Is Donald Trump A Spoiled Bully Or The P.T. Barnum Of Our Generation?

Over the past several years, the US and its allies and in some cases the citizens of several middle east countries have deposed their violent leaders. What did leaders in countries like Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Syria as well as many African nations as well as Cuba have in common. They had governments that “disappeared” dissenters, inhibited free speech and expressions of individual opinions if they are not supportive of the leader.

What makes Donald Trump any different?

Trump is Americas worse spoiled bully. He wields his money and notoriety like a death sword attacking and quieting his enemies with his private army of marketers, public relations experts and lawyers. Donald Trump has no honor, he does not seem to care who he crushes in his wake, or who is left on the losing end of his bankrupt financial enterprises. He is referred to as a billionaire, perhaps these billions should be used to pay off the debt holders and creditors from his past business ventures.

Trump believes he can say anything about anyone, tossing insults and untruths in his path. When he said this recently that Hillary Clinton got “schlonged” by Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign, women all over this country heard very clearly what he said. Trump, who rarely seems to take a defensive posture, is scurrying on Twitter trying to explain that “schlonged” is “not vulgar.” As he has pointed out, the word has indeed been used before — albeit rarely –to connote a bruising political defeat. Answer this question Mr. Trump, what if someone said this about your wife.

The remark comes on the heel of a long line of flagrantly sexist comments made by Trump. In the past, he has used words such as “fat pigs,” “dogs” and “disgusting animals” to describe women. After Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly pressed him about these comments at the first Republican debate, Trump later told CNN that Kelly behaved inappropriately and must have had “blood coming out of her wherever.”

Supporters may describe the billionaire businessman’s behavior in many ways, but psychologists and experts told USA TODAY that textbook bullying shouldn’t be one of them. The greater challenge, the bullying experts say, is explaining the reasons for Trump’s popularity in a culture that is supposed to frown on naked aggression.

“Bullying is the repeated, intentional harm of another person who has less power than you do,” said Dewey Cornell, a forensic psychologist and bullying expert at the University of Virginia.

It’s clear at that Donald Trump acts more like a bully than a “traditional” presidential candidate. The current leader in the GOP polls gleefully flouts all of the usual rules of political and social decorum, constantly launching attacks — many of them rather offensive — against both his political rivals and members of the media he believes have treated him unfairly.

The Huffington Post will now end every article about Donald Trump with a special note calling him a “racist,” “liar” and a “xenophobe,” while reminding its readers of the GOP presidential frontrunner’s controversial proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

And just to be sure Trump got the memo, the site has already added an addendum to a Wednesday article about the business mogul.

“Note to our readers: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.,” the addendum read.

Even if we overlook Donald Trump the politician and look a bit into his past behavior before entering the presidential field.

Trump doesn’t deny that four of his businesses have filed for bankruptcy. He argues, however, that filing for bankruptcy is a common business decision, and he was smart to make the moves when he did.

“Hundreds of companies” have filed for bankruptcy, Trump said. “I used the law four times and made a tremendous thing. I’m in business. I did a very good job.” He used the law to rip off creditors, investors and lenders.  Donald Trump brags about how well his businesses have fared in bankruptcy. And in fact, no major U.S. company has filed for Chapter 11 more than Trump’s casino empire in the last 30 years.

Long before he was on the political stage, the real estate mogul spent plenty of time in another contentious arena—the court room. In the 1980s, when Trump was in the relatively early days of his professional ascent, he sued another businessman who dared to have the same last name as him.

Many describe Trump as the PT Barnum of our generation. “P. T.” Barnum was an American showman and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus.

“There’s a sucker born every minute” is a phrase most likely spoken by David Hannum, in criticism of both P. T. Barnum, an American showman of the mid-19th century, and his customers. The phrase is often credited to Barnum himself. It means “People are foolish, and will always be fools.”