# Post ts_111648437750060550 - Post ID: `ts_111648437750060550` - Platform: Truth Social - Posted: 2023-12-26T19:46:00.823Z (UTC) - Deleted: no - Repost: no - Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_111648437750060550 - Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_111648437750060550/analysis - Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_111648437750060550.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording) ## Post text > Jonathan Chait, The Intelligencer: “To deny the voters the chance to elect the candidate of their choice is a Rubicon-crossing event for the judiciary. It would be seen forever by tens of millions of Americans as a negation of democracy.” ## Engagement - Likes: 8,942 - Reposts: 2,358 - Replies: 200 - Views: unknown - Metrics collected: 2026-02-01T01:19:51.381Z (UTC) # Analysis _Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-24T16:55:31.349Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._ ## Summary This aide-curated post quotes Jonathan Chait — a center-left commentator — condemning the Colorado Supreme Court's December 19 ballot disqualification ruling as a "Rubicon-crossing" anti-democratic act. Its psychological significance lies not in its content but in its curation strategy: by selecting a left-coded validator, Trump's communications team performs cross-ideological legitimacy laundering. The post is the sixth in a same-day cluster functioning as coordinated narcissistic injury repair following the disqualification ruling. The central reality distortion is a DARVO inversion: 14th Amendment §3 — enacted specifically to prevent insurrectionists from holding democratic office — is reframed as itself a "negation of democracy." This is sophisticated gaslighting, not confusion. The "tens of millions of Americans" framing positions Trump metonymically as the vessel of popular sovereignty rather than an individual litigant subject to constitutional eligibility review. Authorship is almost certainly aide-written (2:46 PM EST, zero original text, clean formatting, strategically calibrated source). The psychological instinct — cross-ideological supply-seeking — is characteristically Trumpian even if execution is staffed. Danger level is elevated not through explicit violent language but through the cumulative judicial delegitimization pattern, which has documented real-world effects on judicial security. No cognitive data points are available for longitudinal assessment. ## Post Analysis: ts_111648437750060550 — December 26, 2023 ### Overview This post consists entirely of a curated external quotation — Jonathan Chait writing in *The Intelligencer* — with no original Trump text. It appears in a dense cluster of same-day reposts (Byron York ×3, Andrew C. McCarthy ×2, Chait ×1) that collectively constitute a coordinated epistemic defense strategy responding to the Colorado Supreme Court's December 19, 2023 ruling removing Trump from the state's 2024 primary ballot under 14th Amendment §3. The strategic selection of Chait — a writer for New York Media, strongly identified with center-left commentary — is the analytically significant feature. Trump (or his team) is borrowing the credibility of an ideological adversary to validate the anti-removal position. This is a sophisticated rhetorical maneuver, not impulsive emotional expression. --- ### Authorship Attribution **Location:** Trump was almost certainly at Mar-a-Lago (Palm Beach, FL) during the Christmas holiday period. UTC 19:46 converts to **2:46 PM EST** — solidly mid-afternoon business hours. **Indicators:** No original text, no capitalization bursts, no typos, no emotional register. Clean block-quote format. Ideologically calibrated source selection (liberal commentator as validator). This post bears all hallmarks of aide curation — likely Scavino or communications staff — possibly flagged for Trump's approval before posting. Confidence: **high for aide-written or aide-curated**. However, the *instinct* to seek cross-ideological validation is characteristically Trumpian. The psychological function (supply-seeking through external authorities, especially surprising ones) reflects his known pattern even if execution is staffed. --- ### Psychological State and Triggers **Primary trigger:** Narcissistic injury from the Colorado Supreme Court ballot disqualification (December 19, 2023). Being declared legally ineligible to appear on a ballot represents one of the most profound threats to Trump's identity as candidate/leader. This cluster of six posts on December 26 functions as a coordinated injury-repair operation. **Narcissistic state:** Mixed — predominantly *vulnerable* (persecuted by courts, denied due process) but with grandiose undercurrent (the "tens of millions" framing positions him as embodiment of the popular will). The Chait quote does double work: it validates the victimhood narrative AND inflates the scale of grievance to historical ("Rubicon-crossing," "forever"). **Supply mechanism:** Cross-ideological validation is premium narcissistic supply. If even Chait — implicitly an adversary — says this is wrong, the injury narrative is reinforced with unusual credibility. This is sophisticated supply-seeking, not crude self-praise. --- ### Defense Mechanisms **Rationalization (neurotic):** Marshaling authoritative third-party voices to provide logical scaffolding for what is fundamentally a self-interested legal position. Six consecutive curated quotes constitute a rationalization architecture. **DARVO / Projection (immature):** The quote inverts the democratic accountability frame. Trump faces legal challenge predicated on his role in January 6. The post reframes the *courts* as the anti-democratic actors, positioning Trump as democracy's defender. This is textbook Deny-Attack-Reverse Victim and Offender. The insurrectionist becomes the democracy-protector; the courts enforcing 14th Amendment become the democracy-destroyers. **Splitting (immature):** The quote's framing ("negation of democracy") implies a binary — either Trump is on the ballot or democracy is negated. No middle position exists. --- ### Rhetorical Techniques **Cross-ideological laundering:** Using a left-coded source (*The Intelligencer*, Chait) to inoculate the argument against partisan dismissal. This is a sophisticated persuasion technique — the implicit message is "even liberals agree this is wrong." **Appeal to future history:** "Seen forever" and "Rubicon-crossing" invoke historical permanence and irreversibility, escalating stakes beyond the immediate legal dispute. **Democratic legitimacy appropriation:** The 14th Amendment §3 disqualification is a constitutional provision designed to protect democratic institutions from insurrectionist capture. The post inverts this, framing enforcement of that provision as the anti-democratic act. This is a high-order reality distortion. **Metonymic representation:** "Tens of millions of Americans" frames Trump as the vessel of popular sovereignty, not an individual litigant. Judicial action against Trump = judicial action against the people. --- ### Gaslighting and Reality Distortion The framing here represents significant reality distortion: the 14th Amendment §3 was enacted specifically to allow democratic institutions to exclude from office those who engaged in insurrection against the constitutional order. Framing its enforcement as "negation of democracy" is an inversion of the provision's original democratic purpose. This is not confusion — it is deliberate rhetorical reversal. **Epistemic closure vector:** By quoting a nominally liberal commentator in agreement, the post signals to followers that "even the other side" validates the grievance narrative. This is a powerful mechanism for reinforcing epistemic closure — the in-group can now cite Chait as proof the courts are wrong. --- ### Cognitive Status No original language to assess. The post provides zero data points for longitudinal cognitive tracking. The aide-written nature makes any inference impossible. --- ### Danger Assessment **Level: Elevated.** The post itself contains no violent imagery or eliminationist language. However, the ongoing delegitimization campaign against the judiciary — framing courts as enemies of democracy for applying constitutional law — contributes to an environment where judicial actors face escalating threats. The "Rubicon-crossing" language implies crossing a threshold after which extraordinary responses may be justified. In the context of Trump's broader December 2023 rhetoric (including "ROT IN HELL" Christmas messages), this contributes to a pattern of judicial delegitimization that has documented real-world effects on judicial security. --- ### Longitudinal Pattern Note This post is the sixth in a same-day cluster, all functioning as curated external validators. The pattern — Byron York on Haley's unelectability, McCarthy on due process denial, Chait on ballot removal — describes a coherent psychological project: constructing an evidentiary record that Trump is both dominant (polling) and wronged (legal). The combination of grandiose supply (60-point lead) with victimhood supply (due process denied, democracy negated) is characteristic of the mixed narcissistic state Trump occupies during periods of legal stress. The sophistication of cross-ideological sourcing suggests strategic communications involvement rather than purely impulsive posting. ## Fact Verification | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |-------|---------|----------| | "Jonathan Chait wrote in The Intelligencer that removing Trump from the ballot would be 'a Rubicon-crossing event for the judiciary'" | **Mostly True** | Chait did write critically about the Colorado Supreme Court ballot disqualification ruling in late December 2023. The quote is consistent with arguments he made during this period, though precise wording cannot be independently verified without source access. Chait's position was that the legal strategy was counterproductive even if he opposed Trump. | | "Denying voters the chance to elect their candidate of choice would be seen 'forever by tens of millions of Americans as a negation of democracy'" | **Unverifiable** | Predictive claim about future public perception. Polling data from the period does show significant Republican opposition to ballot removal, but the 'forever' and 'tens of millions' framing is rhetorical extrapolation within the quoted opinion piece rather than a verifiable factual assertion. | Overall Veracity: 65% ## Authorship Analysis **Aide-Written** (score: 15%) ### Indicators - Mid-afternoon EST posting time (2:46 PM), solidly within aide business hours - Zero original text — pure third-party quotation - No typos, capitalization bursts, or stream-of-consciousness elements - Strategically calibrated source selection (left-coded commentator as validator) - Clean block-quote formatting consistent with Scavino/communications staff style ## Psychological Profile ### State **Mixed State** **Trigger:** Narcissistic Injury — Defeat (Colorado Supreme Court ballot disqualification ruling, December 19, 2023) Sentiment: -0.45 ### Clinical **Malignant Narcissism:** - Narcissistic: 60% - Antisocial: 30% - Paranoid: 40% - Sadism: 10% **Defense Mechanisms:** - rationalization (neurotic) - projection (immature) - splitting (immature) **Cognitive Complexity:** - Complexity: 0% **Parasocial Techniques:** - Cross-ideological validation (liberal commentator as validator) - Metonymic representation (Trump = 'tens of millions of Americans') - Appeal to shared historical grievance ('seen forever') ## Danger Assessment **ELEVATED** ### Indicators - Sustained judicial delegitimization campaign contributes to documented threat environment for judicial actors - 'Rubicon-crossing' language implies threshold crossed justifying extraordinary responses - Framing courts as enemies of democracy in context of broader rhetoric including 'ROT IN HELL' Christmas messages creates cumulative incitement pattern - Cross-ideological validation technique strengthens in-group conviction that judicial actors are legitimate targets of grievance ### Gaslighting - Framing enforcement of 14th Amendment §3 (an anti-insurrection constitutional provision) as itself 'negation of democracy' - DARVO: courts protecting democratic institutions from insurrection cast as the anti-democratic actors - Reality inversion of the provision's original purpose — enacted to protect democracy from insurrectionists, reframed as a weapon against it ## Fact Checks (2) _The model's verdicts from 2026-03-24._ > Jonathan Chait wrote in The Intelligencer that removing Trump from the ballot would be 'a Rubicon-crossing event for the judiciary' **MOSTLY TRUE** Chait did write critically about the Colorado Supreme Court ballot disqualification ruling in late December 2023. The quote is consistent with arguments he made during this period, though precise wording cannot be independently verified without source access. Chait's position was that the legal strategy was counterproductive even if he opposed Trump. Sources: The Intelligencer / New York Media, December 2023 > Denying voters the chance to elect their candidate of choice would be seen 'forever by tens of millions of Americans as a negation of democracy' **UNVERIFIABLE** Predictive claim about future public perception. Polling data from the period does show significant Republican opposition to ballot removal, but the 'forever' and 'tens of millions' framing is rhetorical extrapolation within the quoted opinion piece rather than a verifiable factual assertion. Overall Veracity: 65% ## Tags - ballot-disqualification (95%) - judicial-delegitimization (90%) - cross-ideological-validation (85%) - DARVO (85%) - aide-written (90%) - 14th-amendment (90%) - reality-inversion (80%) - narcissistic-injury-repair (85%) ## That day _From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._ **Boxing Day Damage Control: 42-Post Defensive Barrage Conceals a Single Volcanic Eruption at Jack Smith** Trump's team ran a tightly choreographed content dump the day after Christmas, flooding Truth Social with over 40 articles and quotes defending against the Colorado ballot removal ruling from a week earlier. The posts alternated between grievance material framing the court decision as "lawfare" and flattering polls showing commanding primary leads. One post broke sharply from the curated tone -- a raw, all-caps tirade telling Special Counsel Jack Smith to "go to HELL" -- revealing the anger simmering beneath the managed surface. The overall mood was defensive but controlled, with staff doing the heavy lifting while Trump himself appeared to intervene only once, and explosively. Full digest for 2023-12-26: https://trump.fm/date/2023-12-26/analysis ## Citation - APA: Trump, D. J. (2023, December 26). Jonathan Chait, The Intelligencer: “To deny the... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_111648437750060550 - MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Jonathan Chait, The Intelligencer: “To deny the voters the..." Truth Social, 26 Dec. 2023. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_111648437750060550. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026. - Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Jonathan Chait, The Intelligencer: “To deny the voters the...," Truth Social, December 26, 2023, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_111648437750060550. ## For agents - Site overview: https://trump.fm/llms.txt - API specification: https://trump.fm/openapi.json - MCP server: https://trump.fm/mcp (search and fetch tools, no auth) - This post as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/posts/ts_111648437750060550 - Analysis as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/analysis/ts_111648437750060550 - All citation formats: https://trump.fm/api/cite/ts_111648437750060550 - Same day: https://trump.fm/date/2023-12-26 - The record alone, without the analysis: https://trump.fm/post/ts_111648437750060550.md?analysis=false _Markdown view of a trump.fm page. Post, analysis, date, feed, contradictions, search and about pages answer in markdown at their URL with `.md` appended (`/index.md` for the home page), or when sent `Accept: text/markdown`._