Trump fantasies

As a psychotherapist, I have struggled to understand the grasp Donald Trump has on the affections of his constituency (“Trumped!”, November 21).

Paul Thomas aptly quoted Italian columnist Beppe Severgnini on the attemped comeback by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi: “Italians have an affinity for Berlusconi because he is a walking absolution for our sins – and we have been living in the valley of complicity for a long time.”

Here’s a different take on Trump’s enormous popularity: he personifies the shadow side of the American psyche.

Men admire him for having the balls to say and do what they’d secretly like to do, exemplified by his “grab ’em by the pussy” remark in relation to women. And women secretly admire such a show of dominant masculinity.

Voting for him is a safe way of acknowledging fantasies that otherwise would never see the light of day.

Aroha Mahoney
(Te Awamutu)

Paul Thomas overlooked some basic points in his story about Donald Trump’s