When the news program 60 Minutes aired an interview with Trump that he walked out of, it made me wonder how I would interview him. I really feel he is best approached not as a human being (he’s too underdeveloped, like an 18-month-old baby in a 74-year-old body!), but rather as a SYMBOL of the national shadow. He cannot be spoken to in a normal way (watch Leslie Stahl or any other reporter try to get him to answer a serious question!) Having little understanding of the meaning behind questions he encounters, he slips into one of two modes; he either praises himself or tries to defend himself. That’s it. This is what a baby does.
The trouble is, when we see that in an adult (who gets away with it) many people see not a regression to immature behavior but a kind of raw
heroism. We recognize that WE haven’t been able to get away with that since we were baby dictators ourselves. He is attractive precisely because we want to be that selfish! Which of us doesn’t secretly want to be a dictator, making constant demands, wailing when anything goes wrong, making a mess everywhere we go knowing someone else will clean it up?
So, recognizing that it is some wounded child deep inside us that elected such a person, my interview questions be something like:
- It must really hurt not to be universally loved. Do you wish more people liked you?
- It must really hurt when other people get more attention than you. Do you wish you could punish people who upset you?
- Do you feel like you don’t get the rewards you deserve?
- Do you wish that nobody could tell you what to do?
- If you really believe you’re so great, why not compete fairly with others?
- Would you rather live a life rich in meaning, or one rich in success?
I think about answering those questions myself, too, as a citizen of the nation that elected this figure. We have to acknowledge that there’s some deep part of us that wants to be the baby. Once we’re aware of that maybe it’s easier to recognize that there’s even greater value to growing up, taking charge and accepting with humility that others are just as important as we are. Please keep this in mind and then GO VOTE!
