the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Wondering if you might be experiencing Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS)? Let’s dive into what this term means, where it came from, and how it’s evolved in the world of modern politics.
What Exactly is TDS?
According to Urban Dictionary, Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a mental condition where intense dislike of Donald Trump supposedly leads to a total loss of reason. In other words, TDS is thought to be a knee-jerk rejection of anything Trump says or does.
Shared amongst these is a notion that the everyday activities of President Trump trigger some people into distorted opinions, extreme emotions and hysterical behaviors. Well-known writer Bernard Goldberg gives supposed behavioral examples of TDS among Trump’s political opponents, including fainting, vomiting, students retreating to “safe spaces” and others demanding “therapy dogs.” Political commentator Justin Raimondo focuses on opinions, language and cognition, writing in the LA Times that “sufferers speak a distinctive language consisting of hyperbole [leading to] a constant state of hysteria… the afflicted lose touch with reality.”
Such forms of highly emotional reaction could be something akin to the fainting and screaming characterizing American Beatlemania in the 1960s. Unlike the Beatles, however, the extreme emotional reaction alleged to characterize TDS is not based on adoration and admiration, but on fear and loathing.
Justin Raimondo, the editorial director of Antiwar.com, outlined TDS in three stages back in 2016:
- Loss of Proportion – Every tweet or statement from Trump triggers massive outrage, as though 280 characters alone could shift global affairs.
- Hyperbolic Language – In the mid-stages of TDS, sufferers speak in extreme terms, escalating any situation involving Trump to its most dramatic interpretation.
- Reality Blurring – In the final stage, some may lose the ability to separate fact from fiction when reacting to Trump-related news.
Critics suggest that, to those with TDS, Trump could announce a huge philanthropic gesture, and detractors would still assume a hidden agenda. To some extent, the term itself is tongue-in-cheek, intended to mock extreme reactions.
A Brief History: From Bush to Obama to Trump
The term “Trump Derangement Syndrome” has roots in the early 2000s, when it was inspired by the phrase “Bush Derangement Syndrome” (BDS), first coined by conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer in 2003. Krauthammer defined BDS as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies… the very existence of George W. Bush.”
As with Trump, BDS carried an element of humor, poking fun at extreme reactions and the inability of some to see any positives in Bush’s presidency.
When President Obama came onto the scene, a new term emerged: Obama Derangement Syndrome (ODS). However, ODS had a different flavor. Rather than reacting purely to Obama’s policies, critics fixated on his very identity, questioning his nationality and loyalty. Vox’s Ezra Klein wrote that ODS was “paranoia about the man himself — that he is, in some fundamental way, different, foreign, untrustworthy, even traitorous.” Ironically, Trump himself was a loud supporter of the “birther” theory that Obama wasn’t born in the United States, which some say helped fuel ODS.
The Cycle Comes Full Circle
And here we are, back to TDS in the age of Trump. Each of these “syndromes” reflects intense political polarization , the individual feeling of powerlessness , inability to take responsibility for ones own life and how public figures can evoke extreme, even irrational, reactions. Though the term TDS can be used mockingly, it also points to a broader trend of intense partisan responses in American politics.
Whether or not TDS is real or fair, it’s a symbol of the passionate—and often divided—political landscape we live in.
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Although it’s often joked about, TDS is very real and very concerning. 8 years of red banner breaking news reporting by the mainstream media has created a lot of very unbalanced people. The reality is that Trump is pretty much where Democrats were before the loons hijacked their party.
God bless America and god bless President Trump!
Please leave those Harris lawn signs up for as long as possible, especially the ones saying Harris/Walz Obviously.
Crow is best served cold, obviously.
Post of the week !
Everything‘s gonna be OK, everyone relax and stop watching the view and listening to some of these individuals from Hollywood. Think they know about politics. They can’t even control their own life and they’re gonna try to control yours stop listening to these assholes think about what’s good for the country where you live if you don’t like it here you could always move somewhere else. No one’s gonna stop you.
But they are a great source of comedy for Gutfeld
Go Trump! God blesses us!
20 million spent on last minute campaign concerts. That’s a lot of wasted money to keep the Joy myth alive.