# Will Trump kill himself on January 20? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 3, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593 "2021-01-03T20:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/121 "2021-01-05T17:30:24Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > If he attacks Biden, and gets shot by the Secret Service, that wouldn’t totally shock me either. It would surprise me a little, but not shock me. I don’t know if the SS packs elephant guns. I wouldn’t want this played out for several reasons: Donald would get undeserved martyrdom, Biden is older and his heart might not take the excitement, and bystanders might get hurt. I hope the Scots don’t take him in. Or make him wear kilts if they do. He will most definitely not be in DC on the 20th and likely not in the country. If only he takes loony Rudy with him. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/122 "2021-01-05T17:57:40Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > He is incapable of anticipating that just as many people would be encouraging him to go through with it. “[Do it, do it, do it!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s43bd66HFDo)” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/123 "2021-01-05T19:22:06Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Og make it so that the &^%$# news media internalize _THAT._ I do not know to what extent they may have accepted that constantly displacing every other news with _“OMG look, what terrible thing Trump said now!!”_ only made him stronger in the lead-in to his election, and they should NOT do the same in his retirement. I tend to disagree. Despite how wrong it is, Donald Trump is the President. So the media is right to report what he is saying. We, the public, need to know that our President is a liar and an idiot. Refusing to tell us this would have been doing Trump a favor. But once Trump is out of office, he’s no longer important and the media will no longer care about him. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/124 "2021-01-05T19:23:12Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I’ll bet Biden could take him down himself. If Biden beat Trump in a physical fight, would he win the MAGAts like a _Harry Potter_ wizard wins the Elder Wand by winning a duel against its owner? 🤔 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/125 "2021-01-05T19:27:28Z")
The Death Eaters hung around for years, pretending to be productive members of society but waiting for Voldemort to return. I think they are a better analogy than the Elder Wand, an object. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/126 "2021-01-05T19:31:55Z")
I’m saying the same thing. _Once he’s gone_ cover him only of he says or does something _truly newsworthy_. But you see, I don’t trust that the press will be able to resist the urge to continue to point fingers at the freak. (And I was more properly referring to his primary campaign before he was President. He was given disproportionate air time vs other contenders by outlets anxious to be the one who would pick up the one thing that would bring him down.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/127 "2021-01-05T19:39:59Z")
True about the Death Eaters, but I’m (humorously) picturing the MAGAts shifting loyalties in the same fickle and superficial manner as the Wand due to a single physical victory\* that doesn’t necessarily prove the victor smarter, more deserving, or otherwise better. \*if Trump assaulted Biden and Biden successfully fended him off, especially if he got in a hit or two of his own before composing himself. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/128 "2021-01-05T19:59:16Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Trump’s modus operandi is to blame everyone else for his troubles and offing himself would hew too close to having to accept his own failings. I think that’s the most telling statement. Committing suicide would require that he own his mistakes AND his loss, which are things he’ll never do. He’ll just bitch and moan about stolen elections and liberal agendas and whatever other absurd stuff he thinks up, and continue to stir the pot and criticize Biden, et al, in order to remain relevant. Because being relevant, having high ratings, and being a ‘winner’ are all that counts to him. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/129 "2021-01-05T19:59:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > We, the public, need to know that our President is a liar and an idiot. Refusing to tell us this would have been doing Trump a favor. “Refusing to tell us”??? I agree that the media needed to keep us informed about trump and to quote him and fact-check him. That’s good journalism. But they didn’t need to inform us 24/7 of EVERY single hiccup and fart and then analyze endlessly what he meant, what he didn’t mean, what was between the lines, how might it play out, what were the long and short-term consequences to the airline/food/energy/gaming/fashion/tech industries. Yeah, he’s news. But he didn’t need to be in every headline all day every day with pundits replaying every lie and manipulative piece of shit he excreted. He played the media (all of them) like a fiddle. And he’ll still do it as long as it brings in ad revenue for the purveyors. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/130 "2021-01-05T20:25:34Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Committing suicide would require that he own his mistakes AND his loss I don’t see that. Some suicides blame everyone but themself. No, he might well see death as a better alternative than spending the rest of his life in prison. He will claim it as the result of a great conspiracy, that he is the victim of treason, and not at all his fault. Of course, his secret service protectors will protect him from harm, including self inflicted. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/131 "2021-01-05T20:35:13Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Committing suicide would require that he own his mistakes AND his loss, which are things he’ll never do. He’ll just bitch and moan about stolen elections and liberal agendas and whatever other absurd stuff he thinks up, and continue to stir the pot and criticize Biden, et al, in order to remain relevant. Many in this thread are blithely saying these things and just dismissing even the _possibility_ of suicide for a narcissist, and I think that ignores what the research says about the psychology of narcissism, as I’ve posted upthread. You’re talking about his state of mind _now_. Obviously he’s not going to just randomly kill himself while there is still a self-promoting game to be played, while he’s arrogantly flailing around, continuing to successfully fleece his supporters; if as some have speculated he makes a sucessful transition to involvement in some right wing media network and can still garner adequate attention it won’t happen. The path to suicide for a narcissist comes if the anger and arrogance just get him nowhere, if he loses relevance and people just start _ignoring_ him, if he has no way to express his narcissism. If he comes to see that he’s perceived as a failure, along with the possibility of prison, of course. The path starts if narcissistic rage transitions to frustration and then depression. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/132 "2021-01-05T21:05:12Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > No, he might well see death as a better alternative than spending the rest of his life in prison. He knows (and we know, too) that he will never go to prison. Not a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/133 "2021-01-05T21:33:06Z")
Want to bet 50 quatloos on it? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/134 "2021-01-05T21:39:16Z")
I don’t know what those are, but sure. And I would cheerfully and enthusiastically pay up if I lose. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/135 "2021-01-05T21:42:58Z")
> **[Quatloo](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Quatloo)** > > A quatloo was a monetary unit on the planet Triskelion which was used by the planet's Providers to bet on thrall competitions. A betting session might start at a hundred or three hundred and go as high as five thousand. Side bets might start as low... ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/136 "2021-01-05T22:17:15Z")
By the way, bet off if he dies, flees to Russia or Korea, or is declared insane and confined to hospital. Nobody is above the Law, and Trump is facing some very serious charges. As soon as his presidency ends, there are going to be a lot of official investigators queuing up to question him on election fraud, sedition, insurrection, emoluments, tax evasion and possibly rape. He’s going down. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/137 "2021-01-05T22:24:31Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Nobody is above the Law I wish I shared your optimism ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/138 "2021-01-05T22:25:16Z")
Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/139 "2021-01-05T22:53:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > FTR, I have totally banished the word “trump” as in “override” or “defeat” from my vocabulary. The lowercase version of the word does not exist to me. With luck soon the mixed-case and uppercase versions can fade from my notice was well. I started a whole thread on this topic back in September: [What's the best word to replace "trump" in its common usage?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-word-to-replace-trump-in-its-common-usage/920347) ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593/140 "2021-01-05T23:09:25Z")
Yes indeed. My wife watched a lot of MSNBC during the primary campaign and it was astonishing how much time they devoted to Trump. At times you would barely even have known that Kasich or Bush or Cruz were even running. And it was the same old same old all the time. Today Trump said something ridiculous!!! (Just like he did yesterday and the day before.) Today Trump had a rally!!! (Just like he did yesterday and the day before.) Today Trump sent out an offensive tweet!!! (Just like he did yesterday and the day before.) As though this was all NEWSWORTHY, DAMMIT! I remember them spending an inordinate amount of time breathlessly talking about an upcoming Trump rally in Burlington VT, and then showing it even though it was JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHERS. Gaaah. Overall, MSNBC did a terrible job with the amount of time and energy it spent on the Trump campaign. And I suspect everybody else was if anything worse. Which is a disquieting thought… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-kill-himself-on-january-20/929593.md?page=8)