Even his fellow Republicans have labelled him insane. But, defying the predictions of all pundits, Donald Trump’s surging popularity with Republicans suggests that he could become America’s next President.
Articulating the “mad as hell” anger felt by many Americans towards Washington’s liberal policies, Mr Trump knows it pays to be outrageous. Some of Mr Trump’s claims are breathtaking: Mexican immigrants are mostly criminals and President Obama is a foreign-born Muslim.
An American political commentator, John Dean (of Watergate fame), describes Mr Trump as “a near perfect authoritarian leader” with a personality type that is “intimidating and bullying, faintly hedonistic, vengeful, pitiless, manipulative, dishonest, highly prejudiced, mean-spirited, nationalistic, tell others what they want to hear, take advantage of ‘s*****s’, specialise in creating false images to sell self, may or may not be religious.”
Take away the “faintly” and this fits Mr Trump’s Pakistani counterpart, ex-cricketer Imran Khan. With a lavish lifestyle and his playboy past, Mr Khan promised the moon. Mr Khan’s support base is diverse: college-educated “burger bachas”, brigades of bejewelled begums, hysterical youth and wild-eyed Tehrik-e-Taliban supporters. Delighting them all, he unleashes from time to time a steady stream of abuse upon his rivals who threaten to sue him but are deterred by Pakistan’s court system.
Made of the same stuff but packaged differently, the Trump-Khan duo has thrilled extremists. Worshipful followers love aggressive leaders. Mr Trump, said to be the most abrasive politician in US history, uses barbs and insults, while Mr Khan swings his cricket bat. Use of indecent language invites no penalties. Last month, Mr Trump remarked that Fox anchor Megyn Kelly, who had confronted him in a CNN interview, had “Blood coming out of her eyes, out of her wherever.” Mr Khan went further. From the top of his dharna container, he screamed that a panicking Sharif had wetted his shalwar.
Why do such leaders attract followers? First, each can claim that he is his own man. He can convincingly label rivals as corrupt or incompetent. The self-made Mr Trump earned a fortune through real-estate business. Mr Khan too is self-made. He ranks as one of the world’s best cricketers.
A second reason: both men are unabashed narcissists. But shouldn’t this turn people off? In normal life narcissism is considered a disorder, but not so in politics. Exceptionally vain men, who see themselves as deserving attention and power, are often the winners in political contests.
Even with wild schemes, the charismatic narcissist can whip up enthusiasm. Mr Trump has vowed to build a wall along the US border with Mexico, likening it to the Great Wall of China and has even dubbed it “The Great Wall of Trump”. What he doesn’t know — and doesn’t want to know — is that even the Ming Dynasty’s 13,000-mile wall failed to keep out the Manchurians.
Mr Khan’s ideas make even Mr Trump’s hare-brained schemes look tame. Once I’m in power, Mr Khan declared, I will end corruption in 19 days and terrorism in 90 days. The 19 was subsequently changed to 90. But let’s put that aside. It’s now 887 days since Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf took over the reins of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. But don’t hold your breath.
To conclude: charismatic narcissists are much hot air but very little substance. Unfortunately, they can be very dangerous. If running a country they can take it to war. On the other hand, real leadership requires building high-performance teams, emphasising altruism over egotism and competence over confidence. Until the public understands this, it will continue inviting narcissists to the top while overlooking more reasonable alternatives.
The writer teaches physics in Lahore and Islamabad
By arrangement with Dawn
