Trump is Gilderoy Lockhart, Not Voldemort

President Trump has inspired an awful lot of literary, historical, and pop-culture comparisons. It doesn't matter whether you support him or not, chances are your brain leaped to make its own comparison, flattering or insulting. I've heard quite a few comparisons to Voldemort and as a Harry Potter nerd, it's been bugging me. 

Not only do I find the comparison to be inaccurate, but it feels lazy, an automatic response without critical thought or a measured assessment of both Trump and the characters of the Wizarding World. People that love Harry Potter and hate Trump naturally want to paint him as the big bad villain, but Voldemort is by far not the only villain or antagonist in the series. Don't get me wrong. Personally, I loathe Trump, but what I'm advocating for is an accurate, thought-out, fair comparison. If we're going to throw tomatoes at him, let's do it right and not half-ass it. In the wisdom of Ron Swanson, let's whole-ass it. Oh wait, I guess I should put it in Harry Potter terms: let's not Ron it, let's Hermione it.

So, admittedly, Trump and Voldemort do share some characteristics, but they don't line-up quite right. They are both ruthless in pursuing their goals, willing to hurt or sacrifice anyone at any time, but Trump at least seems to care about and support his own family, whereas Voldemort doesn't care about anyone and will sacrifice his closest supporters without a second thought. He framed his pure-blood uncle for murder with no remorse. They both came from wealth, but as an abandoned orphan, Voldemort never benefited from it. They both stick to their own kind and view outsiders as enemies that are beneath them, but Voldemort does so out of utter contempt and Trump just doesn't care or think about anyone outside his circle. They both hated their original family name and tried to stamp it out, but Trump's family changed it long before he was born and Voldemort actually out-Trumped Trump by anointing himself a Lord Anagram.

Moreover, none of these are the defining characteristic of Trump. Let's face it, the one thing we can all probably agree on, whether you support him or not, is that first and foremost, he's a raging egomaniac. Trump cares about nothing so much as himself. More specifically, he cares about maintaining his huge, delicate ego that rests on him feeling like the greatest thing in the world. Everything has to be about him and it has to be positive, or he goes bananas. 

Now, who does that sound like in the Wizarding World? Gilderoy Lockhart! Like Trump, Lockhart only truly cares about himself. Everyone else is either a fan or an object to be used. Like Trump, he doesn't care about actually achieving things, only being perceived and adored as an achiever. He just wants to feel like a winner and will cut every corner he can. Like Trump, he'll claim he can do something incredibly amazing, just for the attention when he damn well knows he can't and has no intention of ever doing it.

Like Trump, even when he's clearly making a fool of himself in action over lame-ass Cornish Pixies, he'll play it off with a pitiful excuse that somehow attempts to paint him in a good light. Like Trump, he will twist the truth, blatantly lie, and outright deny anything negative to come out on top and maintain his inflated ego, no matter how ridiculously obvious the truth is. I'm pretty sure that if Trump could magically wipe people's memories, he would. He's got a lot of Inferi in the closet to make disappear. 

On the darker side, like Trump, Lockhart will easily allow others to suffer so long as he benefits. Dude was willing to let Ginny die in the Chamber of Secrets, and who knows how many blind eyes Trump has turned to the suffering of those beneath him. Like Trump, he craves the adoration of women but does not respect them as they are just shiny trophies to him. If the series had been mature audiences only and not family friendly, I'm willing to bet we would have been reading about Lockhart sexually assaulting women with the help of charms and potions. Or heck, probably without any magical aids too since he was so famous he could get away with it.

Sorry, wow, that got really dark there. But, like I said, if we're going to go for it, we're going all the way. Trump and Lockhart might not be a 100% perfect comparison, but I think it's the best and most accurate comparison to the Wizarding World. I know I'm not taking crazy pills because in google image searching "Gilderoy Lockhart Trump," a lot of links came up, so clearly I'm not alone in making the comparison. Which also means I'm not as clever or unique as I'd like to think, but that's okay, my ego—although at times delicate and fragile—is at least healthier than theirs so I think I can handle it.

Sadly, I don't think Trump is as harmless as Lockhart, but I hope that America will metaphorically be Harry and Ron and stop him, forcing him to backfire his own weapons on himself. Please, please, please let Trump end up in the equivalent of St. Mungo's, safely secured and unable to harm anyone else ever again!