Donald Trump’s multi-day venting about a United Nations escalator that stopped and forced him to walk up the steps afforded MSNBC host Jen Psaki the opportunity to point out what she said was an all-too-common Trump trait when he is feeling particularly aggrieved.
On Tuesday, the president and First Lady Melania Trump had just stepped on the escalator when it abruptly came to a halt, which led him to complain about it during his speech to the General Assembly and follow up with an angry rant about the incident on Truth Social.
According to Psaki, in a column for MSNBC, America is witnessing what she called a “Trump rage cycle” that will come to a familiar conclusion.
Labeling the president an “insecure authoritarian bully,” the former White House press secretary claimed only Trump could turn an inconvenience into an international scandal.
“That brief saga of Trump and the U.N. escalator is sort of a perfect encapsulation of what I like to call the Trump rage cycle,” she wrote before elaborating. “First, Trump decides he feels slighted by someone or something — it can be something as small as a minor technical malfunction — and then he lashes out, doing or saying something ridiculous and, in the process, calling even more attention to whatever has bruised his fragile ego.”
After noting that Trump was still able to use the steps to get to his destination, she added, “Then, Trump and his administration threaten to use the full force of the federal government to get payback, either through bogus investigations, troop mobilizations or threats from the Federal Communications Commission, all to avenge the Dear Leader.”
Psaki then pointed out that Trump’s tantrums don’t always pan out the way he wants them too, citing his complaints about comedian Jimmy Kimmel, which led to him being suspended but didn’t stop ABC/ Disney from bowing to public pressure and putting him back on the air, which led to massive ratings.
“When Trump tried to take things from ridiculous to terrifying, when he tried to thump his chest and make himself seem big, people stood up and treated him like the small, weak and petty bully he is,” she observed.