Trump Goes 'Full Delusion Mode' With Unhinged Performance at Arizona Rally

Rolling Stone‘s Matt Taibbi has witnessed many of Donald Trump’s rallies and speeches, but the president’s performance Tuesday night in Phoenix, Arizona—delivered as hundreds of protestors crowded the streets demanding “Mr. Hate” to leave their state—was the “craziest” yet.

“This Trump speech is like something out of a psychopathology textbook.”
—Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone

“Trump,” Taibbi wrote, was in “full delusion-mode” throughout the evening, fuming to the delight of his supporters in the crowd about the media’s focus on his defense of white supremacist violence, railing against states moving to take down Confederate statues, and accusing news outlets of “turning off live feeds because they’re afraid of his words.”

The president also floated the possibility of a government shutdown if Congress refuses to authorize funds for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and claimed that former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio—who last month was found guilty of criminal contempt for ignoring a court order demanding that his department stop racially profiling Latinos—was “just doing his job.”

“This Trump speech is like something out of a psychopathology textbook,” Taibbi concluded.

Others shared Taibbi’s assessment, denouncing on social media and in aghast statements the “unhinged,” “hostile,” and “incoherent” nature of Trump’s campaign-style rally.

Many reacted specifically to Trump’s claim that those calling for the removal of Confederate monuments are “trying to take away our history and our heritage,” and to his continued insistence that “both sides” were to blame for the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“President Trump again chose to fan the flames of hate and division. His lack of moral credibility was on full display in Phoenix and his failing, pathetic attempts to revise history were another abdication of leadership,” Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a reaction to the president’s event. “When it comes to civil and human rights, we must all stand together against those seeking to divide us.”