I Don't Care About Trump's Mental State

And you shouldn't, either.

Anthony Perkins communing with his dear old mother in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).

Is your boss pscho? You are not, as trend-spotting hacks like to say, alone. Fully 12 percent of corporate senior leaders “display a range of psychopathic traits,” according to Simon Croom, a professor at the University of San Diego School of Business. That’s 12 times the rate within the general population. The range of pathologies these top executives possess includes “egocentricity, predatoriness, recklessness, a lack of empathy, and a propensity for manipulation and exploitation.” Corporate psychos hide their lunacy behind “charisma, persuasiveness, and creativity,” all traits common among business leaders—but also among psychos. Male bosses are more often psychopathic than female bosses, but the lady psychopaths can be harder to spot, according to Croom, because instead of being domineering and aggressive they’re unconventional and rebellious.

I cite this research in support of my latest New Republic article, which examines and finds wanting the premise that former President Donald Trump can’t be tried for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election because he lacks mens rea, or “guilty mind.” Delusional Trump may be, believing whatever he wants. But is that really so unusual among white collar criminals? Trump believes whatever he wants because he can. Look me in the face and tell me you can’t name any other rich pricks who do exactly the same. You’re stammering! Now read my New Republic piece disputing the relevance of Trump’s too-much-discussed “state of mind” to the prospect of putting him in the slammer.