Conspirituality Podcast – Episode 290: Trump Derangement Science
Date: January 8, 2026
Hosts: Derek Beres (D), Matthew Remski (B), Julian Walker (A)

Main Theme Overview

This episode explores the weaponization of pseudoscience and psychiatric language by political and wellness influencers, focusing on the evolving rhetoric of "Trump Derangement Syndrome" (TDS) and the ways it is being institutionalized and exploited by both alt-right and New Age conspirituality figures. The hosts dissect how influential leaders, from biohacker millionaires to top politicians, use scientific language to legitimize dangerous ideologies, derail public health, and pathologize dissent.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tech Millionaire Brian Johnson’s Neuropoetry & Biohacking (02:54–21:40)

• Johnson’s Persona: The episode opens with Julian reading from Brian Johnson’s poetic, biohacking-infused social media posts, highlighting his obsession with longevity, his $2 million/year anti-aging regimen, and his recent public romance with Kate Tolo.
• Metaphysical Science Language: The hosts compare Johnson's blending of emotional, romantic longing and neurobiological jargon to New Age language and Mormon-rooted yearnings for immortality.
  • Julian observes: “It's basically softcore neuroporn where romance and eroticism are reimagined in sort of neurobiological scientific language.” (11:41)
• Literary Comparisons: Matthew invokes language poetry and Christian Bök’s “Xenotext” project to show how scientific words can become a form of modern awe and secular spirituality, echoing the hosts' shared skepticism about reducing atheism to "lack of wonder."
• Control and Intimacy: They probe the unhealthy undertones of control and obsession in Johnson’s poem and romantic dynamic.
  • Julian notes: “He describes how he's gonna have to start at zero again in winning over her trust after been apart. So, so he's disclosing something he's noticed about their intimacy. Right. But then he also imagines how she will have been preoccupied with what to wear.” (17:30)

Notable Quote:

“Johnson might be reimagining religious and like pubescent erotic sensations in the language of science…he’s sort of sublimating erotic sensations into science.”
— Matthew (12:10)

2. RFK Jr., MAHA Pseudoscience, and Public Health Attacks (21:41–42:43)

a. “Trump Derangement Syndrome” as a Diagnostic Meme

• RFK Jr.'s rhetoric: Audio clips show RFK Jr. claiming TDS is a genuine pathology, using it to reframe critiques of his vaccine stances as mental illness (22:00–22:35).
• Disinformation Tactics: The hosts tie this to classic denialist strategies, flipping accusations so that those following medical science are labeled as endangering children.
  • Derek: “Kennedy's whole purpose is to appease Trump like anyone else in the Cabinet and that. And actually, I think Kennedy does it better than most in that Cabinet. He really kowtows bootlegs very well.” (23:47)

b. Making the “Proof”: From Acetaminophen to Hep B

• Weaponization of Research Grants: Derek details how Kennedy is funding non-competitive grants to anti-vax researchers (e.g., Bandim Health Project) to produce favorable (but flawed) evidence undermining universal vaccination.
• Crossroads of Science and Grift: The discussion illustrates how past, sometimes valid, scientific criticisms are co-opted by anti-vax activists to destabilize public health consensus—mirroring Big Pharma’s past misbehavior but twisting facts about vaccines specifically.
• Tuskegee Parallel: Derek warns that such “studies” on vulnerable foreign populations echo infamous medical abuses like Tuskegee, with life-and-death consequences for children in places like Guinea Bissau.

Notable Quotes:

“They’re showing their ass right to you. They're saying here we uploaded a PDF to our server that has not been looked at by anyone else and this is gold standard.”
— Derek (37:04)

“Kennedy is determined to not only derail medical science for babies and children in ways that would normally save their lives wherever he can in the world, but he also is determined to enrich and empower the worst crackpots in the world to help him to do it.”
— Julian (35:18)

3. Trump Derangement Syndrome: Pathologizing Political Opposition (42:43–64:09)

a. TDS in Right-Wing Discourse and Legislation

• Trump Weaponizing TDS: The episode discusses Trump blaming the murder of Rob and Michelle Reiner on TDS (“A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood,” 42:43), using the diagnosis to externalize and deny any personal responsibility.
• Legislative Moves: Matthew reviews Arizona State Senator Janae Shamp’s proposed “Trump Derangement Syndrome Study Act,” a real bill directing public health funds to “research” TDS in partnership with mental health professionals (45:00).
• Soviet and American Parallels: The practice of inventing political psychiatric diagnoses is compared to Soviet use of “sluggish schizophrenia” to repress dissenters, and to racist diagnostics like “drapetomania” for enslaved people. Julian frames this as a “gaslighting” tactic, using the authority of medicine to invalidate normal reactions to oppression.

Notable Quotes:

“They're literally trying to manufacture the pseudoscience psychiatry to discredit political opponents and perhaps even put them in mental hospitals.”
— Julian (46:19)

“What I notice about the way, the number of ways in which these people can attack each part of the process or cast doubt on each kind of study or each institution or each individual scientist, it's like they're finding all of the tender points along this very fragile, but also very, I don't know, like, dependable chain of producing knowledge...”
— Matthew (35:51)

b. TDS: From Satire to Weapon

• Origins & Evolution: The TDS meme began as satire (Bush Derangement Syndrome; Charles Krauthammer, 2003) but has become a serious mechanism for marginalizing dissent. Now, even state and federal legislation cite it as a real condition, and right-wing figures push for formal psychiatric recognition.
• Rhetoric of Displacement: The hosts note the psychological projection in these moves and the dangerous precedent of using medical language as a political cudgel. The recurring workflow: pathologize anyone who resists fascist or reactionary power.

Notable Quotes:

“If you just said the thing outright. If you just said...I think enslaved people are insane for wanting to run away. I don't think anybody would listen to you…So you have to launder it through medical language.”
— Matthew (51:52)

"This is where the correct use of the term gaslighting, I think, really comes in. Because...you have a medically official language doing the work of telling people that their appropriate and healthy and human reactions to something incredibly dysfunctional or oppress[ive] is a kind of mental illness."
— Julian (51:27)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:54] — Analysis of Brian Johnson’s biohacking poetry and pseudo-scientific language of intimacy
• [21:41] — RFK Jr. frames “Trump Derangement Syndrome” as a genuine medical diagnosis, signaling deepening fusion of wellness pseudoscience with political agendas
• [28:31] — Case study: Manipulating vaccine policy and funding to suit anti-vax narratives
• [42:43] — Trump’s use of TDS in public statements to blame critics and externalize responsibility
• [45:00] — Deep dive on Arizona’s “Trump Derangement Syndrome Study Act” and its historical/authoritarian parallels
• [53:45] — Historical context for pathologizing dissent, from racist and Soviet diagnoses to Bush/Trump era political rhetoric

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “It’s basically softcore neuroporn where romance and eroticism are reimagined in sort of neurobiological scientific language.”
  — Julian (11:41)
• “They're literally trying to manufacture the pseudoscience psychiatry to discredit political opponents and perhaps even put them in mental hospitals.”
  — Julian (46:19)
• “They're finding all of the tender points along this very fragile...chain of producing knowledge that you guys are both really invested in...”
  — Matthew (35:51)
• “If you just said the thing outright…No one would listen.”
  — Matthew, on laundering oppression through medical language (51:52)

Conclusion

Episode 290 dissects the disturbing convergence of conspiracy, pseudoscience, authoritarian politics, and the cooption of both wellness and psychiatric language to control public narratives. From the performative and obsessive wellness regimes of tech millionaires to RFK Jr.’s scuttling of vaccine norms and the formalization of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” as both a meme and a legislative weapon, the hosts offer journalistic, philosophical, and historical perspectives illuminating how fascist and wellness ideologies merge, endangering public discourse and health. The episode exposes the roots, mechanisms, and real-world consequences of this trend, ultimately calling for vigilance and clarity in the face of weaponized disinformation.

[Ads, intros, and outros have been omitted for clarity.]