TDS and Fake Constitutionalism
18th March 2025
Much has been written about Trump Derangement Syndrome, that mental and emotional affliction that distorts its victims’ ability to make measured judgments about the doings of our past and present president. No doubt much more will be written about it, because this malady shows no signs of abating.
One of the worst side effects of TDS is the widespread circulation of bogus constitutional claims. As Trump, the astute politician that he is, has staked out popular positions on many issues of interest to the public, his critics, at a loss for other arguments, routinely say he is trashing the Constitution.
This is a serious problem. Preserving our constitutional system, and the many blessings that flow from it, depends on preserving a correct understanding of the Constitution’s various provisions among the public. But the public’s understanding of the Constitution is undermined by the TDS brigade’s continual reiteration of fanciful claims of constitutional violations.
TDS, regrettably, is not just a problem on the American Left. There are plenty of conservative sufferers who cannot evaluate Trump dispassionately and twist the Constitution to find grounds on which to denounce him. A prominent case is National Review’s Andrew C. McCarthy, who recently condemned President Trump’s executive order regarding the law firm Perkins Cole.