Trump is not a joker, he is The Joker.

In the Batman Universe, the Joker and the Penguin are two iconic villains. But while both are criminals who seek to “take over” Gotham City, they are nothing alike in their tactics and goals.

Oswald Cobblepot, commonly known as The Penguin, is a petty criminal who craves legitimacy. He dons his ostentatious tuxedo in order to appear successful and respectable. He runs crooked but relatively small time businesses to amass money for a run for mayorship, winning him the respect he craves. He makes business deals with other crooks, he suborns police and politicians, and unscrupulously undermines any opposition. But he does build alliances, stands by his allies, and honors his commitments. Upon becoming mayor, while stealing public funds, he still does his best to run a stable government that appears legitimate and respectable.

Some might think that this describes Donald Trump to a tee. But it is far too generous. Donald Trump is no Penguin. He has far more in common with The Joker.

Like the Penguin, the Joker also sometimes takes control of the mayor’s office. But unlike Penguin, Joker takes glee in inciting crazed lunatics to storm City Hall. He doesn’t crave honest respect like the Penguin but takes far more satisfaction from terrorizing people who are repulsed by him into fawning over him. Joker does not care about maintaining the traditions and decorum of his corrupt office, rather he revels in making a mockery of them. He doesn’t care about quiet stability but rather seeks the constant attention produced only by the most garish and capricious displays of power.

In our real world, so similar to comic books, we do see real-life Penguinesque dictators and we also see Joker style dictators.

The Penguin style dictators are our businesslike kleptocrats. They are represented by the likes of Putin, Suharto, Marcos, Mobutu (early), Chavez (debated, early), Abacha, Mbasogo, Nazarbayev, Aliyev, and Mugabe. These dictators, at least early on, attempted to run their countries as profit-driven enterprises serving them and their cronies rather than the people. They maintained just enough stability to maximize wealth extraction and to hold power.

The Joker style dictators are the unstable or negligent leaders. They include Pol Pot, Mobuto (later) , Chavez (debated, later), Amin, Bokassa, Nkurunziza, Gaddafi, Kim Jong-un, Hussein, Milosevic, and Turkmenbashi. Unlike the Penguins who are motivated mainly by self-enrichment and long-term survival, the Jokers are driven by ideology, paranoia, and shocking exhibitions of personal power. They do not attempt to maintain stability but rather allow or even revel in chaos. They do not attempt to conceal their corruption, instead they flaunt it as defiant evidence of their strength and power.

I listed all these names to convey the reality that dictators are not uncommon and that many are not even as “responsible” as Penguin or Putin. Many are truly Jokers, irresponsible, damaged, sociopathic, and even insane people who have taken power but any means.

Jokers have captivated followers and taken control in many, many countries and the United States is not immune. Donald Trump clearly has much in common with The Penguin, but increasingly more in common with The Joker. Like Mobuto who started out as a Penguinesque dictator, expect Trump to descend even further into full-on Joker insanity every day that he holds office.

And one thing we know from the comics is that no one survives long in service of, or even in proximity to, The Joker. So don’t hold any false illusions that once becoming mayor or president, a Joker will produce anything but even greater chaos and destruction, let alone bring anything but ruin upon you.