Why do liberal critics of Trump and Trumpism feel they can comfortably use the language of idiocy, pathology, and ‘brain defects’ to describe their opponents?

Pratt philosopher and teacher in Social Science and Cultural Studies Dan Boscov-Ellen has written a piece exposing the smugness of these self-ordained (and elitist) ‘phrenologists’.  It’s called ‘Against the New Phrenology: De-Pathologizing Trump’ and it has just appeared in the online journal ‘The Disorder of Things’ (November 2). Link here.  

 Boscov-Ellen says to the liberals, look at the brutal, unsustainable and racist world that neoliberalism has made before you let your own ideology off the hook, 

Dan is a PhD student in Philosophy at the New School for Social Research. His dissertation explores the political-philosophical relationships of capitalist ecological crisis.  He also teaches ethics and social issues as well as environmental ethics at Pratt Institute.