Clinical psychologist Mary Trump suggested her uncle Donald Trump’s affinity for strongmen leaders stemmed from his childhood relationship with his father, Fred Trump.
The former president “has never evolved beyond the kind of person he was when he was very young and it’s not at all surprising because he grew up in an authoritarian household,” Mary Trump told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview that was broadcast at the weekend.
It’s “one of the things that should worry everybody about Donald,” the Republican front-runner’s niece claimed.
Mary Trump, who has become a fierce critic of her uncle, described her grandfather Fred Trump as “a quite straight-up sociopath.”
As “favorite son,” Donald Trump therefore “knew what he needed to do in order to stay on my grandfather’s good side,” she explained.
“Because he also understood what would happen to him if he didn’t,” she added. “So he [Donald Trump] is very comfortable in this milieu and it is extremely important to him that he get the benefits of associating with strong men like [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, but also that he be on their good side.”
Last week, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recalled his unease at seeing Trump fawn over Putin on multiple occasions.
Turnbull called it “really creepy.”
It is “really no laughing matter when, at that point the leader of the free world is being described as a pre-pubescent child with a crush on an older, more powerful person,” Mary Trump said of Turnbull’s comments.
Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull:
“When you see Trump with Putin, as I have on a few occasions, he’s like the 12-year-old boy that goes to high school and meets the captain of the football team. ‘My hero!’ It’s really creepy.”
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) February 27, 2024
