I do not subscribe to the Donald Trump is near senility, if not already senile, theory, nor the idea that he is suffering from dementia.
I do strongly believe, however, that he is not in touch with reality—or at least what we regular folks recognize as a shared basis for existence in which there are still basic facts and established truths. I believe that he has constructed a universe of self-serving lies in which his consciousness, such as it is, resides. In his personal universe of lies, there is nothing but lies—the lies he tells himself and the lies he tells others—and so it’s not so much that he is a compulsive liar as it is that there is nothing but lies in his world—the lies that make him feel good, safe, loved, appreciated, admired, whatever—so he has nothing to express but more lies to account for his other lies or embellish his other lies. Donald Trump is living a lie and a living lie.
Furthermore, I believe that Republicans en masse have over the past 50 years or so entered into a similar universe of lies and now for the most part reside in this universe. It is not the reality that we live in, but a place built of and resting on nothing but lies. The supply side economics lie, the immigrants are bad lie, the taxes are too high lie, the social security/medicare is going to bankrupt the country lie, the white race is threatened lie, the gays are evil sinners lie, the left-wing media lie, the deep state lie, the good guys have guns lie, the rampant crime lie, the existence of radical “elites” lie, the failing public schools lie, the climate change is not real lie—there are so many lies they have been told, that they tell, and now they are caught in their web of lies. This is their universe, and in it, like Donald Trump, they can do nothing but repeat lies they have heard or embellish on those lies.
Donald Trump and his Republican followers resist the truth and reject reality because to let truth and reality in would be their existential death. And those Republican politicians who may actually still be in touch with the reality we all share? They are just despicable opportunists taking advantage of this moment, holding onto their fantasy of power and prestige. They are the worst of the worst because they still have some idea of what is true and what isn’t. Donald Trump and his devotees do not. They are lost in the dark forest of lies.
It’s hard to know what these people will do when reality threatens them. Guess we’re about to find out.