PTSD, self-sabotage: Trump campaign is worried

In an interview with CBS News, former President Donald Trump vigorously denied suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), despite reports, including from Vanity Fair, suggesting that he would watch a 7-second video of his assassination attempt on repeat, which many experts believe could indicate signs of trouble.

In addition, some of those close to him point to his many erratic comments and behaviors as either a manifestation of his PTSD, or an attempt to self-sabotage his election campaign in protest at Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race.

Trump tells CBC News that instead of suffering from PTSD, he’s convinced God preserved him because he wants Trump to save the country, if not the world. It’s nothing new that Trump sees himself as chosen by God to save the world; indeed, this has been a major aspect for proponents of the QAnon theory for several years.

But while donors and members of the Republican Party are encouraging Trump to focus on his policy agenda rather than engage in conspiracy theories or racial forwards, particularly against his rival Kamala Harris. Some believe instead that he is adopting these recent bizarre behaviors to sabotage his own campaign, suggesting that he would not be able to respond effectively to Joe Biden’s official withdrawal.

According to some, Trump feels cheated by Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 campaign. He would be in emotional mourning over his rival’s absence, and would find it difficult to regain control of the situation, which has evolved unexpectedly.

Instead, some people attribute the 78-year-old former president’s strange behavior to his old age, including former Fox News host Megyn Kelly. In her podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show, she recently asserted that Trump’s recent interview with Elon Musk revealed a Trump who had become dull and aged. Kelly even believes that if Trump is angry with her, it’s mostly because she’s been raising the former president’s aging issues for a long time.

Many people find it increasingly difficult to follow Trump’s reasoning, not least because he quickly loses track of his ideas, repeats himself with the same old speeches, shares fake images generated by artificial intelligence pretending they’re authentic… which seems an inevitable sign of old age… or that something more serious might be at play.

His father, Fred Trump Sr., was diagnosed with mild senile dementia late in life. Although the symptoms currently observed in the former president are different from those of his father, it is possible that this is linked to genetic predisposition.

Whether it’s due to old age, self-sabotage or PTSD, there’s clearly something wrong with Donald Trump.