# Post ts_109192932417704564

- Post ID: `ts_109192932417704564`
- Platform: Truth Social
- Posted: 2022-10-19T03:58:42.883Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_109192932417704564
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_109192932417704564/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_109192932417704564.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> Late Night Television is absolutely dying. The hosts are not funny, talented, or smart. Actually, it’s amazing that they keep their jobs. Ratings have gone south to a level never seen before. I could take the average person on the street, insert them in these loser's place, and the entertainment level would be better. Stephen Colbert is drawing “flies,” Jimmy Kimmel is down almost 50%, and Fallon has lost 60%. Basket case Seth Meyers has lost most of his audience, BORING. Trump haters are DEAD!

## Engagement

- Likes: 29,317
- Reposts: 6,293
- Replies: 1,613
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-02-01T01:19:51.431Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-19T23:46:59.049Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Psychological Analysis: Late Night Television Attack

### Context & Timing
Posted at 03:58 UTC on October 19, 2022. Trump was likely at Mar-a-Lago (EDT, UTC-4), making this 11:58 PM local time — classic late-night authentic posting window.

### Authorship
Strong authentic indicators: late-night timing, emotional reactivity, stream-of-consciousness structure, creative insults ("basket case," "drawing flies"), ALL CAPS emphasis, and the characteristic pattern of listing enemies with specific putdown nicknames. The possessive error ("loser's" instead of "losers'") is a minor grammatical tell.

### Psychological Analysis
This post emerges during a period of significant legal and political pressure — the Jan 6 Committee subpoena vote, Trump Media whistleblower allegations. Rather than addressing these threats directly, Trump displaces aggression onto late-night hosts, a safer target. The post functions as narcissistic supply-seeking through dominance display over cultural enemies.

The closing line — "Trump haters are DEAD!" — is the psychological core. This is wish-fulfillment projection: those who mock him are failing, dying, irrelevant. The detailed recitation of ratings declines serves as evidence that opposition to him is punished by market forces (cosmic justice fantasy).

### Rhetorical Devices
Classic devaluation cascade: begins with categorical dismissal ("not funny, talented, or smart"), escalates through specific targets with tailored insults, and concludes with a triumphalist declaration. The "average person on the street" comparison is populist framing — aligning with audience against cultural elites.

### Danger Assessment
The word "DEAD" is metaphorical (referring to ratings/relevance), not eliminationist. Low danger level.

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Colbert is drawing flies (extremely low ratings)" | **Mostly False** | Colbert's Late Show was consistently the #1 rated late night show in 2022, though all late night ratings declined from pandemic-era highs |
| "Kimmel is down almost 50%" | **Half True** | Late night ratings broadly declined post-pandemic, but 50% is likely exaggerated or cherry-picked from peak pandemic viewership comparisons |
| "Fallon has lost 60%" | **Half True** | Tonight Show ratings did decline significantly from earlier peaks, though the specific 60% figure may be cherry-picked from the highest baseline |

Overall Veracity: 40%

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 92%)

### Indicators

- 11:58 PM local time posting
- grammatical error (loser's vs losers')
- ALL CAPS emphasis
- stream-of-consciousness enumeration
- creative insults (basket case)

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Criticism (Jan 6 Committee subpoena vote and ongoing media mockery)

**Rage:** Intensity 50% targeting Late night TV hosts (Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon, Meyers)
- Proportionality: 30%

Sentiment: -0.70

**Mildly Hypomanic**
- late-night posting
- rapid enumeration of targets
- grandiose self-assessment

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 70%
- Antisocial: 20%
- Paranoid: 30%
- Sadism: 40%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- displacement (neurotic)
- devaluation (immature)
- projection (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 45%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- populist identification (average person on the street)
- shared enemy construction

## Fact Checks (3)

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

> Colbert is drawing flies (extremely low ratings)

**MOSTLY FALSE**

Colbert's Late Show was consistently the #1 rated late night show in 2022, though all late night ratings declined from pandemic-era highs

Sources: Nielsen ratings data

> Kimmel is down almost 50%

**HALF TRUE**

Late night ratings broadly declined post-pandemic, but 50% is likely exaggerated or cherry-picked from peak pandemic viewership comparisons

Sources: Industry ratings reports

> Fallon has lost 60%

**HALF TRUE**

Tonight Show ratings did decline significantly from earlier peaks, though the specific 60% figure may be cherry-picked from the highest baseline

Sources: Nielsen ratings data

Overall Veracity: 40%

## Tags

- media-attack (90%)
- displacement (70%)
- devaluation-cascade (80%)
- ratings-obsession (60%)

## That day

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

**Displacement Theater: Late-Night TV Attacks Mask Legal Anxiety as Danchenko Acquittal Lands**

Trump spent much of the day on routine midterm endorsements and sharing favorable media links, but two late-night posts attacking SNL and late-night television stood out for their intensity and repetition. The Danchenko acquittal -- a loss for the Durham investigation he had championed -- drew a brief, muted response in the afternoon before he pivoted quickly to sharing flattering polls and articles. The overall mood was maintenance-level grandiosity with a brief flash of vulnerability, and no posts crossed into dangerous territory.

Full digest for 2022-10-19: https://trump.fm/date/2022-10-19/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2022, October 19). Late Night Television is absolutely dying. The... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_109192932417704564
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Late Night Television is absolutely dying. The hosts are..." Truth Social, 19 Oct. 2022. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_109192932417704564. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Late Night Television is absolutely dying. The hosts are...," Truth Social, October 19, 2022, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_109192932417704564.

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