# Post ts_109050147686696993

- Post ID: `ts_109050147686696993`
- Platform: Truth Social
- Posted: 2022-09-23T22:46:40.793Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_109050147686696993
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_109050147686696993/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_109050147686696993.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> Cayler Ellingson of North Dakota, a great Republican Patriot with an unlimited future ahead, was struck by a truck and killed. The person that did this was a deranged Democrat maniac who was angry that Cayler was a Republican. The Media doesn’t want to cover this horrible event because of the politics involved. If it were a MAGA Republican that drove that truck, it would have been the biggest of all stories. We LOVE Cayler, AND WILL NEVER FORGET! Warmest condolences to Cayler’s family & friends.

## Engagement

- Likes: 29,421
- Reposts: 9,875
- Replies: 1,438
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-02-01T01:19:51.434Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-19T23:09:57.557Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

Trump weaponizes the death of 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson during a week of extraordinary legal pressure (NY AG fraud lawsuit, 11th Circuit ruling against him, Special Master challenges). The post exhibits classic displacement—redirecting from personal legal vulnerability to a conservative victimhood narrative. Key distortions include the claim that media "doesn't want to cover" a story that was in fact widely reported, and the reduction of a complex incident to simple partisan murder. The rhetorical structure (martyr + demon + conspiracy + solidarity) serves both as narcissistic supply through grief leadership and as in-group bonding through shared persecution. The "deranged Democrat maniac" framing links an individual act to an entire political party, contributing to an elevated danger environment by cultivating retaliatory grievance. The splitting is stark: Ellingson is "a great Republican Patriot with an unlimited future," while the perpetrator is defined entirely by partisan evil. The hypothetical reversal ("if it were a MAGA Republican") reinforces the double-standard schema central to Trump's worldview. This post is notable not for what it says about the Ellingson case, but for what it reveals about Trump's psychological state during legal crisis: the compulsive need to cast his tribe as victims and redirect threat outward.

## Psychological Analysis: Cayler Ellingson Post (2022-09-23)

### Context
This post references the death of Cayler Ellingson (age 18), who was killed on September 18, 2022, in McHenry, North Dakota, when Shannon Brandt struck him with his SUV. Brandt told police he believed Ellingson was part of a "Republican extremist group," though the full circumstances remained under investigation. Trump posts this during a period of intense legal pressure (NY AG fraud lawsuit, 11th Circuit ruling against him on classified docs, Special Master challenges).

### Authorship
Posted at ~6:46 PM EDT. Trump had a rally scheduled in Wilmington, NC at 7:00 PM EDT—this was likely posted in the pre-rally window. The polished structure (clear narrative arc, proper grammar, "&" HTML entity suggesting platform formatting) and strategic framing suggest aide involvement, though the ALL CAPS emotional passages and the political weaponization are consistent with Trump's voice. Likely a collaborative product—Trump's sentiment, aide's polish.

### Psychological Analysis
The post exemplifies **instrumentalization of tragedy** for political narrative. During a week where Trump faced extraordinary legal setbacks, he pivots to a story that reinforces his core frame: conservatives are victims of liberal violence, and media is complicit. This serves as **displacement**—redirecting attention from his legal vulnerabilities to a narrative where his tribe is the victim.

The structure follows a precise rhetorical formula: (1) name the martyr, (2) ennoble them, (3) demonize the perpetrator with partisan label, (4) accuse media of coverup, (5) hypothetical reversal ("if it were a MAGA Republican"), (6) emotional solidarity.

### Key Distortions
- "Deranged Democrat maniac" — while Brandt did reference political disagreement, characterizing this as purely politically motivated was premature; Brandt also claimed Ellingson called people to threaten him. The case was still under investigation.
- "The Media doesn't want to cover this" — the story received coverage from Fox News, Daily Mail, local outlets, and was trending on social media. The claim of suppression is exaggerated.
- "Unlimited future ahead" — standard eulogistic language but also serves to maximize the perceived loss for political effect.

### Defense Mechanisms
**Projection** is central: during a week where Trump faces accusations of fraud and document mishandling, he projects the "persecuted" frame onto a dead teenager, making conservatives broadly the victims. **Displacement** redirects from his personal legal crises to a safer grievance narrative.

### Danger Assessment
The post explicitly frames Democrats as capable of lethal political violence ("deranged Democrat maniac"), creating an equivalence narrative that could justify retaliatory sentiment. The media conspiracy framing amplifies the sense of persecution. While not directly inciting violence, this contributes to a stochastic terrorism ecosystem by painting an out-group as both violent and protected.

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Cayler Ellingson was struck by a truck and killed" | **Mostly True** | Ellingson was killed by Shannon Brandt's SUV on Sept 18, 2022. It was an SUV, not a truck, but the death is factual. |
| "The person that did this was a deranged Democrat maniac who was angry that Cayler was a Republican" | **Half True** | Brandt told police he had a political argument with Ellingson and believed Ellingson was part of a Republican extremist group. However, the full motivation was disputed—Brandt also claimed Ellingson called people to threaten him. Brandt's party affiliation was not prominently established. |
| "The Media doesn't want to cover this horrible event because of the politics involved" | **Mostly False** | The story received significant coverage from Fox News, NY Post, Daily Mail, and numerous conservative outlets, and was trending on social media. Mainstream outlets also covered it, though with less prominence than conservative media desired. |

Overall Veracity: 50%

## Authorship Analysis

**Uncertain** (score: 40%)

### Indicators

- Posted ~15 min before scheduled rally—pre-rally window
- Polished grammar and structure suggest aide drafting
- ALL CAPS passages and emotional framing consistent with Trump input
- HTML entity & suggests platform/scheduling tool
- Strategic political messaging typical of collaborative posts

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Mixed State**

**Trigger:** Preemptive Attack — Exposure (Legal pressures + need to maintain victim narrative)

**Rage:** Intensity 60% targeting Democrats, media
- Proportionality: 40%

Sentiment: -0.50

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 50%
- Antisocial: 30%
- Paranoid: 50%
- Sadism: 20%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- projection (immature)
- displacement (immature)
- splitting (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 50%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Performative grief creating in-group solidarity
- We LOVE / WILL NEVER FORGET — collective identity binding
- Warmest condolences — leader-as-pastor positioning

## Danger Assessment

**ELEVATED**

### Indicators

- Frames Democrats as capable of lethal political violence
- Dehumanizing label ('deranged maniac') applied with partisan identifier
- Media conspiracy framing increases sense of unprotected victimhood
- Creates retaliatory grievance framework

### Gaslighting

- Claiming media refuses to cover a story that was in fact widely covered
- Framing a complex incident as straightforward partisan murder

**Dehumanizing Language Present**

## Fact Checks (3)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-19._

> Cayler Ellingson was struck by a truck and killed

**MOSTLY TRUE**

Ellingson was killed by Shannon Brandt's SUV on Sept 18, 2022. It was an SUV, not a truck, but the death is factual.

Sources: Local ND news reports; Court documents

> The person that did this was a deranged Democrat maniac who was angry that Cayler was a Republican

**HALF TRUE**

Brandt told police he had a political argument with Ellingson and believed Ellingson was part of a Republican extremist group. However, the full motivation was disputed—Brandt also claimed Ellingson called people to threaten him. Brandt's party affiliation was not prominently established.

Sources: Foster County court records; Police affidavit

> The Media doesn't want to cover this horrible event because of the politics involved

**MOSTLY FALSE**

The story received significant coverage from Fox News, NY Post, Daily Mail, and numerous conservative outlets, and was trending on social media. Mainstream outlets also covered it, though with less prominence than conservative media desired.

Sources: Media coverage tracking

Overall Veracity: 50%

## Tags

- victimhood_narrative (90%)
- displacement (80%)
- media_conspiracy (70%)
- splitting (70%)
- martyrdom (80%)
- legal_pressure_context (70%)

## That day

_From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._

**Under Legal Siege, Trump Launches All-Day Counteroffensive Against NY AG James**

Trump spent the day in full defensive mode following New York Attorney General Letitia James's civil fraud lawsuit filed two days earlier. The morning started with late-night attacks on James — calling her "racist" and promoting her election opponent — before drifting into a rambling CNN grievance post around midnight. After a roughly nine-hour sleep break, the afternoon brought a rapid-fire dump of links building a legal defense narrative, a relitigating of January 6th, and rally promotion for a North Carolina event. The day closed with a politically charged post about the death of a young Republican, weaponizing the tragedy to reinforce a persecution narrative.

Full digest for 2022-09-23: https://trump.fm/date/2022-09-23/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2022, September 23). Cayler Ellingson of North Dakota, a great... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_109050147686696993
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Cayler Ellingson of North Dakota, a great Republican..." Truth Social, 23 Sep. 2022. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_109050147686696993. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Cayler Ellingson of North Dakota, a great Republican...," Truth Social, September 23, 2022, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_109050147686696993.

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