A former Department of Justice prosecutor who investigated Donald Trump for racketeering believes that the former president is facing an emotional and psychological crisis as the reality of his upcoming criminal trial sets in.
“The alternate reality Trump lives in is crumbling,” said McCallion. “He has always been a winner, and now he’s in a place where he has had to rebrand himself as a victim of a system out to get him.”
Trump is presenting himself to his followers as a victim, someone being persecuted. He obviously wants the world to remember and think of him as strong and resolute, and basically a good guy despite his personal peccadilloes. So, that self-image and definition of himself, which has been the basis for his popularity among many millions of Americans, is now being challenged.
McCallion believes that Trump’s ego is at risk now that he is being exposed to ridicule in a situation where his hands are tied by courtroom protocol and rules. He explained that Trump, for all of his bluster, is very thin-skinned.
“When he’s been subjected to ridicule and laughed at, that is extremely emotionally and psychologically painful to him,” he said.
McCallion believes that Trump might actually be trying to get tossed in jail now. “I think that Donald Trump is probably trying to get himself thrown into prison or in a soundproof plexiglass box in the courtroom. This would enhance the narrative of martyrdom he is promoting, which resonates with his base.”
Trump is set to go on trial in Manhattan on charges related to hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. He has also been indicted in federal court for mishandling classified documents and attempting to unlawfully overturn his 2020 election loss, as well as an indictment in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to overturn that state’s election results.
