There is an expression stating that when one is getting flack, one is over the target. Furthermore, an observed condition known as Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) may be afflicting many of those firing flack in large amounts. TDS is characterized by sensationalized, pathological, and over-the-top hatred of former President Donald Trump, coupled with denial of his mainstream appeal.
MSNBC’s Rachel Madow would be described by many as showing classic symptoms of TDS. Responding to Trump’s decisive victory in the Iowa Caucuses, Madow spoke in run-on sentences that are nearly unreadable in print. Her rant would be nearly unintelligible but for the telltale anti-Trump fingerprints “authoritarianism” and “fascist” that are used twice each.
“If we are worried about the rise of authoritarianism in this country, if we are worried about the rise of potential rise of fascism in this country, if we are worried about our democracy falling an authoritarian and potentially fascist form of government, the leader who is trying to do that is part of that equation, but people wanting that is a much bigger part of that equation and the American electorate is made up of two major parties.”
She continued with a more straightforward sentence packed with additional go-to GOP-smearing cliches such as “extremism”, “ultra-right” and “radicalized”.
“One of those parties has been flirting with extremism on the ultra-right for a very long time…Once you have radicalized one major party so that those are the preferences of the people who adhere to your party, the leader’s interchangeable”
It’s plainly visible that Maddow is mentally ill and emotionally unstable. She is part of the rot of MSM. The day she walks away from public life will be a good day for America 🇺🇸Maddow Melts Down Over Trump Victory Blames Result On Radicalized Republicans https://t.co/qIrY2rWcvP
— Scott Campbell (@scottcsearch) January 16, 2024
Reprising the labels of “authoritarian” and “extreme”, one can give Madow credit for consistency in message:
“There is an authoritarian movement inside Republican politics that isn’t being bamboozled by Trump, they are pushing Trump to get more and more extreme because the more extreme things he says, the more they adhere, and that is coming from a very large proportion of the American right.”
Madow has been noted for her irrational takes on Donald Trump and the Republican party in the past. She continues to promote the alleged Trump-Russia collusion despite a definitive discrediting of the critical Steele dossier evidence. Howard Kurtz—in a The Daily Beast piece that praises Madow in many respects— stated that “she can get so wound up ripping Republicans that she sounds like another smug cable partisan”. Indeed, nearly 50% of the popular vote went to Trump in 2020 despite claims of “radicalism” and “extremism”.
Perhaps what drives Madow to deliver such an unhinged take on Trump’s Iowa victory is the real possibility he could defeat President Biden in November. Polls show Trump leading Joe Biden in several key battleground states. Additionally, a Trump victory would be a “lame duck” second term, yet national polls indicate that Americans still favor him in 2024 over a second Biden term.
