# Post x_912624892239077376

- Post ID: `x_912624892239077376`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2017-09-26T10:28:24.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_912624892239077376
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_912624892239077376/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_912624892239077376.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> Ratings for NFL football are way down except before game starts, when people tune in to see whether or not our country will be disrespected!

## Engagement

- Likes: 90,392
- Reposts: 18,510
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.386Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-11T23:26:22.157Z (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 post is the fourth in a perseverative sequence targeting NFL anthem protests, demonstrating Trump's sustained engagement with a culture-war topic that generates reliable narcissistic supply. The rhetorical construction is notably manipulative: it co-opts all viewership data—including potential solidarity watching—as evidence of national outrage, a form of reality distortion. The ratings frame reduces civic protest to entertainment metrics where Trump claims vindication. The perseverative focus on NFL controversy notably coincides with mounting criticism of the Puerto Rico hurricane response, suggesting strategic deployment of cultural warfare as distraction. The post exemplifies Trump's characteristic pattern of converting complex social issues into simple win/lose metrics aligned with his narrative.

## Psychological Analysis: NFL Ratings Post (2017-09-26)

This post continues Trump's multi-day campaign against NFL anthem protests. Posted at 10:28 UTC = 6:28 AM ET (Trump was based in DC/White House during this period), placing it in his characteristic early-morning posting window.

### Personality Analysis

The post frames anthem protests purely through a ratings/entertainment lens, reducing a civil rights protest to a consumer behavior metric. The claim that ratings are "way down" serves dual purposes: it validates his position (the public agrees with him) and weaponizes market logic against protesters. The twist—that remaining viewership is driven by curiosity about "disrespect"—reframes the protest as spectacle rather than speech.

### Rhetorical Construction

"Our country" performs parasocial nationalism, positioning Trump as spokesman for national honor. The framing is clever: even tuning in to watch protests is recast as evidence of outrage rather than interest or solidarity. This is a distortion that co-opts all viewership as supporting his narrative.

### Pattern Context

This is the fourth NFL-related post in rapid succession, demonstrating perseverative focus. The sustained campaign serves to distract from Puerto Rico's humanitarian crisis (which he addresses dismissively in a concurrent post) and the Luther Strange campaign. The NFL controversy is a more favorable terrain for his brand of cultural warfare.

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Ratings for NFL football are way down" | **Half True** | NFL ratings had declined modestly in the 2016-17 season (~8%), but attributing this primarily to anthem protests is unsupported. Multiple factors including cord-cutting, election coverage competition, and normal variation contributed. |

Overall Veracity: 50%

## Authorship Analysis

**Self-Written** (score: 85%)

### Indicators

- 6:28 AM ET early morning posting
- stream-of-consciousness style
- characteristic punctuation patterns
- exclamation mark ending
- emotionally reactive content

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Supply Seeking — Criticism (NFL anthem protest controversy)

Sentiment: -0.40

**Mildly Hypomanic**
- rapid-fire posting sequence on single topic
- early morning posting

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 60%
- Antisocial: 20%
- Paranoid: 20%
- Sadism: 30%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- distortion (pathological)
- rationalization (neurotic)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 40%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- collective 'our country' framing
- positioning self as voice of national honor

## Danger Assessment

**NONE**

### Gaslighting

- Reframes all viewership motivation as outrage about disrespect, erasing possibility of solidarity or neutral interest

## Fact Checks (1)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-11._

> Ratings for NFL football are way down

**HALF TRUE**

NFL ratings had declined modestly in the 2016-17 season (~8%), but attributing this primarily to anthem protests is unsupported. Multiple factors including cord-cutting, election coverage competition, and normal variation contributed.

Sources: Nielsen ratings data 2016-2017 season

Overall Veracity: 50%

## Tags

- NFL anthem controversy (100%)
- culture war (90%)
- distraction (70%)
- ratings obsession (60%)

## That day

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

**While Puerto Rico Drowns, Trump Fixates on Kneeling NFL Players and a Doomed Senate Candidate**

Trump spent the day juggling three storylines — Puerto Rico's humanitarian catastrophe, the NFL anthem controversy, and Alabama's Senate primary — but his energy was wildly uneven. The NFL protests consumed far more personal attention than the three million Americans without power and water in Puerto Rico, where he offered tepid reassurances and preemptively blamed the island's debt and infrastructure for the crisis. He pushed hard for Luther Strange in Alabama's Republican runoff, a bet he would lose the very next day. The afternoon and evening shifted into diplomatic autopilot with staff-written posts about a Spanish state visit and UN meetings, revealing a stark contrast between the raw, high-energy culture-war tweets and the flat, formulaic presidential messaging.

Full digest for 2017-09-26: https://trump.fm/date/2017-09-26/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2017, September 26). Ratings for NFL football are way down except... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_912624892239077376
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Ratings for NFL football are way down except before game..." X (Twitter), 26 Sep. 2017. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_912624892239077376. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Ratings for NFL football are way down except before game...," X (Twitter), September 26, 2017, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_912624892239077376.

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