# Post ts_110831357570311044

- Post ID: `ts_110831357570311044`
- Platform: Truth Social
- Posted: 2023-08-04T12:31:46.671Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_110831357570311044
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_110831357570311044/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_110831357570311044.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> Why is it that Fox & Friends refuses to put up all of the polls where I am beating Biden, and DeSanctimonious is getting clobbered? He’s also down to me by 40 plus points, and not coming back. No wonder their ratings are way down!!!

## Engagement

- Likes: 20,277
- Reposts: 5,113
- Replies: 2,064
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-02-01T01:19:51.403Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-20T07:00:46.425Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Summary

Posted 18 hours after his federal arraignment on four felony counts, Trump makes no mention of the proceedings. Instead he attacks Fox & Friends for not broadcasting polls showing his primary dominance over DeSantis, and mocks DeSantis's declining trajectory. The psychological mechanism is transparent: displacement of post-arraignment anxiety into competitive dominance assertion and media grievance — domains where he can perform strength rather than absorb vulnerability. The "DeSanctimonious" nickname (deliberate, sustained) reflects mild sadistic pleasure in the rival's humiliation. The paranoid note — Fox is "refusing" rather than simply not featuring his polls — fits the persecutory media schema documented throughout this period. Fox, formerly an idealized supply source, is devalued for failing that function: a classic splitting dynamic. Fact-checks are largely favorable: the 40-point lead claim is directionally accurate; the Fox ratings decline claim is supported. Danger level is none for this post specifically; the surrounding cluster (the "I'm coming after you" post, cited by prosecutors in the protective order request) carries materially higher concern. This post is a clinically instructive specimen of defensive grandiosity deployed as armor against the most serious legal exposure of Trump's life.

# Psychological Analysis: Truth Social Post — August 4, 2023

## Context
Posted at 08:31 AM EDT, approximately 18 hours after Trump's federal arraignment on four felony charges (August 3). The arraignment is entirely absent from this post. The post attacks Fox & Friends for editorial selection and mocks DeSantis's poll trajectory.

---

## Authorship Attribution
**Verdict: Authentic Trump (high confidence)**

Timing (8:31 AM Eastern — early morning within his authentic window), the sustained deployment of the "DeSanctimonious" nickname (a deliberate rhetorical brand requiring prior construction), the reactive grievance structure, and triple exclamation mark close all point to authentic authorship. No aide would compose a Fox poll complaint on the morning following a historic federal arraignment.

---

## Level 1: Dispositional Traits (Big Five)
- **Extraversion (very high, ~0.88):** Assertive, dominant, publicly combative
- **Agreeableness (very low, ~0.08):** Contempt for rivals, hostile toward disloyal allies
- **Conscientiousness (low, ~0.22):** Impulsive, reactive, no deliberation evident
- **Neuroticism (high, ~0.72):** Angry hostility, persecutory ideation
- **Openness (low, ~0.18):** Rigid, no self-reflective or exploratory content

---

## Level 2: Characteristic Adaptations

**Dominant motive: Agency / Status (~0.92)**
The post is entirely organized around competitive standing — poll numbers, primary position, DeSantis's decline. Communion motives are absent.

**Schemas revealed:**
- Self: dominant frontrunner being denied proper recognition
- Others: either loyal/useful (supporters) or disloyal/conspiratorial (Fox) or weak/failing (DeSantis)
- World: hierarchical, zero-sum, dominated by loyalty and betrayal dynamics

---

## Level 3: Narrative Identity

- **Protagonist role:** Champion whose dominance is being suppressed by a disloyal media organ
- **Narrative sequence:** Contamination — Fox News, previously among the most reliably allied outlets, is now betraying him by withholding favorable coverage
- **Identity claims:** "I am the decisive frontrunner; I am winning by margins too large to conceal"
- **Contrasting other:** DeSantis (failed, declining pretender); Fox News (disloyal media apparatus)

---

## Level 4: Clinical Indicators

### Narcissistic Dynamics
**State: Grandiose** — expansive, dominant, self-aggrandizing. The vulnerability produced by the arraignment is nowhere visible in the surface text; it has been routed entirely through displacement.

**Trigger:** Compound — narcissistic injury (federal arraignment; historic exposure) combined with supply-seeking (validation through poll dominance that Fox is allegedly withholding).

**Defense mechanisms:**
1. **Displacement (neurotic):** Post-arraignment anxiety redirected onto Fox News editorial decisions — a safer, more controllable target than federal prosecution. The arraignment is never named.
2. **Denial (pathological):** The most legally significant day of Trump's life is treated as if it did not occur. The post proceeds in the register of routine primary politics.
3. **Devaluation (immature):** Fox & Friends, previously an idealized supply source, attacked for declining ratings and conspiratorial suppression. The splitting dynamic is clear — idealized outlets become enemies the moment they fail to deliver supply.

### Malignant Narcissism (Kernberg)
- **Narcissistic features (high, ~0.82):** Grandiosity, entitlement, demand for admiring media coverage, competitive dehumanization of rival via nickname
- **Paranoid features (moderate, ~0.52):** "Refuses to put up" frames editorial selection as deliberate conspiratorial suppression
- **Antisocial features (low, ~0.25):** Not prominent in this post
- **Ego-syntonic sadism (mild, ~0.35):** Pleasure in "DeSanctimonious… getting clobbered" — the humiliation framing is chosen and sustained

---

## Rhetorical Analysis

**Devices employed:**
- Rhetorical question opening: presupposes conspiratorial answer; forces audience to agree with embedded premise
- Invented derogatory nickname ("DeSanctimonious"): sustained ad hominem functioning as both mockery and base entertainment
- Hyperbole ("getting clobbered," "40 plus points"): exaggerates dominance magnitude
- Implied suppression conspiracy ("refuses to put up"): transforms editorial choices into deliberate malfeasance
- Punitive consequence framing ("No wonder their ratings are way down"): signals Fox is being punished by the market for disloyalty

**Propaganda techniques:** Attacking the messenger (Fox credibility undermined); implied media suppression narrative

No dehumanizing language, no violent imagery, no stochastic terrorism indicators.

---

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "DeSanctimonious is down to me by 40 plus points" | **Mostly True** | August 2023 Republican primary polling consistently showed Trump leading DeSantis by approximately 35-45 points. Morning Consult and RealClearPolitics aggregates in this period support the directional claim and rough magnitude. |
| "Fox & Friends refuses to put up all of the polls where I am beating Biden" | **Unverifiable** | Cable news editorial selection decisions are internal and subjective. The specific claim of deliberate suppression cannot be verified. |
| "Their (Fox's) ratings are way down" | **Mostly True** | Fox News experienced significant ratings declines in 2023, particularly following Tucker Carlson's dismissal in April 2023. Prime-time viewership fell approximately 50% post-Carlson. Fox & Friends also saw morning audience declines. |

Overall Veracity: 70%

## Cognitive Assessment
No markers of concern. The post is syntactically coherent and logically sequential. "DeSanctimonious" requires sustained linguistic creativity inconsistent with significant decline. Complexity is low but fully consistent with Trump's established baseline for casual reactive posts. No word-finding difficulty, paraphasia, tangentiality, or temporal confusion. **Baseline deviation: none.**

---

## Danger Assessment
**Level: None (for this post in isolation)**

No eliminationist language, no violent imagery, no identifiable targets beyond a media outlet and a political rival. The surrounding cluster (the "I'm coming after you" post from August 3, cited by prosecutors in the protective order request) carries materially higher concern.

---

## Archetypal / Order-Chaos Dynamics
The post positions Trump as **Order Restorer** — the legitimate frontrunner whose dominance is being obscured by a disloyal media apparatus that must be disciplined (ratings decline). DeSantis is cast as a **failed pretender** whose collapse is both inevitable and deserved. The Fox News grievance taps the **Trickster/Warrior** archetype: even formerly friendly institutions become adversaries when they fail to serve the leader's narrative needs.

---

## Longitudinal Note
The post is a clinically instructive specimen of **defensive grandiosity deployed as armor** against the most acute legal exposure of Trump's political career. The preceding day's ALL CAPS posts were higher-intensity and more explicitly crisis-coded. This post represents a modulation: a return to the competitive primary register — a domain where Trump can assert dominance and perform invulnerability. The oscillation between vulnerability (indictment posts) and compensatory grandiosity (poll dominance posts) is consistent with the mixed narcissistic state documented across this period.

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 90%)

### Indicators

- 8:31 AM EDT — early morning in Trump's local timezone, within authentic posting window
- Invented nickname 'DeSanctimonious' — signature rhetorical fingerprint
- Rhetorical question opening — consistent authentic pattern
- Triple exclamation mark close
- Reactive grievance structure, no polish or event framing

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Exposure (Federal arraignment on 4 felony counts (August 3), combined with Fox News failing to broadcast validating poll data)

**Rage:** Intensity 35% targeting Fox News (primary), DeSantis (secondary)
- Proportionality: 20%

Sentiment: -0.45

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 82%
- Antisocial: 25%
- Paranoid: 52%
- Sadism: 35%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- displacement (neurotic)
- denial (pathological)
- devaluation (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 38%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- Framing Fox as betraying shared audience + Trump
- Competitive dominance display to reinforce tribal identity as winners

## Fact Checks (3)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-20._

> DeSanctimonious is down to me by 40 plus points

**MOSTLY TRUE**

August 2023 Republican primary polling consistently showed Trump leading DeSantis by approximately 35-45 points. Morning Consult and RealClearPolitics aggregates in this period support the directional claim and rough magnitude.

Sources: Morning Consult Republican primary tracking (Aug 2023); RealClearPolitics polling average (Aug 2023)

> Fox & Friends refuses to put up all of the polls where I am beating Biden

**UNVERIFIABLE**

Cable news editorial selection decisions are internal and subjective. The specific claim of deliberate suppression cannot be verified.

> Their (Fox's) ratings are way down

**MOSTLY TRUE**

Fox News experienced significant ratings declines in 2023, particularly following Tucker Carlson's dismissal in April 2023. Prime-time viewership fell approximately 50% post-Carlson. Fox & Friends also saw morning audience declines.

Sources: Nielsen ratings data, Q2-Q3 2023

Overall Veracity: 70%

## Tags

- media-grievance (85%)
- displacement (90%)
- rival-attack (75%)
- supply-seeking (80%)
- poll-obsession (82%)
- devaluation-fox (78%)
- post-arraignment (95%)
- desanctimonious (88%)

## That day

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

**Post-Arraignment Rage Spiral Peaks with Witness-Intimidation Threat That Triggers Federal Protective Order**

The day after being arraigned on four federal felony counts related to January 6, Trump spent the day oscillating between defiant poll-sharing and increasingly hostile attacks on prosecutors. His team flooded the feed with curated pundit quotes and favorable poll links, constructing a counter-narrative that the indictment was politically motivated election interference. But the managed messaging couldn't contain the authentic rage building throughout the day, which culminated in an explosive all-caps threat -- "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!" -- that prosecutors immediately cited in requesting a protective order from the judge. It was the most dangerous single post in the observed dataset, and it capped a day defined by the tension between professional damage control and ungovernable fury.

Full digest for 2023-08-04: https://trump.fm/date/2023-08-04/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2023, August 4). Why is it that Fox & Friends refuses to put... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_110831357570311044
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Why is it that Fox & Friends refuses to put up all of..." Truth Social, 4 Aug. 2023. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_110831357570311044. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Why is it that Fox & Friends refuses to put up all of...," Truth Social, August 4, 2023, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_110831357570311044.

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