Nature versus nurture in the anaylsis of Trump's perception

I came across a discussion of Trump's press opportunity with the Trump edition gun where he was recorded saying he wanted to buy one.

Steve Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson posted on social media that Trump bought a gun; Brian Glenn, Director Of Programming at Right Side Broadcasting Network and Marjorie Taylor Greene's partner, boasted on Right Side that Trump had bought a gun.

And then CNN pointed out the federal statute that no one can sell you a gun, you can't travel with a gun, you can't take a gun across state lines, etc. if under federal felony indictment. It's typically a condition of pre-trial release that you cannot posess a gun.

There followed a flurry of deletions, claims of erroneous reporting and denials that Trump had actualy bought a gun.

Other public performance related anomalies were raised: Trump typically turning up in restaurants before rallies booming "Pizzas for everyone!" for the photo shoot, yet journalists claiming no one from the Trump campaign ever actually paying for anything; Trump travelling to East Palestine to distribute food aid which consisted out of date water bottes from Mar-a-Largo and tins of Goya beans.

The discussion focussed on the performative nature of the Repubican and Trump's campaigning. One presenter surmised that the performance pretence is a function of Trump's life of extraordinary wealth: he pretends to relate to ordinary people's lives, without having any depth of understanding.

The presenter went on to say that Trump in his Narcissistic Personality Disordered way, pretended to be the president and pretends to be a defendent without any real perception that he might be found guilty and end up in a federal prison.

The bit that the presenter missed out is the depth of the lack of empathy that personality disordered people may experience. Most of us navigate our everyday lives using our sense of empathy, whether that's patience in a shopping queue, interacting with colleagues, listening to the radio, whatever.

Cognitive and emotional empathy is how we build a picture of ourselves, our worlds and how we fit into it all. Without the ability to empathise people have to invent a persona and often alter their persona in a bid to find their place in a bewildering environment.

People who lack empathy are forced to pretend and perform because they lack the skills they need to simply be.