During a sit-down with the parental rights in education group Moms For Liberty on Friday, former President Donald Trump humorously discussed what he referred to as “Trump derangement syndrome.” Commonly abbreviated as “TDS,” this term has been used by Trump supporters for years to describe individuals who harbor an irrational animosity toward the former president. Those labeled as suffering from TDS often struggle to articulate the reasons for their dislike, with high-profile hoaxes—such as the thoroughly debunked Russian collusion allegation and the “very fine people” narrative—often cited as foundations for their views.
During the hourlong “fireside chat” with Moms For Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice, Trump shared insight on the ‘debilitating illness.’ “Because you come under fire a lot. Our moms are standing for things that often the media attacks them on. We’d love to get some advice from you about running for office,” Justice asked the former president.
After he joked that his advice would be to not run for office, Trump commented on the current political climate. “I do say this, though. It is nastier to run as a Republican. It is. Now, I’m the ultimate, you know, I mean, they suffer from a thing called TDS. Do you know what that is? TDS is a horrible, horrible terminal disease,” he said. “It destroys the mind. It destroys the mind before the body, but the body eventually goes. TDS is Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
WATCH:
Trump isn’t the only prominent political figure to address the impact of TDS recently. Earlier this week, independent vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan, who was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate before he left the race and endorsed Trump, released a satirical ad for TDS treatment, styled as a mock pharmaceutical commercial.
“Are you or your loved ones suffering from illnesses such as TDS, also known as Trump Derangement Syndrome? Do you dismiss or deny the current issues facing our country, such as historic inflation, illegal immigration, corporate corruption, World War Three escalations, and the chronic disease epidemic?” a narrator asks. “Are you willing to elect someone who was the least popular vice president in modern history and offers no policy or vision for America, simply because your brain keeps telling you, ‘Anyone but Trump.’ If so, you might be suffering from TDS.”
The ad then presents “independence” as a successful remedy. “Independence allows you the freedom to finally think independently once again. instead of believing everything you hear from the mainstream media, independence allows for constructive critical thinking,” the narrator continues. In an X post promoting the ad, Shanahan noted with an LOL emoji, “My team never sleeps.”
WATCH:
My team never sleeps ? pic.twitter.com/THH4MiMMMI
— Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) August 29, 2024
