Mental‑health professionals broke the Goldwater Rule because they believed they had a duty to warn the public. In The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, 37 psychiatrists and psychologists analyze his public behavior and explain why they felt ethically obligated to speak out.
They describe patterns they observed in his conduct, including:
• Compulsive or pathological lying — a long‑term pattern of false or misleading statements
• Extreme narcissism — grandiosity, entitlement, and inability to tolerate criticism
• Lack of empathy — difficulty understanding or caring about the impact of his actions on others
• Impulsivity — acting without planning or considering consequences
• Vindictiveness — retaliating against critics and perceived enemies
• Paranoia — interpreting neutral events as attacks and promoting conspiracy‑based thinking
• Antisocial traits — disregard for rules, norms, and the well‑being of others
• Refusal to admit fault — consistently blaming others and never acknowledging mistakes
• Reality distortion — insisting false claims are true and rejecting contradictory evidence
These clinicians emphasized that their warnings were not political. They argued that the behavior they observed in public was serious enough to raise ethical concerns, and that remaining silent would violate their responsibility to the public.
Book link:
https://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Case-Donald-Trump-Psychiatrists/dp/1250212863