Trump’s ADHD Shapes His Presidency
The CDC guidelines for dealing with a pandemic advise officials to not overly reassure the public and to avoid over promising. They further recommend that a scientist, rather than an elected official, be the spokesperson for issuing recommendations. Experts consider this best practice because politicians are notoriously adept at over promising and under delivering. Those with ADHD constitute another group that earns high marks for this trait. So we should hardly be surprised that Mr. Trump has been doing a tremendous job of over promising and under delivering.
The CDC’s stance is intended to avoid situations in which new realities arise to contradict the words of the over-promiser. Broken promises diminish the credibility of the speaker, and reduce the likelihood that the population will follow subsequent recommendations to change their behaviors. Recently, under pressure from Republicans, including his own staff, the president has stepped back from his daily coronavirus briefings, specifically because his over promising and under delivering undermined efforts to combat COVID19 infections, and crumbled the pretense that the president was a trustworthy or effective leader.
The president’s excessive and unrealistic reassurances, and over-promises have overflowed our ears since late January…
