Dangerous Personalities in Political Leadership

If you truly want change — if you are tired of watching the same cycles of war, poverty, corruption, and broken promises repeat themselves generation after generation — then this report is for you. Real change does not begin in the halls of power. It begins in the moment you cast your vote.

The Torah — the ancient covenant wisdom given to Moses — delivers one of the most direct instructions in all of scripture on the subject of choosing leaders. In Deuteronomy 1:13, Moses commands the people:

“Choose wise and understanding men, known among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.”   Deuteronomy 1:13

Notice what Moses did not say. He did not say choose the most powerful. He did not say choose the loudest, the wealthiest, or the most aggressive. He said choose the WISE and UNDERSTANDING — those who possess genuine insight, sound judgment, and the moral character to govern justly.

The world does not change because the same personalities keep rising to the top — leaders driven by ego, self-interest, and the lust for power rather than genuine love for the people they serve. When a nation consistently elevates narcissists, sociopaths, and those without empathy into positions of authority, the result is always the same: suffering, division, and broken trust.

But when a people chooses leaders who are wise and understanding — men and women who lead with empathy, humility, and genuine love for those they serve — something different becomes possible. Justice becomes more than a campaign slogan. Peace becomes more than a distant hope.

This report was written to give you the knowledge to tell the difference. Study these patterns. Learn to recognize them. And when you go to the ballot box — choose wisely. The future depends on it.

A Note of Clarity:

This report is not an attack on any person, people, nation, or political party. It is not written from a partisan position, and it does not advocate for any candidate or political ideology. What you will find in these pages is science and documented fact — the peer-reviewed research of credentialed psychologists, psychiatrists, and political scholars who have studied these personality patterns for decades. The goal is one thing only: to give the voter the tools of discernment that wisdom has always demanded. We are called to judge the fruit, not to hate the tree.

Peace and Blessings — Elder Kepha (Peter) Arcemont

The 2011 documentary I Am Fishhead brought mainstream attention to peer-reviewed research showing that corporate and political leadership structures disproportionately attract people with what psychologists call the 'Dark Triad' — three personality configurations that, in combination, produce leaders who are charming, ruthless, and incapable of genuine empathy.

1.  NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER (NPD)

Core features: Grandiosity, obsessive need for admiration, profound lack of empathy, explosive rage when challenged, sense of special entitlement, exploitation of others as tools.

Why it thrives in politics: Narcissists are genuinely convinced of their own superiority. This projects as confidence. They perform well in cameras, crowds, and debates because they are emotionally driven by the need to be seen as exceptional. Their mythology is real to them — which makes it persuasive to others.

Warning sign in speech: Excessive use of 'I', boastfulness about personal achievements, inability to acknowledge failure, framing every setback as others' fault, attacks on critics rather than engagement with criticism.

2.  ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER (ASPD) / SOCIOPATHY

Core features: Persistent disregard for the rights and suffering of others, deceitfulness, manipulation, callousness, impulsivity, and lack of remorse. Sociopaths CAN form bonds — with family, tribe, or nation — while treating outsiders with complete indifference.

Why it thrives in politics: The ability to send soldiers to their deaths, order sanctions that starve civilian populations, or imprison political opponents without feeling guilt is operationally 'useful' in competitive geopolitical environments. Systems that reward conquest reward ASPD.

Warning sign in speech: Dehumanizing language toward out-groups, broken promises without acknowledgment, contempt for legal or ethical constraints, glorification of punishment and force.

3.  PSYCHOPATHY (Clinical / PCL-R Defined)

Core features: Predatory calculation, emotional shallowness, charm deployed as a weapon, complete absence of remorse, long-range manipulation, thrill-seeking, and the ability to lie fluently while maintaining eye contact. Dr. Robert Hare's Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) is the clinical gold standard.

Why it thrives in politics: Oxford psychologist Kevin Dutton's research found politicians rank among the top four professions for psychopathic traits — alongside CEOs, lawyers, and media personalities. The skills that win elections — performing empathy, fearless speaking, manipulation of crowds, willingness to destroy opponents — mirror psychopathic traits precisely.

Warning sign in speech: Charm that feels almost too smooth, statements of empathy that feel rehearsed, willingness to pivot completely without acknowledgment, zero accountability when exposed.

This is the structural insight that I Am Fishhead and the academic literature agree on: it is not simply that individual bad actors rise to power. It is that the systems themselves — political parties, media attention cycles, campaign financing, corporate boards — are structured in ways that make dark triad personalities more competitive than healthy ones.

Empathy slows decision-making. Guilt limits ruthlessness. Conscience resists compromise. The prophet Isaiah described this 3,000 years ago. Modern clinical psychology now maps it precisely.

The Goldwater Rule vs. The Duty to Warn

The American Psychiatric Association's 'Goldwater Rule' prohibits diagnosing public figures without direct clinical examination. However, in 2017, over 60,000 mental health professionals signed the 'Duty to Warn' petition, arguing that when a leader's public behavior creates observable danger, silence becomes its own ethical violation. Yale psychiatrist Dr. Bandy Lee edited the landmark collection The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump (2017), featuring 27 clinicians who argued that behavioral patterns visible to the public are sufficient for clinical pattern recognition — even without a formal diagnosis.

The following profiles apply clinical frameworks to publicly documented behavioral records. All evidence cited is drawn from public record: court proceedings, investigative journalism, documented policy actions, and testimony from former officials. These profiles are presented for educational and civic awareness purposes.

VLADIMIR PUTIN  |  Russian Federation — President (2000–2008, 2012–present)

Clinical Profile: Psychopathy + Malignant Narcissism — High PCL-R Indicators

Observable Behavioral Patterns

• Pathological deception as a governance tool: documented KGB training in active measures, disinformation, and psychological manipulation
• Grandiose historical mission: frames himself as the restorer of Russian civilization; private conversations with European leaders reportedly focused obsessively on historical grievances
• Extreme risk tolerance combined with strategic cunning: escalated from Chechnya to Georgia to Crimea to full-scale Ukraine invasion while calculating Western response tolerance
• Complete elimination of political opposition: Alexei Navalny imprisoned and died in custody 2024; Boris Nemtsov shot dead 200 meters from the Kremlin; at least 14 documented Kremlin critics died in mysterious circumstances 2006–2022
• Shallow affect and callousness documented by former European heads of state in post-meeting memoirs

Documented Public Record

• 2006: Ordered the polonium-210 assassination of Alexander Litvinenko on British soil — a nuclear-capable act of state murder — UK public inquiry found 'probably approved' by Putin
• 2014: Annexed Crimea in violation of international law; armed separatists in eastern Ukraine; approximately 14,000 died in the Donbas conflict 2014–2022
• 2022: Launched full-scale invasion of Ukraine; International Criminal Court issued arrest warrant March 2023 for war crime of unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children
• Documented use of chemical weapons: Novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England (2018); Novichok poisoning of Alexei Navalny (2020)
• Human rights organizations document systematic torture and disappearances in Chechnya, confirmed by Council of Europe investigations

Voter Awareness Note: Putin represents the most consequential case study of unchecked psychopathic leadership in the 21st century. Every escalation followed a period in which Western democracies declined to impose meaningful costs. The pattern is a documented clinical progression, not an accident of circumstance.

KIM JONG-UN  |  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — Supreme Leader (2011–present)

Clinical Profile: Malignant Narcissism + ASPD — Inherited Totalitarian Architecture

Observable Behavioral Patterns

• Required worship as a near-divine figure: North Korean citizens must display portraits of the Kim family in their homes and bow before them; state propaganda assigns supernatural qualities to the Kim lineage
• Eliminated family threats: had his own uncle Jang Song-thaek executed in December 2013 (officially charged with treason); arranged the VX nerve agent assassination of his half-brother Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 2017
• Zero tolerance for dissent: estimated 80,000–120,000 political prisoners in documented network of camps including Kwanliso 14, 15, and 25
• Grandiose displays of power calibrated to domestic audience: nuclear tests and ICBM launches timed to consolidate internal status
• Strategic rationality within a malignant narcissism frame: makes calculated international decisions while maintaining total domestic coercion

Documented Public Record

• UN Commission of Inquiry (2014): found crimes against humanity including extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, and other sexual violence in the political prison camp system
• 2017: Kim Jong-nam (half-brother and potential rival claimant) assassinated with VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur airport; two women recruited as unwitting operatives
• 2013: Jang Song-thaek, second-most powerful man in North Korea and Kim's own uncle, publicly arrested during a politburo session and executed within days
• Estimated 42% of population lives in extreme poverty; famine in 1990s killed estimated 600,000–3.5 million while regime maintained military spending
• Continued nuclear weapons and ICBM development in violation of 11 UN Security Council resolutions; estimated 40–50 nuclear warheads as of 2024

Voter Awareness Note: Kim Jong-un is the most complete operational example of malignant narcissism in current world leadership — a system in which the leader's pathology is institutionalized into every aspect of state function. The North Korean case demonstrates what happens when no external or internal accountability structure remains.

RODRIGO DUTERTE  |  Philippines — President (2016–2022)

Clinical Profile: Malignant Narcissism + ASPD — State-Sanctioned Violence

Observable Behavioral Patterns

• Publicly boasted about personally killing criminal suspects as mayor of Davao City; encouraged police and civilian vigilantes to kill drug suspects without trial
• Classic malignant narcissism escalation: framed extrajudicial killing as both righteous and personally heroic; compared himself favorably to Hitler
• Grandiose cruelty as political theater: publicly described throwing a rape-murder suspect from a helicopter; described executing criminals himself
• Absence of remorse for documented civilian deaths: responded to international criticism with profanity and defiance
• Used state power to persecute political opponents: Senator Leila de Lima imprisoned on disputed drug charges; Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno ousted through unprecedented legislative process

Documented Public Record

• Estimated 12,000–30,000 killed in the 'War on Drugs' 2016–2022, according to human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International
• ICC opened formal investigation into Philippines drug war killings September 2021; Philippines withdrew from ICC but investigation continued
• UN Human Rights Council: found killings were 'widespread and systematic' with 'virtually no accountability' for perpetrators
• ICC issued arrest warrant for Duterte in March 2025; he was arrested in Manila and transferred to ICC custody in the Hague — the first former head of state from Southeast Asia to face the court
• Philippine Commission on Human Rights documented pattern of planting evidence on victims post-mortem to justify killings as legitimate police operations

Voter Awareness Note: Duterte's case is historically significant because he said explicitly, repeatedly, and publicly what he was doing — and was elected, celebrated, and re-elected at high approval ratings. His March 2025 ICC arrest documents that international accountability is possible, though delayed. The voter who heard his statements before the election had all the information needed.

JAIR BOLSONARO  |  Brazil — President (2019–2022)

Clinical Profile: Authoritarian Narcissism + ASPD Indicators

Observable Behavioral Patterns

• Publicly praised convicted military torturers from the Brazilian dictatorship era as 'heroes' and stated his own torturer 'should have killed more people'
• Expressed admiration for multiple military dictatorships; stated openly that 'the only mistake' of the 1964–1985 Brazilian military dictatorship was 'torturing but not killing' dissidents
• Grandiose self-identification as a providential nationalist figure; framed democratic oversight as a communist conspiracy
• Absence of remorse: responded to a congresswoman's criticism of his torture praise by publicly stating she was 'not worth raping' on the floor of congress
• Systematically undermined faith in electoral institutions for two years prior to the 2022 election, establishing a pre-fabricated narrative to contest any loss

Documented Public Record

• January 8, 2023: Bolsonaro-aligned mobs stormed and ransacked the Presidential Palace, National Congress, and Supreme Court in Brasilia — a direct parallel to the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol attack
• Brazilian Federal Police recommended charging Bolsonaro in November 2024 with coup attempt, illegal possession of firearms, and being part of a criminal organization
• Amazon deforestation reached 12-year peak under Bolsonaro's administration; Brazilian Space Research Institute data showed 43% increase in destruction 2019–2022
• COVID response: publicly mocked mask usage and vaccines; Brazil suffered one of the world's highest per capita COVID death rates at over 700,000 deaths
• Electoral Court banned Bolsonaro from running for office until 2030 for abuse of power and misuse of state media in 2022 campaign

Voter Awareness Note: Bolsonaro told voters precisely what his value system was — in his own words, repeatedly, for decades — and a majority elected him anyway. His case is a study in how authoritarian narcissism normalizes through gradual habituation. The voter's responsibility is to hear what a candidate actually says, not what they want to believe the candidate means.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU  |  Israel — Prime Minister (1996–1999, 2009–2021, 2022–present)

Clinical Profile: Grandiose Narcissism + Political Survivalism

Observable Behavioral Patterns

• Formed a governing coalition with far-right parties holding openly antidemocratic positions in order to maintain power despite ongoing criminal prosecution
• Launched judicial reform package in 2023 that would have eliminated independent oversight of executive decisions — directly benefiting his own defense against corruption charges
• Clinical grandiosity: presents himself as indispensable to Israel's survival, framing removal from power as an existential national threat
• History of exploiting security crises to delay politically inconvenient developments — pattern documented by Israeli security officials including former Shin Bet directors
• Former associates and allies document a pattern of treating loyalty as a one-directional obligation

Documented Public Record

• Three criminal indictments: Case 1000 (fraud, breach of trust — accepting gifts from billionaires), Case 2000 (fraud, breach of trust — regulatory favors to media), Case 4000 (bribery, fraud, breach of trust — approving regulatory decisions benefiting Bezeq telecom in exchange for favorable coverage)
• Trial ongoing as of March 2026: Netanyahu has appeared in court 79 times; cross-examination in Case 4000 is active. Pardon request denied by the Justice Ministry Pardons Department on March 11, 2026; opinion submitted to President Herzog on March 24, 2026. ICC arrest warrants for war crimes issued November 2024 remain in force
• ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant in November 2024 related to conduct of the Gaza war
• Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo publicly stated in 2023 that the judicial reform push constituted an 'attempt to commit a coup' and 'abolish democracy'
• Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak: called Netanyahu's conduct 'an attempt to replace Israeli democracy with a corrupt autocracy'

Voter Awareness Note: Netanyahu is a case study in how personal legal jeopardy and political power can become so entangled that the line between national interest and personal survival disappears. When a leader’s primary motivation is to avoid accountability for their own conduct, every governance decision becomes suspect.

DONALD J. TRUMP | United States — President (2017–2021, 2025–present)

Clinical Profile: Malignant Narcissism + High Machiavellianism + Authoritarian Grandiosity

Observable Behavioral Patterns

Documented Public Record

• Big Five research: “sky-high extroversion combined with off-the-chart low agreeableness and grandiose narcissism” — psychologist Dan P. McAdams, characterization corroborated across multiple independent academic studies
• Systematic dismantling of oversight in second term: DOJ directed to drop prosecutions of allies and pursue opponents; FBI purged of January 6 investigators; Inspectors General across multiple departments fired simultaneously; special counsel system abolished
• Grandiosity and indispensability: “I alone can fix it” stated publicly at 2016 Republican National Convention — research by University of Vienna and Australian National University confirms this framing drives cult-like loyalty structures among followers
• Documented admiration for authoritarian leaders: publicly praised Putin (“a genius”), Kim Jong-un (“loves his people”), Viktor Orbán, Xi Jinping, and Rodrigo Duterte — expressed approval of Duterte’s extrajudicial drug war killings
• Total absence of remorse across documented record: no public acknowledgment that January 6 produced harm; no acknowledgment of 34 felony convictions as representing wrongdoing; no acknowledgment of any failed prediction or broken promise
• Dark Triad: Nai et al. (2019) — expert psychological assessors rated Trump among the highest of all assessed world political leaders on narcissism using the Paulhus & Williams (2002) Dark Triad instrument
• May 30, 2024: Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records — first U.S. president ever convicted of felony crimes. Sentenced January 10, 2025 to unconditional discharge
• Special Counsel Jack Smith final report (January 2025): concluded that “the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial” in the election obstruction case — charges dismissed only because DOJ policy prohibits prosecuting a sitting president
• January 6, 2021: directed supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol; failed to act for 187 minutes during the attack while his Vice President’s life was in danger; granted full pardons to over 1,200 convicted Capitol attackers on first day of second term
• Two presidential impeachments: Impeachment I (2019) — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress; Impeachment II (2021) — incitement of insurrection. First president impeached twice
• 233 mental health professionals open letter (2024): “Clinicians have had years to observe Donald Trump, and his behavior has long been indicative of malignant narcissism. We have a duty to warn the public about the grave danger posed by returning this man to power” (Dr. John Gartner, lead signatory)
• Second term retribution campaign: targeted prosecution of former officials and political opponents; security clearances revoked for critics; career civil servants fired; “enemies” publicly identified by name from the presidential podium
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Voter Awareness Note: Trump is the only leader profiled in this document who has been convicted of felony crimes by a jury of his peers and re-elected to the presidency by the American electorate in the same election cycle. This is historically unprecedented in democratic governance. The voter who elected him in 2024 did so with full knowledge of the 34 convictions, four indictments, two impeachments, and the January 6 Capitol attack. That is not a failure of information. It is a documented failure of the discernment standard Deuteronomy 1:13 establishes — and a reminder of why this document exists. The covenant standard does not exempt any leader from examination because of their nationality, their faith, their party, or their popularity. It asks one question: what is the fruit? The fruit is visible. The conclusion is yours.

BORIS JOHNSON  |  United Kingdom — Prime Minister (2019–2022)

Clinical Profile: High-Functioning Narcissism + Pathological Dishonesty

Observable Behavioral Patterns

• Documented pattern of fabrication in public life: fired from his first journalism job at The Times for inventing a quote; fired from Shadow Cabinet for lying about an affair; multiple documented falsehoods in the Brexit campaign
• Classic narcissistic DARVO pattern (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender): consistently responded to accurate reporting of misconduct with personal attacks on the reporter or investigator
• Charm-based manipulation: used humor and apparent self-deprecation as tools to lower others' critical defenses — a documented trait in high-functioning narcissistic personalities
• Absence of genuine remorse: the pattern across multiple career scandals is denial until denial became untenable, then minimal acknowledgment, then rapid repositioning without behavioral change
• Used prorogation of Parliament in 2019 in an attempt to bypass democratic oversight of Brexit; Supreme Court of the United Kingdom unanimously ruled it unlawful

Documented Public Record

• Partygate: held or attended at least 16 gatherings at Downing Street during COVID lockdowns his own government imposed; received Fixed Penalty Notice from Metropolitan Police; misled Parliament about the gatherings
• Privileges Committee of the House of Commons found in June 2023 that Johnson had deliberately misled Parliament — a finding that would have resulted in a lengthy suspension; Johnson resigned his seat preemptively rather than face the vote
• UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously in September 2019 that his prorogation of Parliament was unlawful and void
• Multiple senior Cabinet ministers resigned simultaneously in July 2022 triggering the collapse of his government, citing inability to trust his word
• COVID Inquiry: testimony and WhatsApp messages revealed Johnson repeatedly dismissed warnings from his own scientific advisors and expressed callous disregard for vulnerable populations in private communications

Voter Awareness Note: Boris Johnson represents the 'high-functioning narcissist' in democratic leadership — entertaining, apparently harmless, but leaving behind a consistent trail of institutional damage and personal betrayals. His case illustrates that charm is not character, and that the voter who prizes entertainment over integrity will eventually receive the government they deserve.

Before you vote — for any candidate, at any level — run through this checklist. These are the red flags that clinical literature, historical record, and political psychology agree are warning signs of dangerous personality configurations in those seeking power.

RED FLAGS: What to Watch For Before You Vote

☐  They never apologize — or only fake-apologize when forced

    Genuine leaders acknowledge mistakes and course-correct. Narcissists and psychopaths perform apology as a manipulation tool, then repeat the behavior. Watch for the pattern, not the single instance.

☐  They dehumanize specific groups with casual contempt

    This is the single clearest warning sign. When a leader uses language that strips the humanity from any group — immigrants, religious minorities, political opponents, the poor — they are signaling that empathy has a hard boundary. That boundary will determine whose suffering they allow.

☐  They claim only they can fix the problem

    The 'only I can save you' construction is textbook malignant narcissism. Healthy leadership builds institutions and distributes power. Narcissistic leadership concentrates power by manufacturing dependency.

☐  They attack the credibility of every institution that holds them accountable

    Courts, press, electoral systems, scientific bodies — when a leader systematically delegitimizes every check on their power, they are preparing the ground for unchecked authority. This is not anti-establishment boldness. It is strategic removal of accountability.

☐  Their record does not match their rhetoric — and they show no awareness of the gap

    Psychopaths lie with full conviction. Sociopaths make promises they never intended to keep. The diagnostic signal is the absence of cognitive dissonance — they show no awareness that they said one thing and did another.

☐  They glorify strength, punishment, and dominance as primary values

    The consistent glorification of violent language, punitive policy, and strongman imagery reflects ASPD traits being channeled into political aesthetics. These leaders do not govern — they perform dominance.

☐  The people around them end up destroyed, discredited, or disappeared

    Look at the trail of associates. Narcissists and psychopaths in power consistently destroy the people closest to them when those people become inconvenient. A long trail of ruined former allies is diagnostic.

☐  They treat the truth as a resource to be managed, not a reality to be respected

    Healthy leaders are sometimes wrong and say so. Psychopathic and narcissistic leaders use truth instrumentally — saying whatever serves the moment with complete confidence. The volume and brazenness of the lies matters more than any single falsehood.

☐  Their empathy only appears when cameras are present

    Performed empathy — empathy that switches on for audiences and off in private — is one of the most reliable markers in clinical literature. The tears that never appear without a crowd. The concern for suffering that evaporates the moment it is no longer publicly useful.

☐  They ask you to distrust your own eyes and experiences

    Gaslighting at a political scale — telling citizens that documented events did not happen, that their lived experience is wrong, that what they witnessed with their own eyes was fabricated — is both an ASPD behavior and a tool of authoritarian control.

The purpose of this report is not only to identify what to avoid. It is to sharpen your vision of what to seek. Healthy leadership — across every culture and political tradition — shares certain observable qualities.

Signs of Healthy Leadership and Why It Matters

Acknowledges mistakes publicly

Accountability requires the ability to feel and express genuine fallibility

Builds and respects institutions

Power distributed through institutions protects everyone — including minorities

Speaks of service, not of destiny

Servants empower. Messiahs create dependency and demand sacrifice

Maintains consistency in private and public behavior

Integrity means the mask and the face are the same thing

Welcomes oversight and accountability

The person who wants no scrutiny is the person who needs the most scrutiny

Speaks about shared sacrifice — including their own

The leader who asks others to sacrifice while protecting themselves is performing, not leading

Engages criticism rather than destroying the critic

Healthy self-esteem does not require the elimination of opposition

I voted in 1980 and 1984 — for Ronald Reagan in both elections. I have not voted in any election since 1984. This is not indifference to this nation, and it is not resignation. It is a covenant position that I hold before Yahweh and am willing to stand behind publicly, for two reasons that are grounded in Torah.

The first reason is discernment of candidates. I have not yet encountered a candidate whose fruit, examined over time against the standard of Deuteronomy 1:13 — wise, understanding, and knowledgeable — and have not been sufficient to earn my covenant endorsement. I am not waiting for a perfect person. I am waiting for a person whose character, demonstrated by their record and not merely their rhetoric, meets the ancient standard. The ballot is the easy part. The discernment is the responsibility. The believer who votes reflexively — for a party, for a personality, for a cultural symbol — without applying that standard has cast a ballot but exercised no wisdom.

The second reason goes deeper than candidate discernment. The priests of Yahweh were never permitted to hold political office, cast political judgment, or align themselves with any governing faction — because the priest of Yahweh must remain impartial. The moment a priest pledges his voice to a king, a party, or a political outcome, he has compromised the one quality that makes his ministry trustworthy before Yahweh and before the people. The judges of Israel were held to the same standard. Deuteronomy 1:17 commands: “You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is Yahweh’s.” A judge who has voted for the man standing before him cannot render that judgment with clean hands.

This is not a position I invented. It is rooted in the foundational identity Yahweh declared over His people at Sinai. In Exodus 19:5–6, He declared: “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” A kingdom of priests. Not a kingdom of partisans — a royal priesthood set apart to minister before Yahweh with clean hands, impartial judgment, and allegiance to no earthly faction. The priest does not vote for the king. He stands before Yahweh on the king’s behalf. That is a higher office than the ballot, and it cannot be held with integrity by a man whose loyalties are divided between the throne of Yahweh and the outcome of an election.

I hold this position as my own covenant discernment, not as a command to any congregation. Daniel 2:21 declares: “He removes kings and raises up kings.” Proverbs 21:1 declares: “The king’s heart is in the hand of Yahweh, like rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” I believe this entirely. It does not eliminate the citizen’s responsibility — it clarifies what that responsibility actually is. We are stewards, not owners. We are priests, not politicians. And the priest’s most powerful act has never been the vote — it has always been the intercession. And not everyone carries the office of Priest!

Miqdash Bethel does not endorse any political party or candidate. We provide tools — clinical, historical, and scriptural — and trust the covenant community to apply them with wisdom and clean hands. The decision is yours. These are the tools.

This Is Not a Call to Hatred, Judgment, or Violence

Before you read further — or after you have finished — there is something that must be said clearly and without any ambiguity whatsoever:

Having a personality disorder does not make a person evil.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and psychopathy are recognized clinical conditions. They are, in many cases, rooted in childhood trauma, neurological differences, and environments that shaped a person long before they ever held power. The individuals named in this report are human beings — created, like all of us, in the image of the Almighty. They are not monsters to be destroyed. They are not targets.

What this report documents is behavior — actions taken, patterns established, documented harm caused. A person may commit evil actions without being defined as irredeemably evil in their essence. The Torah itself makes this distinction. Even the most hardened king in scripture is addressed with a call to repentance before judgment falls.

“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares Yahweh. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”

— Ezekiel 18:23

We also recognize that we live in a society where many people are themselves struggling with mental and emotional illness. Trauma is widespread. Pain is widespread. A report like this one, if read without the anchor of love and wisdom, could be misused by someone in a broken emotional state to justify hatred or — Yahweh forbid — violence toward another human being.

Let this be stated without reservation:

• Nothing in this report authorizes, encourages, or justifies violence, harm, or hatred toward any individual — leader or otherwise.
• The purpose of naming names is education and discernment — not condemnation and certainly not incitement.
• Our weapon is knowledge. Our shield is the Torah. Our posture is one of love toward all people, including those whose actions we must honestly examine.
• We pray for the healing of those in power, just as we pray for those harmed by their decisions. Yahweh alone is Judge.

The Torah commands us to love our neighbor — and in the broader prophetic tradition, our neighbor includes even our adversary. Proverbs 25:21 instructs us to feed our enemy when he is hungry. This is the spirit in which this document must be read. We examine these leaders not with hatred in our hearts but with clear eyes — because a people that cannot see clearly cannot choose wisely.

If after reading this report you feel anger — that is understandable. Many of the documented actions described here are genuinely grievous. But let that anger be directed toward systems, structures, and the patterns of behavior that harm people. Let it not become hatred toward a human soul. Emotions are powerful. They are also, as we know from history, easily weaponized.

“Do not say, I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”

— Proverbs 24:29

Use this knowledge to vote more wisely. Use it to have better conversations. Use it to raise children who can recognize the difference between authentic leadership and performed dominance. Use it to demand better from the systems that govern your communities. But always — always — do so from a foundation of love. That is the way of the Torah. That is the way of true Shalom.