Given these results, and that it is obvious the self proclaimed wannabe superhero is to blame. The sensible thing for the GOP is to get rid of him before he damages the Republican brand further. An impeachment and a removal from office is a realistic possibility, given the results.
First came the love bombing of “my beautiful Christians,” paired with godly images and promises of greatness, which were deleted claiming he was a doctor. Then the White House portrayed Donald as Superman, after he shared an image of himself as a Jesus-like healer.
A superhero. A savior. A man presented as the answer to America’s problems.
After decades in journalism, I recognize the pattern. Coercive control often begins with promises of protection, devotion and salvation. The person who vows to protect you can become the person you fear.
Now, after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the Nov. 3 midterms, the country faces a question: What happens when the cape comes off, the spell breaks and voters rediscover their power?
Recovery from controlling relationships has recognized stages. Each has a political echo.
1. Love bombing: The spell breaks. Grand promises can conceal a hunger for control. Voters have begun measuring words against actions and weighing promises of greatness against daily life.
2. Gaslighting: Trusting your own eyes. Repeated attacks on the truth can erode confidence in your own judgment. Recovery means trusting evidence, independent journalism and your own observations.
3. Intimidation: Relearning safety. Immigration raids and deportation threats have spread fear through immigrant communities. [Add specific, sourced examples.] People who have lived with fear need safety before they can rebuild. That means due process, oversight and protection from intimidation.
4. Isolation: Finding solidarity. Control thrives on division: Fear them, trust only me. At the ballot box, voters showed the strength of collective action. Nobody has to stand alone.
5. Hyper-vigilance: Learning to exhale. After a period of danger, many people keep bracing for the next blow. Political exhaustion can linger, along with worry about the health of democratic institutions. Relief may sit alongside anger, grief and fear of retaliation. Recovery is not a straight line.
6. Reclaiming identity: Restoring public trust. Trump’s efforts to put his name on shared institutions struck critics as adolescent graffiti on something that belongs to everyone. [Cite specific examples.] Americans can reclaim those institutions as public trusts, not personal trophies.
7. Empowerment: From surviving to thriving. A profound change happens when people stop organizing their lives around those who tried to control them. They rediscover confidence, laughter and possibility. The election results offer a chance at accountability and repair, not an instant cure.
8. The greatest achievement: Is not be a Republican defeat. It will be a country no longer organized around fear of anyone in power. The recovery, freedom is not just escaping control. It is reclaiming the power to decide what happens next.
We the people have just begun writing our next chapter… And so it comes.
