time around for those who support Trump? Maybe.

President Trump has characteristically tried to bolster his self-esteem - and rally support - by demonizing others. Fake news, immigrants, Obama ... the list goes on and on. Cultivating paranoia - a polarizing 'us versus them' mentality - has been a tool to sustain his narcissism. Bit it is hard to demonize a virus; it is apolitical and impersonal. Successfully fighting it requires humility and confronting one's own limitations - characteristics lacking in this President. His effort to manage the threat to his self-esteem caused by the virus has interfered with his ability to manage the very real threats posed by it.

Perhaps this crisis will have the unintended consequence of unifying our country in recognizing the real existential threat President Trump poses to our country by virtue of his psychological limitations and tendency to confuse real from imagined dangers.

Respectfully

Larry S. Sandberg