Trump Isn't Embarrassing Himself. He's Embarrassing America.

Kristoffer Ealy

Every time I see a headline or a YouTube video that says, “Trump embarrasses himself by…” it irks me a little. Not because Trump doesn’t make a fool of himself — he always does — but because is it even possible for him to get embarrassed? Embarrassment requires self-awareness. It requires an understanding of social standards, the recognition that you’ve fallen short of them, and the capacity to cringe at yourself.

Trump doesn’t express any of these traits. He barrels through life like a man who believes the world is his open mic, and the crowd is obligated to applaud no matter how stale the jokes are. Embarrassment implies an internal governor that makes you stop and think, “Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” Trump is missing that chip. He is an indictment on the United States of America, and not just as a president but as a mirror of the worst parts of us — anti-intellectualism, cruelty as entertainment, and the delusion that bluster equals brilliance.

This isn’t new. Trump didn’t stumble out of a Manhattan boardroom and single-handedly infect the body politic. He’s the culmination of a Republican trajectory that’s been barreling downhill since at least Jerry Falwell. The conservative movement spent decades feeding resentment while starving critical thought. By the time Trump came along, the appetite for spectacle was so great that actual governing became optional. And because people confuse volume with vision, he got the biggest stage of all: the United Nations General Assembly. I watched his entire September 23 speech so you don’t have to, and let me tell you — this was less statesmanship and more bad improv with nuclear weapons.

The first gem was his declaration that other nations are going to hell. That’s not analysis; that’s Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat mixed with Jimmy Swaggart. If the goal was to sound like a dictator moonlighting as a televangelist, mission accomplished. He said it with the same flourish that Swaggart used to beg for donations, except instead of promising salvation he was predicting damnation. Imagine sitting in that room as a world leader and hearing the U.S. president channel both an arcade boss fight and a disgraced preacher. That’s not foreign policy—it’s fan fiction written by a crank.

https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/trump-isnt-embarrassing-himself-hes