Welcome to From Insults to Respect.

As some of you may know, my previous post is titled, “Bragging Versus Helpful Self-Promotion.” In discussing this topic, a friend of mine asked, “Why didn’t you bring up in the post, Donald Trump, since he is the perfect example of a braggart?” Although I have taken pains to make the case in this blog that we are better off avoiding name calling when providing criticism, I found myself thinking about the question just as it was asked.

My first thought was that using a president as an example of someone who brags too much is a bit tricky because when they run for office, and when they give the annual State of the Union Address, it is perfectly acceptable that they promote what they view are their accomplishments. All presidents during my lifetime have done so, and of course they have speech writers who help to frame such self-promotion in a manner that comes off as eloquent and likable. And then, as I thought about this more, some things Trump has said over the years does seem to take legitimate self-promotion well into the realm of downright, way over the top, bragging.

The example that came to me first, was his claim that he had the wisdom to oppose the Iraq war when some of his political opponents voted to support it. This example was striking because it is one thing to brag about something that people know is true, it is another thing to brag about something that is demonstrably false. In this case, there was a video recording of Trump supporting the war during the same period as his opponents were supporting it.

Then there is his more recent bragging that he beat Joe Biden in the presidential election by a landslide. Over and over again, Trump kept making this claim even after official counts had Biden winning by over seven million votes. All of the states, including largely Republican ones, had certified their results, and Trump’s hand picked Attorney General declared Trump’s claims of widespread fraud were not true. Making this brag even more horrendous is that Trump didn’t stop even when it became clear that it was leading to numerous death threats to election officials, and credible sources were relating serious concerns that his rhetoric was inciting white supremacy groups to violence.

This, and numerous other incidents of Trump bragging led me to delve into this topic some more. And then I wondered what would happen if I asked Google in its search bar–Is Donald Trump a Braggart? Let’s take a look at the results.

My Google Search

The first thing I noticed from my search was that there is about 876,000 hits. This seemed to be a lot, but to check if this was unusual for recent presidents, I did the same search for the president who served right before Trump, and then for the current president. Here are those results:

Barack Obama, about 46,600 hits
Joe Biden, about 110,000 hits

Thus, I found that Trump had hundreds of thousand more hits than the two other recent presidents when a search is made in this way.

As I looked over the hits that came up, not just the total number, but the general comments that appeared in each hit, even writers who voted for Trump viewed him as a braggart. Here’s one such example:

I admit that Trump is the least presidential president that we have ever had; he is an egotistical, loudmouth braggart and he has the ability to offend at least 50% of the country every time he opens his mouth.

But then the author defends supporting Trump by claiming that Biden is a socialist, and nothing that Trump has ever done can be worse for the country than electing a socialist.

Now, it is a fact that every president at least since FDR has supported some socialist policies, such as public schools, social security, and unemployment benefits, including Trump. What made this writer think Biden is a socialist, while Trump is not, apparently has to do with Biden advocating that everyone have access to affordable health care and the minimum wage should be raised to $15 an hour. If you think this makes Biden a socialist, while Trump provides welfare to the rich, you are free to decide so, but that is irrelevant to the question before us today–whether or not Trump is a particularly good example of a braggart. As I read over many of the comments I came upon as a result of my internet search, clearly there is wide spread agreement that the answer is affirmative.

What Are The most Characteristic Points Made On The Internet About Trump And Bragging?

Trump has repeatedly claimed he is a genius. For numerous observers, this falls into the category of dubious claims. To take one example, Michael Wolff, referring to numerous interviews he had with people who worked closely with Trump, revealed “everyone around the president questioned his mental capacity, ability to read reports, overall intelligence and fitness for office.”

Another writer, Tony O’Malley, wrote,

[Trump] was elected because enough of us believed him when he said he knew more about ISIS than the generals, knew more about taxes than the economists, that he was loved by women, Hispanics and African-Americans, etc. (Almost all his boasts are either patently untrue or simply not provable.)

In an article published in The Atlantic, titled “Braggart in Chief,” the author asks, “Why did Donald Trump last week reveal highly classified, potentially life-endangering, intelligence to Russia’s foreign minister?” His conclusion– It was because of his “incessant need to prove how important and successful he is.”

So, what are the major characteristics of Trump’s style of bragging that led to many viewing him as a braggart?

Bragging about things that are easily proven false;
Bragging about things that come off as completely implausible;
Bragging about things that are simply not provable;
Bragging about things that lead to threats and violence.

Some Concluding Remarks

Adam Zyglis / Buffalo News

One thing that we can learn from today’s discussion is that a person can brag so much that it becomes viewed as a negative characteristic for many, and yet still have a number of successes in life. Trump has had, undeniably, a number of successes. How can this be?

Some excuse his bragging because supporting him is viewed by them as better than some alternative. Some see themselves as bragging like Trump, and like to see someone with similar characteristics to them as a great success. And then there are some very gullible people out there who will believe even the most implausible claims.

As for me, one of the biggest influences on my ability to have some forethought when it comes to bragging was meeting a couple of people that displayed a degree of humbleness. I came to admire this. Both appeared comfortable about their shortcomings, and although both had some skills in a few areas, rather than bragging about them, they let their performance speak for themselves. I soon found myself modeling their style, and each time I was tempted to exaggerate something about myself, I found I could catch myself beforehand, and pretty often I chose a less prideful path.

So, there you have it, some of my thoughts on the question, “Is Trump a perfect example of a braggart? I hope you find it provides some food for thought when considering how best to turn insults into respect. Have a great week, and please join us again real soon.

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Some people will enjoy reading this blog by beginning with the first post and then moving forward to the next more recent one; then to the next one; and so on. This permits readers to catch up on some ideas that were presented earlier and to move through all of the ideas in a systematic fashion to develop their emotional intelligence. To begin at the very first post you can click HERE.

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