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We Need to Use Stronger Terms for Trump [1]

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Date: 2025-02-03

Dems need to use words that pack a punch.

We commonly call Trump “crazy”, for instance, but the word has little power. “Crazy” can even be used for good things, like in football saying, “That was a crazy play but it worked!” Or in business, “It was a crazy idea but it ended up being our new campaign”.

Dem pundits also like to call Trump “unhinged”. At least, unlike “crazy”, all the connotations are negative. But it’s still not powerful. It’s abstract in that it starts with an “un”. Gee, he’s lost his hinge. “Unhinged” even suggests that “He’s usually okay, but today he lost it.”

Note, too, that “crazy” and “unhinged” are words that Dems commonly apply to rightwing politicians and pundits besides Trump whenever they get super reactive or, I’ll say it, “crazy”. So the words lack a singular effect when applied to Trump.

Let’s start instead from the premise that Trump really IS certifiably crazy. He’s an expert promoter, bully, and con man, but, beyond that, he is out of touch with reality, has no idea what he’s doing, and has zero concern for however many people he hurts in the process of getting what he wants.

So our wording should make it clear that THAT’s what we’re talking about. For example, phrases like “lost his marbles” or “mentally ill” at least make it clear what we mean. Some other terms could be “not playing with a full deck” or “doesn’t have both oars in the water”. We are talking about a psychological/mental deficiency, not a one-time stupid act.

There are many other slang terms for “crazy”, like “batty”, “bonkers” and “nuts”, but none of them are used uniquely for someone who is, in psychiatric terms, crazy. So they lack punch. Even “insane” has lost its punch through overuse. “Not sane” is stronger.

“Psychotic” may be accurate, but in the popular mind it’s either associated with murdering someone (so it seems like hyperbole) or not clear (I’ve had to look up the meaning a half dozen times over the years; the clinical definition never sticks.)

“Malignant narcissist” is another commonly used term for Trump, and it’s accurate but super wonky and doesn’t say he’s mentally ill. Just a jerk you wouldn’t want to be around.

If Dem reps and pundits routinely described Trump as having “lost his marbles”, for example, it might drive home, more memorably, what they really mean, with a chance to become a meme and break through the normalizing media fog that surrounds him.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/3/2301218/-We-Need-to-Use-Stronger-Terms-for-Trump?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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