TORONTO -- U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 niece believes his upbringing -- particularly his experience with a cruel father -- is to blame for the country鈥檚 poor response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist based in New York City who released her book, 鈥淭oo Much and Never Enough, How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man,鈥� last week, said her grandfather Fred Trump taught Donald to never admit fault, which she argues has led to the country鈥檚 handling of the virus.
鈥淚n order to survive in my family, you couldn鈥檛 be kind, you couldn鈥檛 admit a mistake, you could never be wrong,鈥� she told 麻豆影视 Channel in an exclusive interview. 鈥淎ll of those things were considered weakness in the Trump family.鈥�
Mary Trump argues that in the early days of the COVID-19 infection, Trump made the decision that protecting the stock market was more important than public health and as the virus continued to escalate, he did not veer from that decision.
鈥淗e鈥檚 incapable of accepting advice that contradicts his own narrative,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause he鈥檚 mishandled it from the beginning, he鈥檚 incapable of course correcting because that would mean he would have to admit he was wrong.鈥�
Mary Trump said Fred Trump鈥檚 treatment of his son shaped who the president is today in 鈥渁 couple of particularly salient ways鈥�:
- Fred Trump was left to raise Trump alone for about a year when he was a toddler, and Fred Trump was 鈥渘either interested in, nor capable鈥� of taking care of Trump, which left him essentially abandoned a young age; and,
- Trump witnessed how his father 鈥渟ystematically humiliated鈥� his older son, Fred Trump Jr. 鈥� Mary Trump鈥檚 father -- who did not want to go into business and had hoped to become a pilot.
鈥淗e is very much today as he was at three, and that鈥檚 a problem,鈥� she said.
Mary Trump called her uncle 鈥渃onstitutionally unfit鈥� to hold the office of the U.S. president and argues he has negatively impacted some states鈥� virus responses because local politicians do not want to cross him.
鈥淢ore people are going to get sick and more people are going to die,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in a very dangerous place in our country in the context of this disease that鈥檚 ravaging us.鈥�
In the book, Mary Trump offers a scathing psychoanalysis of her family and blames a toxic environment within the household for raising a damaged narcissist who poses a danger to the public.
鈥淥ne of my main goals in writing the book is to help people understand how longstanding and deeply ingrained his psychological issues are and help them gain access to information that they might not have had four years ago when it comes time to vote again on Nov. 3,鈥� she said.
The book alleges that Trump hired a friend to take the SATs for him, never goes to church unless a camera is on him, and went to the movies while Fred Trump Jr. was dying.
Fred Trump Jr. died in 1981 after struggling with alcoholism. He was 42.
Mary Trump said her relationship with the rest of her family had already been sparse, but acknowledges that her book probably ended it.
鈥淚鈥檓 telling a truth that makes them extremely uncomfortable and it makes them look bad, but it does happen to be the truth,鈥� she said.
Trump called Mary Trump a 鈥渟eldom seen niece who knows little about me.鈥� He also alleges that she violated a non-disclosure agreement to publish the book and broke the law by giving out his tax returns.
鈥淰ery little of it is true, which is something else we鈥檝e come to expect from Donald,鈥� Mary Trump said.
In an interview with Fox News over the weekend, Trump said that he will 鈥渉ave to see鈥� the U.S. election results in November before he can accept them.
Mary Trump said she can see a situation in which the president refuses to leave the White House, despite losing the election.
鈥淚 think it depends greatly on the outcome of the election,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f he loses resoundingly, then he will do his best to spin it somehow and exit stage right, if it鈥檚 close, then we have a different scenario on our hands.鈥�
鈥淚 think the best way to handle an outcome we鈥檒l all regret is to make sure Joe Biden wins in a landslide.鈥�
She is also calling on the U.S. Congress to conduct a thorough investigation into her uncle鈥檚 conduct as president.
鈥淲e need to dive deeply into everything that鈥檚 gone on, certainly in the last three years in this administration,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been impeached and that happened for a reason, so my hope is Congress does its job after the election and finds out in granular detail all of the transgressions that have been made.鈥�
Mary Trump鈥檚 book was released on July 14 and sold 950,000 copies on its first day, breaking publisher Simon & Schuster鈥檚 previous record.
With files from The Associated Press
