Pattern of Abuse

Donald Trump Mastered DARVO, the Strategy of Abusers. We’re Still Suffering the Consequences.

The President explains DARVO — Screen capture from an episode of South Park

By the time he left office, Donald Trump’s record at attempting to overturn the election stood at 1 in 65 in the courts. The solitary case he won didn’t prove any election fraud or shenanigans in the 2020 election either. And yet tens of millions of Americans still believe he won the election. That’s a titanic triumph of disinformation.

The playbook is simple and Trump and many of his most avid supporters have mastered it. You can examine the dynamics from different angles. You can look at social media. You can examine the practice of Russian disinformation or dezinformatsiya. You can even look to the common characteristics of fascism and experience a chilling sense of recognition when you review the features Umberto Eco and others have articulated.

But one simple way of looking at Trump is simply as an abuser, since he bears all the traits a psychologist could rattle off to describe such a toxic personality. In fact, what Trump and his supporters are engaging in—even now—is classic abuser behavior, which adheres to a manipulation strategy wielded by spouse beaters and demagogues alike.

Developed by Professor Jennifer J. Freyd, PhD (University of Oregon), this framework is called…