# Post x_917091286607433728 - Post ID: `x_917091286607433728` - Platform: X (Twitter) - Posted: 2017-10-08T18:16:16.000Z (UTC) - Deleted: no - Repost: no - Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_917091286607433728 - Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_917091286607433728/analysis - Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_917091286607433728.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording) ## Post text > I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen. ## Engagement - Likes: 135,146 - Reposts: 28,144 - Replies: 0 - Views: unknown - Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.386Z (UTC) # Analysis _Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-12T00:00:03.697Z (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 psychologically notable for Trump's explicit admission that the Pence NFL walkout was pre-orchestrated political theater. The narcissistic need for attribution overrides strategic discretion — Trump cannot allow the walkout to be perceived as Pence's independent moral conviction. He must be credited as the director. This instrumentalizes both the Vice President (reduced to an obedient prop) and patriotism itself (weaponized for culture war positioning). The framing of kneeling as "disrespecting our country" performs deliberate meaning-erasure, collapsing a racial justice protest into a simple patriotism binary. The phrase "I am proud of him" positions Trump as patriarch dispensing approval to a subordinate, a dominance display masked as warmth. The post also reveals comfort with openly admitting manipulation of public events — suggesting either confidence that supporters won't care about the staged nature, or inability to resist claiming credit. In the context of this period, the NFL controversy served as reliable narcissistic supply, offering clear in-group/out-group dynamics and positioning Trump as defender of national honor against an easily demonized out-group. ## Psychological Analysis: Directing Pence NFL Walkout (Oct 8, 2017) ### Context This post reveals Trump claiming credit for orchestrating VP Pence's walkout from an Indianapolis Colts game when players knelt during the national anthem. This was during the broader NFL kneeling controversy Trump had escalated weeks earlier. ### Authorship Posted at 2:16 PM ET (Trump likely in NJ/DC area), business hours. However, the content is clearly Trump's voice — the first-person directive claiming credit, the patriotic framing, the personal touch of naming "Karen." This reads as Trump dictating or personally posting, despite the timing. ### Psychological Analysis The post is remarkable for its explicit admission that the walkout was a **staged political theater** — Trump says he *asked* Pence to leave *if* players kneeled, meaning the walkout was premeditated, not spontaneous outrage. This reveals: 1. **Instrumental use of others**: Pence is deployed as a prop in a culture war performance 2. **Need for control**: Trump must be seen as the director, not just a supporter 3. **Grandiosity**: He couldn't let Pence get credit for an independent act of principle The phrase "I am proud of him" positions Trump as the patriarch dispensing approval — a dominance display framed as warmth. The inclusion of "@SecondLady Karen" adds a performative personal touch. ### Culture War as Narcissistic Supply The NFL kneeling controversy was Trump's most sustained culture war engagement of this period. It served as reliable narcissistic supply — positioning him as defender of patriotism against perceived disrespect, with a clear in-group/out-group dynamic. ### Rhetorical Function By revealing the staged nature, Trump actually undermines the walkout's authenticity but gains something more valuable to him: credit as the mastermind. The narcissistic need for attribution overrides strategic discretion. ## Fact Verification | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |-------|---------|----------| | "Trump asked Pence to leave if players kneeled" | **Mostly True** | Multiple reports confirmed the walkout was pre-planned. Pence's press pool was told to stay in vans (not enter stadium) suggesting a planned early departure. The admission in this tweet was consistent with reporting. | Overall Veracity: 80% ## Authorship Analysis **Uncertain** (score: 70%) ### Indicators - First-person directive voice - Business hours posting (2:16 PM ET) - Personal touch naming Karen - Claim of orchestrating the event - Relatively clean grammar suggesting possible aide formatting ## Psychological Profile ### State **Grandiose State** **Trigger:** Supply Seeking (NFL kneeling controversy / culture war) Sentiment: +0.40 ### Clinical **Malignant Narcissism:** - Narcissistic: 70% - Antisocial: 30% - Paranoid: 10% - Sadism: 20% **Defense Mechanisms:** - acting out (immature) - idealization (immature) **Cognitive Complexity:** - Complexity: 50% **Parasocial Techniques:** - Patriotic framing creating in-group identification - Modeling expected behavior (leaving = proper response to disrespect) ## Danger Assessment **NONE** ### Gaslighting - Reframes kneeling (racial justice protest) as 'disrespecting our country' — erasing actual meaning of the protest ## Fact Checks (1) _The model's verdicts from 2026-03-12._ > Trump asked Pence to leave if players kneeled **MOSTLY TRUE** Multiple reports confirmed the walkout was pre-planned. Pence's press pool was told to stay in vans (not enter stadium) suggesting a planned early departure. The admission in this tweet was consistent with reporting. Sources: Contemporary news reporting October 2017 Overall Veracity: 80% ## Tags - NFL kneeling controversy (90%) - orchestrated political theater (80%) - patriotism framing (70%) - Pence as instrument (60%) ## That day _From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._ **Corker Feud Erupts as Trump Oscillates Between Grandiose Attacks and Victimhood Over Puerto Rico** Trump spent a Sunday morning launching a multi-tweet attack on Senator Bob Corker, painting a former ally as a desperate supplicant who begged for his endorsement -- a version of events with little factual backing. He also took credit for directing the Vice President's staged walkout at an NFL game, unable to let Pence own the moment. The day's most revealing post came in the evening, when he complained that "nobody" could have done more for Puerto Rico but received "so little appreciation," shifting from aggressor to victim as the day wound down. Across the board, the mood was combative and self-congratulatory, with flashes of grievance breaking through the bluster. Full digest for 2017-10-08: https://trump.fm/date/2017-10-08/analysis ## Citation - APA: Trump, D. J. (2017, October 8). I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_917091286607433728 - MLA: Trump, Donald J. "I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled,..." X (Twitter), 8 Oct. 2017. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_917091286607433728. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026. - Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled,...," X (Twitter), October 8, 2017, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_917091286607433728. ## 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/x_917091286607433728 - Analysis as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/analysis/x_917091286607433728 - All citation formats: https://trump.fm/api/cite/x_917091286607433728 - Same day: https://trump.fm/date/2017-10-08 - The record alone, without the analysis: https://trump.fm/post/x_917091286607433728.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`._