Why Donald Trump might actually believe all the crazy stuff he says

Everyone assumes his bombastic campaign antics are just for show — but what if he really means it?

Trump speaks his own truth.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski)

When it comes to Donald Trump, one thing is certain: He lies. He lies constantly. He lies when it suits him, but also when it hurts him. He lies here or there. He lies anywhere. He would lie in a house, he would lie to a mouse. He would lie in a box, he would lie to a fox.

Many have commented on this compulsive trait, and his seeming lack of a core. Usually, when people lie, it is to hide their true self or true views; with Trump, there simply doesn't seem to be any truth there at all. We lie to protect something, he lies because there's nothing to protect. It reminds me of the famous quote from Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho: "...there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there."

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Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.