Trump’s speech to Boy Scouts ‘toxic beyond rhetoric’

Bullying takes on especially-high priority with a U.S. President in office who’s been dubbed “Bully in Chief.” One recent incident concerns interjection of “political rhetoric” by U.S. President Donald Trump into a speech that he delivered during Boy Scouts of America’s 20th National Jamboree. An invitation to the current president to visit has been a long-standing Jamboree tradition according to “ScoutingWire.”
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Boy Scouts of America leadership issued an apology for Trump’s “political rhetoric,” but Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Gene Beresin is concerned that Scouting leadership may not fully understand how toxic the speech was for impressionable boys.

Trump’s speech at Jamboree, Beresin asserts, “came in a particularly dangerous context: among a huge crowd of young boys, a captive and highly receptive audience that was particularly vulnerable to being influenced by the toxic traits the president consistently demonstrates: his insatiable desire to be adored, his demands for unconditional loyalty, his obsession with winning, and his need to devalue anyone he perceives as a threat.”

Beresin recommends that parents watch the speech with their Scout and converse with him about what is going on: Ask open-ended questions about the child’s reaction — without assuming indoctrination. Stop and start the recording in order to interact, and to correct false claims. “Do not be concerned about stating your opinion about what is being said or about why Trump is making this speech.”