I’ve never seen him laugh. Not a genuine laugh. So I asked the font of all knowledge and found out I’m not the only one.
There’s a YouTube video of him giving a chortle when he was talking about illegal immigrants and he asks the crowd, “But how do you stop these people?” and one of the crowd shouts, “Shoot them.”
It was a struggle to find him laughing. There are plenty of videos pop up with people laughing at him.
There’s a video of him imitating Kamala Harris laughing, “Ha ha ha, is there something wrong with her, too?” But that is not remotely like an actual laugh.
There’s also the time a dog barked, and he asked, “What was that? Was that a dog?” and a member of the crowd shouts, “It was Hilary!” He laughed then. Briefly, but honestly.
I established he has a sense of humour, albeit it’s on the cruel side. Trump can make people laugh, both with and at him, but he’s not a giggler.
My mum once told me that making people laugh is all that matters. If that’s true, Donald Trump has done a sterling job because most of us have had a canny chortle at comedians making Trump the butt of their jokes. There is no shortage of material.
I didn’t search the entire internet, admittedly, and I don’t know what he does behind closed doors. He may well be lying on the floor laughing the whole time, holding his sides and heaving loudly and deeply. According to former FBI Director James Comey, that’s not the case.
Many have pointed out that the former president is humourless. And I draw it to your attention as it is a cause for concern.
Is it a problem?
In the last year or so, Trump has had little to laugh about. But his lack of humour goes way back. According to his niece, psychologist Mary Trump, her grandfather didn’t laugh either. He believed —
“If you laugh, you let your guard down.”
I vigorously, actively and robustly disagree with that statement. After thirty years in the Scottish Police, I would argue if you don’t laugh, you are missing out not only on a lot of fun but also on one of the most powerful tools we have to build intellect, resilience, and connection.
I love humour. I adore people who can make me laugh. I’m not naturally funny, but it is a myth that you have to be a stand-up comedian to make people laugh. It’s about cultivating joy as opposed to cracking jokes.
How underrated is humour?
According to Stanford Business School researchers Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, authors of Humour Seriously, as a tool for resilience and success at work, humour has some surprisingly powerful effects on the mind that we should all embrace.
Laughter lightens the load. Jollity joins us together. Fun is freeing.
People with anxiety or depression are increasingly being prescribed a dose of Laurel and Hardy. There are strong psychological benefits to be achieved on a diet of stand-up and sitcoms.
The ability to make fun of yourself is a sign of being happy in your skin. It’s a mentality that requires a greater understanding of your fears, fragility, and foibles. Donald is incapable of self deprecation.
Donald Trump scores highly on the Dunning-Kruger scale when a person’s lack of knowledge and skill in a certain area causes them to overestimate their competence. He tells us he knows more about more things than you can fill an ocean with.
And there lies the problem
The more dishonest you are with yourself, the less chance you’ll laugh — that’s why we never see Trump give a guffaw. You can kinda see how Trump’s self-deception messed with his sense of humour.
It’s tough to laugh when you can’t spot the absurdity. In all seriousness, he has said, “‘I’m a very smart person.” He has also said, in his analysis of Hurricane Florence, which killed dozens of people in the Carolinas, as:
“One of the wettest we’ve ever seen, from the standpoint of water.”
When you laugh, it shows vulnerability — your muscles relax, your cheeks might turn red, and you completely lose control. Trump holds onto that control like it’s his life.
When you distort the truth, you won’t even get why something’s funny, let alone laugh at it. There is something else at work, it’s called ‘empathy’ or lack thereof. Lack of humour desensitises us to the feelings of others.
Laughing is an appreciation of others because we want to fit in socially. Laughing helps us bond. Humour is a vital component of social, emotional and cognitive function.
It’s not uniquely human. Hyenas? Maybe not. But primates and apes enjoy a good chuckle when they monkey around. This is a survival mechanism. Laughter is a communal activity which promotes bonding, diffuses conflict and eases stress and anxiety
Trump has no laughter in him. He's incomplete.
That's only one thing that is wrong with him. I have many other examples of what is wrong with him - would you like to know those or is that sufficient?
