Quotes about Donald Trump

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is serving as the 47th president of the United States of America since January 20, 2025. He previously served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. See also: Donald Trump on social media First presidency of Donald Trump Second presidency of Donald Trump Racial views of Donald Trump Trumpism Alphabetized by surname. A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · See also · External links thumb|Donald Trump's voice is resonating with average Americans who feel their voice has been lost by their party. I believe this will become a new Republican Party, one that we should embrace. We should be the party of working men and women, the party of America first. ~ Lou Barletta thumb|Donald Trump, I really truly believe is a very dangerous man. If you listen to the things he said... thumb|There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S dollar bills bearing his signature. A We have a commander-in-chief who has never failed to signal his xenophobia, his racism, his bigotry and his hatred. And that will absolutely filter down to the youngest and most impressionable members of our communities. Stacey Abrams Interview with Democracy Now (January 2019) The meta-impact of President Trump routinely doing the "impossible" is that it changes how all of us view our world. If Trump can keep doing the impossible, time and time again, why can't we? [...] [D]on't be surprised if 2018 is the year when people all over the world shed their mental prisons and take on the "impossibles" in ways we have never seen. Thanks to President Trump, people everywhere are beginning to recognize the difference between real impossibilities and simple failures of imagination. Scott Adams, "How President Trump Changed Your Imagination" (2 January 2018) Donald Trump represents that idea of casual disrespect and disregard of women. But I see many are getting much more politically active in response to all that. So I am actually not concerned. I am hopeful. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2017 interview collected in 'Conversations with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie edited by Daria Tunca (2020) With Trump, the conversation is not about immigration, it's about not wanting people who are not white. That's fundamentally what it is. The US media will say that it is about immigration, but it's not. It's about race. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2018 interview collected in 'Conversations with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie edited by Daria Tunca (2020) Trump gives about four months for Syria troop pull-out: NYT Aljazeera, 1 January 2019 in response to 31 December 2019 article by Eric Schmitt and Maggie Haberman of New York Times titled "Trump to Allow Months for Troop Withdrawal in Syria, Officials Say" that says "Trump has agreed to give the military about four months to withdraw the 2,000 United States troops in Syria, administration officials said on Monday" I think it's funny because Donald Trump is kind of in the spirit of old Greek tyrants where they used to vote in a guy that had no encumbrances. So the smartest thing about him, which is probably most overlooked, to me, is that he doesn't owe anybody anything and if he would just stick to fixing the bridges, roads and infrastructures that's what he knows how to do...just keep him doing that. Tim Allen, as quoted in "Tim Allen says he leans left, leans right, and ends up 'center right'" by Blanche Johnson, FoxNews.com (13 January 2016) I think Trump failed to pull off his coup because of three enduring weaknesses in his character. First, many high school students know more about how the American government works than he does. He particularly does not understand the way the Constitution’s division of powers, even after all the growth in executive power over the decades, still can check an overreaching president. Thus he seems to have assumed that Republican judges would agree the election had been rigged simply because they were Republicans, when actually they were foremost judges in an independent judiciary bound by precedent, by a duty to see that justice is done, and by a demand for evidence. Similarly, Congress has many ties to executive agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Defense, especially the ties that bind with purse strings, that give it considerable influence in these agencies. Second, organizing something as complicated as a coup d’etat takes some serious cognitive chops, and by 2020 Donald Trump had trouble “staying on topic” for even a minute. If he were huddling with a conspirator over, say, control of the U.S. Marshalls during a takeover, he would soon be talking about how windmills kill eagles or the steam catapults on aircraft carriers. His thinking processes were too chaotic to orchestrate a coup. Third, even though Donald Trump convinced millions that he was a self-assured, super-confident, take-charge individualist, he has long lacked resolve. He always had the courage of his convictions, which meant he had almost none. He frequently changed positions on important issues, notoriously being swayed by whoever spoke to him last, and his decision-making could be fairly characterized as “Charge ahead impulsively, then quickly retreat.” For example, two days after the networks declared Joe Biden had won the election, Trump signed an executive order commanding the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and elsewhere by inauguration day. This surprised everyone at the Pentagon, whose officials immediately pointed out the dangers of precipitate withdrawals. Trump almost never went toe-to-toe with advisors who stood up to him. Instead he just sulked and complained about having “too many lawyers.” Like the executive order Trump signed curtailing military aid to South Korea that an aide simply took off his desk and deep-sixed, the order about Afghanistan was ignored. Harry Truman famously said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” and he had a sign on his desk that read, “The buck stops here.” Trump can’t stand the heat, and accordingly he always makes sure the buck stops somewhere else. Like most bullies, he usually gets another person to do his dirty work and face all the danger. The mob who attacked the Capitol on January 6th were the latest version of the throngs who bought Trump’s junk bonds in earlier days, taking all the risks, for his benefit, while he watched. Bob Altemeyer, "Lessons of the 2020 American Election, January 6th, and Beyond", October 20, 2021. What's more appalling is that huge numbers of those left behind in the wealth transfer genuflected to the new plutocratic class, celebrating the most vicious of the uber- CEOs. This craven CEO-worshipping is still going on today- middle Americans drag themselves home after work in order to gather around the television and watch billionaire assholes like Donald Trump deliver his "You're fired!" line to some desperate, stressed-out Smithers-abee. Mark Ames, Going Postal: Rage, Murder and Rebellion: From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond (2005), p. 87-88 He really does remind you of the original Narcissus, the frigid pretty boy of Greek myth who was mortally smitten by his own reflection. Narcissus is autoerotic; he is self-aroused. Martin Amis "Don the Realtor" Harper's Magazine (August 2016) We support Trump because he is the savior of the White race, sent by God to free us from the shackles of the Jew occupation and establish a 1000 Reich. Andrew Anglin, as quoted in "Trump's Neo-Nazi And Jewish Backers Are Both Convinced He's Secretly On Their Side" (26 May 2016), by Jessica Schulberg, The Huffington Post We’re not talking about creeping fascism here. This is full on police state tyranny from the gangster President Donald Trump. I’ve received hundreds of messages of concern and outrage from Canadians that a convicted felon, sexual predator, and a man who threatened our nation’s sovereignty, is being allowed into our country. Donald Trump poses a clear threat to American democracy, to Canadian sovereignty, and to the international rule of law. Canada can no longer view the United States as an ally. We know that Donald Trump doesn’t believe in liberal democracy. Canada must be focused on containing this clear and present danger to our nation and the rule of law. Charlie Angus, quoted in "Canadian politician rips Trump as ‘gangster president’ ahead of G7 visit" The Hill (June 12, 2025) Yes, Trump is worse than imperfect. So what? We can lament until we choke the lack of a great statesman to address the fundamental issues of our time—or, more importantly, to connect them. Since Pat Buchanan's three failures, occasionally a candidate arose who saw one piece: Dick Gephardt on trade, Ron Paul on war, Tom Tancredo on immigration. Yet, among recent political figures—great statesmen, dangerous demagogues, and mewling gnats alike—only Trump-the-alleged-buffoon not merely saw all three and their essential connectivity, but was able to win on them. The alleged buffoon is thus more prudent—more practically wise—than all of our wise-and-good who so bitterly oppose him. This should embarrass them. That their failures instead embolden them is only further proof of their foolishness and hubris. Michael Anton (as "Publius Decius Mus"), "The Flight 93 Election", The Claremont Institute (September 5, 2016) Trump is not the only president in the modern era to have switched sides. Ronald Reagan famously changed from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, but the change was driven by principle, and the change stuck. He didn't sway back and forth, again and again. It would be tough for anyone to claim Donald Trump flipped parties on "principle" like Reagan. Some have sought to dig into Trump's ideological evolution, figuring out what changed or who inspired him to become a Republican. I'll spare them the needless waste of effort. Donald Trump became a conservative when it became politically convenient for him. I have no doubt he would have become the raucous rising star of the Democratic Party, too, if that looked like a shorter path to the Oval Office. Either way, he did with his belief system what he did with any Trump product. He outsourced it for low-cost manufacturing to someone else, then slapped his name on it. A handful of hired minions gave him the bare-bones requirements of a "conservative" platform. And he covered it with gaudy gold plating to make it his own. Anonymous, A Warning (2019), p. 97 Donald Trump has America back on the road to bankruptcy, an area where he has unparalleled expertise for a president of the United States. The small band of fiscal conservatives who remain in the Trump administration warned the president about the eventual dangers of his out-of-control spending addiction. In one such meeting, Trump reportedly said, "Yeah, but I won't be here." I never heard him say those words, but it doesn't come as a surprise. That's how he thinks. What does he care if the federal government goes belly-up? By then it won't be his problem. Anonymous, A Warning (2019), p. 101 The president's denial-turned-apathy to Moscow's actions is why America responded with the diplomatic equivalent of a whimper to one of the biggest foreign affronts to our democracy. Of all the failures of Trump's foreign policy, letting Russia off the hook is perhaps the most frustrating. The outgoing Obama administration imposed modest sanctions on Moscow, including expelling several dozen alleged Russian agents from the United States, but it left the rest to the incoming White House. Trump was reluctant to take further action that might offend Putin, with whom he hoped to develop a close working relationship. He hesitated to even raise the subject in conversations with the Russian leader, dumbfounding people on the inside. I remember when Congress sanctioned Russia in summer 2017. Representatives vented their anger over how little the administration had done to hold Russia accountable, so they took matters into their own hands and passed legislation punishing the country. Though he would later take credit for the sanctions in order to claim our administration had been unusually tough on Moscow, Trump in fact was furious. He felt Congress was getting in the way of his goal of a warm friendship with the Kremlin. Russia responded to the sanctions by kicking out hundreds of US embassy staff from their country and seizing US diplomatic compounds. President Trump's response was startling. "I want to thank him because we're trying to cut down on payroll," Trump told reporters about Putin's move, without a hint of irony. "And as far as I'm concerned, I'm very thankful that he let go a large number of people, because now we have a smaller payroll. There's no real reason for them to go back. So I greatly appreciate the fact that we've been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We'll save a lot of money." Anonymous, A Warning (2019), p. 164-165 Trump's cavalier attitude toward the Russian security threat has had a predictable yet devastating consequence. Moscow has not been deterred from attacking American interests. It has been emboldened. They continue to take advantage of the United States, around the world and on our own soil. Former director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified in January 2019 that Russia was still sowing social, racial, and political discord in the United States through influence operations, and several months later, Robert Mueller said the same. "It wasn't a single attempt," he testified to Congress. "They're doing it as we sit here. And they expect to do it during the next campaign." This should be a national scandal, a cause for outrage and action against the Russian government. Instead, it's being ignored where it should matter most- in the Oval Office. Reporters asked Trump about Mueller's assessment days later and quizzed him again on whether he'd pressed Putin on the topic. "You don't really believe this," he shot back. "Do you believe this? Okay, fine. We didn't talk about it." Then he boarded Marine One. Anonymous, A Warning (2019), p. 167 As we tried to make sense of Donald Trump's positions or when one of us tried to argue against them, we first had to ask: Why is the president so attracted to autocrats? After a contentious meeting about the president's engagement with a foreign dictator, a top national security aide offered me his take. "The president sees in these guys what he wishes he had: total power, no term limits, enforced popularity, and the ability to silence critics for good." He was spot on. It was the simplest explanation. Anonymous, A Warning (2019), p. 171 Mr. Trump is a wild card, but he is likely to sign pro-life measures, and he is seeking advice now from the right people to appoint a plausible successor to Justice Scalia. In this Guide for the Perplexed, we may find reason to bite our lips and take the Wild Card over the brutal Sure Thing on the other side. Hadley Arkes, "A Guide for the Perplexed", The Catholic Thing (4 May 2016) I don't know him, when I sit with him face-to-face, I can judge him. But I only look at the person on the TV, you know, on the TV you can manipulate everything, you can...rehearse, you can prepare yourself... Bashar al-Assad, Interview with Bill Neely (July 2016) on "NBC: Exclusive Interview with Bashar al-Assad" My analysis is that Trump would not be permitted to win. Why do I say that? Because he has had every establishment off his side. Trump does not have one establishment, maybe with the exception of the Evangelicals, if you can call them an establishment. Banks, intelligence, arms companies, foreign money, etc. are all united behind Hillary Clinton. And the media as well. Media owners, and the journalists themselves. Julian Assange, interview with John Pilger; "Assange: Clinton & ISIS funded by same money, Trump won't be allowed to win", RT.com (4 November 2016) [Trump] is consistent. He is the same person that you see behind the scenes as he is in the public or through the media. Jacinda Ardern in A brief history of Donald Trump v Jacinda Ardern There is no greater sacrifice than to lay down one's life for their country, and that's the sacrifice that Captain Humayum Khan made fighting to defend our freedom and our constitutional rights. He was a true American hero. The Khan family deserves nothing less than our deepest support, respect, and gratitude, and they have every right to express themselves in any way they choose. I am appalled that Donald Trump would disparage them and that he had the gall to compare his own sacrifices to those of a Gold Star family. Kelly Ayotte, statement regarding Donald Trump's comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan (July 31, 2016) B Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Trump's birth certificate, demonstrating that he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan. Scott Balber, Donald Trump's lawyer, to comedian Bill Maher (2013), in response to Maher's facetious assertion that he'd pay Trump $5 million dollars upon release of Trump's birth certificate to prove he was not sired by an orangutan. Mr Khan, shame on you & #CrookedHillary (Hillary Clinton) for not being truthful to all in attacks at @realDonaldTrump (Donald Trump). Al Baldasaro, Twitter, August 1, 2016 Come on. You know it's only socialism when it helps the working class. Farm bailout will primarily help big Ag. (referring to Los Angeles Times article: Rich farmers, not mom-and-pop farms, will collect most of Trump's tariff bailout (31 May 2019) Krystal Ball in Twitter Post, (26 June 2019) Interesting nugget here as well. @tparsi had been informed by a Hill staffer in touch with the Pentagon that military strikes were imminent. Apparently everyone thought these strikes were really happening right up until the last moment. @esaagar ... @tparsi also warns that any military strike could easily lead to full blown conflict. "The Idea that there's such a thing as a limited strike on Iran is frankly preposterous." ... Interview with Head of the National Iranian American Council @tparsi . He told us it would be "political suicide" for any Iranian politician to meet with Trump as long as Bolton/Pompeo are around. @esaagar ... #rising #sanctions #Iran #iranwar Krystal Ball in Twitter Post, (24 June 2019) Wait... you only thought to ask about how many people would die 10 minutes before the strike??? That's a rather important piece of info to nearly overlook. Krystal Ball in Twitter Post, (21 June 2019) As Democrats jeer that Trump has merely laid bare the true soul of the GOP, some Republicans wonder, with considerable anguish, whether they're right. Molly Ball, Can the Republican Party Survive Trump?, The Atlantic (August 24, 2015) Viewed through any conventional lens, President-elect Donald Trump's candidacy was improbable from start to finish. Today, two things about his victory seem to be in sharper focus: one, that Trump's victory might best be understood as the success of the country's first independent president, and second, that the Trump coalition may be even more uniquely his than President Obama's has turned out to be.Trump owes his success in part to the fact that he ran for president in an environment that favored change over the status quo. But his luck or genius goes beyond that. It has long been noted that the conditions have existed for an independent candidate to run a serious campaign for president.Trump took the elements of an independent candidacy — the lack of clear ideology, the name recognition of a national celebrity and the personal fortune needed to fund a presidential campaign — and then did what no one seemed to have thought of before. He staged a hostile takeover of an existing major party. He had the best of both worlds, an outsider candidacy with crosscutting ideological appeal and the platform of a major party to wage the general election. By the time he had finished, he had taken down two political dynasties: the Bush dynasty in the primaries and the Clinton dynasty in the general election. Dan Balz, Donald Trump, America's first independent president (November 19, 2016) Donald Trump's voice is resonating with average Americans who feel their voice has been lost by their party. I believe this will become a new Republican Party, one that we should embrace. We should be the party of working men and women, the party of America first. Lou Barletta, as quoted in "Lou Barletta, an immigration hard-liner in Congress, endorses Trump" by Robert Costa, The Washington Post (22 March 2016) Orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable. William Barr, Former Attorney General, as quoted in "Barr says Trump's conduct is a 'betrayal' of the presidency" January 7 2021 NBC News You can’t trust him. He has no principles. None. None. His goddamned tweet and the lying, oh, my God. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy shit. Maryanne Trump Barry, sister of Donald Trump, as quoted in Trump’s Sister Says He Is a Liar With “No Principles” in Secret Recordings: “You Can’t Trust Him” by Daniel Politi, Slate (22 August 2020) Iran's actions can hardly be said to have occurred in a vacuum... it has been the recent policy of "maximum pressure" on Tehran under the incoherent foreign policy of the Trump administration that has exacerbated the current tensions... the Trump administration has withdrawn unilaterally from the internationally agreed – and successful – Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) of 2015... It is not hard, then, to see how these moves might be viewed in Tehran: as part of an escalating offensive from multiple sources threatening its own home front in a campaign of economic warfare designed to weaken the regime....The depth of the US stake in this increasingly dangerous game is far harder to judge, given the usual confusion of Trump's flip-flopping and the machinations of Bolton... All of which leaves us to contemplate the most frightening element of all in a complex crisis: that the current occupant of the White House lacks any of the skills required to successfully defuse it. Peter Beaumont in Trump's fanned the flames in Iran, now the fire risks getting out of control, The Guardian, (14 June 2019) When conservatives desperately needed allies in the fight against big government, Donald Trump didn't stand on the sidelines. He consistently advocated that your money be spent, that your government grow, and that your Constitution be ignored... Trump's potential primary victory would provide Hillary Clinton with the easiest imaginable path to the White House. But it's far worse than that. If Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination, there will once again be no opposition to an ever-expanding government. This is a crisis for conservatism. And, once again, this crisis will not go to waste. Glenn Beck, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review Donald Trump, I really truly believe is a very dangerous man. If you listen to the things he said this weekend... 'I could go onto Fifth Avenue and shoot people and I wouldn't lose a vote'. He has joked about killing reporters — and 'not' killing reporters like Putin does... We don't change with the mood of the country. That is the problem with our country right now. The Constitution is to anchor us in principles that help temper the mood of the country... The mood of the country is very angry, but you never make a good decision when you are angry... The worst thing we can do is to now start looking at, who is going to get revenge? One of the things that Donald Trump does, when you have a guy who is angry and then has an enemies list and starts to just take people down over and over and over again — if you disagree with him, he destroys you. If that is the mood of the country, we are in more trouble than I thought. Glenn Beck, interview on New Day (January 2016), CNN, Georgia: Cable News Network Trump may be vulgar, Trump may be abrasive, but in terms of racism, corruption, and destruction, he is Mr. Reagan's true heir. Trump's Republican Party is what it has been at least since the 1980s, only more so. Larry Beinhart Donald and Ronald, 12 August 2019, Al Jazeera English. "The words from his mouths begin in foolishness, and his talk ends in wicked madness, yet Trump talks on and on." Shlomo Ben-David on Ro'im Olam, May 12, 2018. He does not seem to be able to differentiate between fact and fiction. Ben Berzin jr., Midatlantic Bank, quoted by Steven Malanga in Donald Trump: The Art of the Tease (06 April 2011), Manhattan Institute There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S dollar bills bearing his signature, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the Semiquincentennial. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent quoted in "Trump posts new image of $100 bill with his signature", CNN (Jul 4, 2026). The evidence shows: Donald Trump cannot retain an ally, keep a promise, uphold a principle, maintain a story, change a mind or show a heart. Preet Bharara on Twitter (8 October 2017) When it comes to COVID-19, after months of doing nothing, other than predicting the virus would disappear or maybe, if you drank bleach, you may be okay, Trump has simply given up. Joe Biden on 9 July 2020 regarding Trump's April 2020 citation of William Bryan's research regarding disinfectants: Trump never specified using bleach or ingesting it In an age of pussified political correctness, you have to respect the people who remain unfiltered. Dan Bilzerian, as quoted in "'King of Instagram' praises 'unfiltered' Trump" by Jesse Byrnes, The Hill (16 December 2015) Donald found out about [Cohn's HIV diagnosis] and just dropped him like a hot potato. It was like night and day. Susan Bell, longtime secretary of Trump's lawyer Roy Cohn, as quoted in Donald Trump turned his back on his closest friend when he heard he had AIDS, at The Week, published April 8, 2016 Donald Trump was a joke until nominated, unelectable until elected, incompetent until he succeeded on most fronts, and about to be impeached until he debunked the collusion nonsense; he has had a very successful year. His enemies have been weighed in the balance and they have been found wanting. They shall have their reward. Conrad Black, "Trump's Whirlwind Year", National Review (December 19, 2017) ...it is merely Marxist drivel to think that employers have more power than employees (tell that to Michael Jordan and Jerry Reinsdorf) or landlords than tenants (tell that to the landlord of Bill Gates or Donald Trump). Walter E. Block, The Case for Discrimination (2010, Ludwig von Mises Institute) p. 404 Americans think it would be better to have a businessman than a politician as president, and I sympathize with them. Alas, the only businessmen crazy enough to run for president seem to be, well, crazy. At least Ross Perot kept his craziness confined mostly to private matters, such as the looming disruption of his daughter's wedding. Donald Trump puts it front and center. From a libertarian point of view, and I think serious conservatives and liberals would share this view, Trump's greatest offenses against American tradition and our founding principles are his nativism and his promise of one-man rule. Not since George Wallace has there been a presidential candidate who made racial and religious scapegoating so central to his campaign. Trump launched his campaign talking about Mexican rapists and has gone on to rant about mass deportation, bans on Muslim immigration, shutting down mosques, and building a wall around America. America is an exceptional nation in large part because we've aspired to rise above such prejudices and guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to everyone. David Boaz, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review Where Washington and New York-based GOP leaders pledge outreach to immigrants, moderate Muslims and other minorities, the reality TV star plays more overt racial politics than any national candidate since George Wallace. Trump's brand of nativist, nationalist isolationism marked the path to victory. Igor Bobic and Ryan Grim, "What Donald Trump's Win In South Carolina Says About The Republican Party" (20 February 2016), The Huffington Post. Trump spoke with Xi Jinping by phone on June 18, ahead of 2019's Osaka G20 summit, when they would next meet. Trump began by telling Xi he missed him and then said that the most popular thing he had ever been involved with was making a trade deal with China, which would be a big plus politically. They agreed their economic teams could continue meeting. The G20 bilateral arrived, and during the usual media mayhem at the start, Trump said, "we've become friends. My trip to Beijing with my family was one of the most incredible of my life." With the press gone, Xi said this is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. He said that some (unnamed) political figures in the United States were making erroneous judgments by calling for a new cold war, this time between China and the United States. Whether Xi meant to finger the Democrats, or some of us sitting on the US side of the table, I don't know, but Trump immediately assumed Xi meant the Democrats. Trump said approvingly that there was great hostility among the Democrats. He then, stunningly, turned the conversation to the coming US presidential election, alluding to China's economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win. He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome. I would print Trump's exact words, but the government's prepublication review process has decided otherwise. John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened, Simon & Schuster, 2020, p. 202 978-1-9821-4805-8 Trump... though representing the most reactionary US government in recent memory, paradoxically has also led to an opening to challenge US power. The first reason is that he and his administration are much less disciplined about obscuring their true intentions behind insincere proclamations of benevolent motives. Whereas the George W. Bush administration in the run up to the Iraq War successfully manufactured consent amongst a large swath of the US public by scaring them over false claims about "weapons of mass destruction," the Trump administration doesn't even hide the fact that its foreign policy is motivated by advancing the US economic interests. Peter Bolton of CounterPunch, The Failed Venezuelan Coup and the Decline of US Hegemony, (27 June 2019) Trump is a fascist. And that's not a term I use loosely or often. But he's earned it. Max Boot, Twitter (2015) Republican Party is dead. ... It has been killed by Donald Trump. Trump is an ignorant demagogue who traffics in racist and misogynistic slurs and crazy conspiracy theories. He champions protectionism and isolationism — the policies that brought us the Great Depression and World War II. He wants to undertake a police-state roundup of undocumented immigrants and to bar Muslims from coming to this country. He encourages his followers to assault protesters and threatens to sue or smear critics. He would abandon Japan and South Korea and break up the most successful alliance in history — NATO. But he has kind words for tyrants such as Vladimir Putin. There has never been a major party nominee in U.S. history as unqualified for the presidency. The risk of Trump winning, however remote, represents the biggest national security threat that the United States faces today. I only know one thing for sure: I won't vote for Trump. My hope is that he will lose by a landslide, and the Republican Party will come to its senses, rejecting both his ugly, nativist populism and the extreme, holier-than-thou conservatism represented by Ted Cruz. Max Boot http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-boot-republicans-in-exile-20160508-story.html The Republican Party is dead May 8, 2016 latimes.com Los Angeles Times If an unapologetic ignoramus wins the presidency, the consequences will be no laughing matter. Donald J. Trump, a presidential candidate who truly is the know-nothing his Republican predecessors only pretended to be ... It is genuinely terrifying that someone who advances such offensive and ridiculous proposals could win the nomination of a party once led by Teddy Roosevelt, who wrote more books than Mr. Trump has probably read. It's one thing to appeal to voters by pretending to be an average guy. It's another to be an average guy who doesn't know the first thing about governing or public policy. The Trump acolytes claim it doesn't matter; he can hire experts to advise him. But experts always disagree with one another and it is the president alone who must make the most difficult decisions in the world. That's not something he can do since he lacks the most basic grounding in the issues and is prey to fundamental misconceptions. Max Boot http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/how-the-stupid-party-created-donald-trump.html How the ‘Stupid Party' Created Trump August 2, 2016 nytimes.com The New York Times As media scramble to figure out Trump's evolving position on immigration, remember he cares *only* about feeding his ego. Policy irrelevant. Max Boot, Twitter, August 20, 2016 The GOP base is clearly disgusted and looking for new leadership. Enter Donald Trump, not just with policy prescriptions that challenge the cynical GOP leadership but with an attitude of disdain for that leadership—precisely in line with the sentiment of the base. Many conservatives are relishing this, but ah, the rub. Trump might be the greatest charlatan of them all. L. Brent Bozell III, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review It was spring, four years ago. Donald and Ivana Trump were seated at opposite ends of their long Sheraton table in Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post's former dining room. They were posed in imperial style, as if they were a king and queen. They were at the height of their ride, and it was plenty glorious. Trump was seen on the news shows offering his services to negotiate with the Russians. There was talk that he might make a run for president. Ivana had had so much publicity that she now offered interviewers a press kit of flattering clips. Anything seemed possible, the Trumps had grown to such stature in the golden city of New York. Marie Brenner, "After the Gold Rush" (1 September, 1990), Vanity Fair The religious Right is the latest version of an old model of American politics, variously incarnated by Puritans, abolitionists, and William Jennings Bryan. It, like its predecessors, has argued that America and individual Americans need to have a godly or at least moral character to thrive. Now the religious Right adores a thrice-married cad and casual liar. But it is not alone. Historians and psychologists of the martial virtues salute the bone-spurred draft-dodger whose Khe Sanh was not catching the clap. Cultural critics who deplored academic fads and slipshod aesthetics explicate a man who has never read a book, not even the ones he has signed. Followers of Harry Jaffa, the most important Lincoln scholar of the last 60 years, rally round a Republican who does not know why the Civil War happened. Straussians, after leaving the cave, find themselves in Mar-a-Lago. Econocons put their money on a serial bankrupt. Richard Brookhiser, "WFB Today" (16 February 2018), National Review Donald Trump betrays. It can start with Trump University, where Trump betrayed schoolteachers and others who dreamed of building a better life for themselves. David Brooks, "Donald Trump, the Great Betrayer" (4 March 2016), The New York Times Donald Trump just has more courage. Whatever you might think of him, and I don't think much of him, but he has more courage than his opponents... He's a marketing genius who offers no substance. And people either got pushed into subprime loans by Trump Mortgage, or they got suckered into racking up huge credit card debt to buy courses on Trump University, and they were left high and dry when those things went belly up. And so that's a story that I think can be told. In a country which is feeling betrayed, he is a mass and serial betrayer... Given the numbers now, it's very hard to see he could win, given the huge numbers of Americans, the vast majority of Americans who say they could not support the guy. And I still find it hard to believe that somebody as policy-thin and as knowledge-thin would very well — he might be able to wear well with the electorate that we have. David Brooks, as quoted in "Shields and Brooks on the GOP push to stop Trump" (4 March 2016), PBS NewsHour Are we really here? Is this really happening? Is this America? Are we a great country talking about trying to straddle the world and create opportunity in this country? It's just mind-boggling. And we have sort of become acculturated, because this campaign has been so ugly. We have become acculturated to sleaze and unhappiness that you just want to shower from every 15 minutes. The Trump comparison of the looks of the wives, he does have, over the course of his life, a consistent misogynistic view of women as arm candy, as pieces of meat. It's a consistent attitude toward women which is the stuff of a diseased adolescent. And so we have seen a bit of that show up again. But if you go back over his past, calling into radio shows bragging about his affairs, talking about his sex life in public, he is childish in his immaturity. And his — even his misogyny is a childish misogyny. And that's why I do not think Republicans, standard Republicans, can say, yes, I'm going to vote for this guy because he's our nominee. He's of a different order than your normal candidate. And this whole week is just another reminder of that... The odd thing about his whole career and his whole language, his whole world view is there is no room for love in it. You get a sense of a man who received no love, can give no love, so his relationship with women, it has no love in it. It's trophy. And his relationship toward the world is one of competition and beating, and as if he's going to win by competition what other people get by love. And so you really are seeing someone who just has an odd psychology unleavened by kindness and charity, but where it's all winners and losers, beating and being beat. And that's part of the authoritarian personality, but it comes out in his attitude towards women. David Brooks, as quoted in "Shields and Brooks on Trump-Cruz wife feud, ISIS terror in Brussels" (25 March 2016), PBS NewsHour You need to be an outsider to be a change agent. There's only one person who can do that. And that is Donald Trump. Scott Brown endorsing Donald Trump, as quoted in "Brown: Trump is the ‘agent of change' to fix Washington" by Elliot Smilowitz, The Hill (2 February 2016) a wartime president, with blue states, rather than any foreign nation, as the enemy. Ron Brownstein attributed in The Cruelty is the Point by Adam Serwer (2021), p 228 Trump is sui generis, unlike any candidate of recent times. And his success is attributable not only to his stance on issues, but to his persona, his defiance of political correctness, his relish of political combat with all comers, his "damn the torpedos" charging in frontally where others refuse to tread... Pat Buchanan — "Pat Buchanan says Donald Trump is the future of the Republican Party", The Washington Post (12 January 2016) When he looks at a glass, he is mesmerized by its reflection. If Donald Trump were shaped a little differently, he would compete for Miss America. William F. Buckley, as quoted in "WFB Today" (16 February 2018), by Richard Brookhiser, National Review I do not support Trump, and believe he would be a disastrous president and commander in chief.Trump has no coherent organizing economic philosophy, spent decades acting like and supporting traditional liberal Democrats, has repeatedly shifted his positions on major issues and has little more trust from economists than he has earned among the general electorate.Trump is that he is a crony capitalist, who now states that he supported the Clintons and other liberals with donations for so long because he wanted to obtain influence with them while they were in power. He has led several businesses to bankruptcy. He has called himself the "king of debt," a description that Johnson or Paul and other leading libertarians would never use to describe themselves. ... The viewpoints offered by Trump seem to change like the leaves that change their colors when summer gives way to fall. ... Can anyone suggest we know what Trump will believe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow? Brent Budowsky, Why Libertarian Gary Johnson must be included in debates, The Hill (August 11, 2016) He is his own art installation he is his own performance of himself, I don't know what else I can spin other than wonder, you know, who that 5-year old boy was and what his dad was telling him Bo Burnham on video (4:30) (Writers Roundtable: John Krasinski, Bo Burnham, Tamara Jenkins, Peter Farrelly, Eric Roth | Close Up) posted February 11, 2019 The President bears responsibility for today’s events by promoting the unfounded conspiracy theories that have led to this point. It is past time to accept the will of American voters and to allow our nation to move forward. Richard Burr, quoted in "GOP senator says Trump 'bears responsibility' for Capitol riot" 7 January 2021 The Hill And we, all of us, the Jews, helped them get there. Bradley Burston, Trump's Win, the Greatest Victory for anti-Semitism in America Since 1941, Haaretz (10-11-2016) It’s difficult to say that the prosperity gospel itself led to Donald Trump’s inauguration. Again, only 17 percent of American Christians identify with it explicitly. It’s far more true, however, to say that the same cultural forces that led to the prosperity gospel’s proliferation in America — individualism, an affinity for ostentatious and charismatic leaders, the Protestant work ethic, and a cultural obsession with the power of “positive thinking” — shape how we, as a nation, approach politics. Tara Isabella Burton, “The prosperity gospel, explained: Why Joel Osteen believes that prayer can make you rich”, Vox, (Sep 1, 2017) two years into the Trump administration it was obvious to people why we needed unapologetic progressives in the House. The vile, white supremacist, sexist, bigoted Trump administration spewed lies, targeted Black and brown women elected officials, made a mockery of our democracy, and emboldened fascists. Cori Bush The Forerunner: A Story of Pain and Perseverance in America (2022) p 227 He's an ass. George H. W. Bush in 2011 interviewed by Maureen Dowd of The New York Times (Maureen Dowd Maureen Dowd December 2, 2018 December 10, 2018 The Patrician President and the Reporterette: A Screwball Story https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/02/opinion/george-hw-bush-maureen-dowd.html The New York Times; https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/05/politics/presidents-club-trump-bush-funeral/index.html CNN Uneasy presidents club convenes at Bush funeral Kevin Liptak Jeff Zeleny w:Jeff Zeleny December 5, 2018 December 10, 2018; George W. Bush Eulogizes 'Best Father' at Solemn State Funeral Fortune December 5, 2018 December 10, 2018 Bloomberg News http://fortune.com/2018/12/05/george-hw-bush-eulogy-funeral/; George W. Bush Eulogizes ‘Best Father' at Solemn State Funeral Jennifer Epstein December 5, 2018 December 10, 2018 Bloomberg News https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-05/trump-bush-family-set-aside-mutual-disdain-for-state-funeral; The Year of Voting Dangerously: The Derangement of American Politics Maureen Dowd Maureen Dowd Grand Central Publishing 2016 9781455539246; Trump breaks character in show of respect for George H.W. Bush Newsday William Goldschlag Dan Janison December 3, 2018 December 10, 2018 https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/trump-bush-mueller-china-nafta-1.24156908) We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism – forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America. We see a fading confidence in the value of free markets and international trade – forgetting that conflict, instability, and poverty follow in the wake of protectionism. George W. Bush, indirectly referencing Trump, "George W. Bush Slams 'Bigotry,' Politics Of Populism That Led To Trump, Sanders", NPR, (October 19, 2017) Whatever his views are this morning, they might change this afternoon, and they were different than they were last night, and they'll be different tomorrow. ... They seem to be ever, ever-changing, depending on what crowd he's in front of. Sounds like a typical politician, by the way, where you get in front of one crowd and say one thing, and then say something else to another crowd that may want to hear a different view. All the things that Donald Trump railed against, he seems to be morphing into — it's kind of disturbing. ... He doesn't believe in things, this is all a game. Jeb Bush, about Trump's views — Jeb Bush Says He's Not Buying The Trump Immigration Shift, BuzzFeed (August 25, 2016) Donald Trump Is Bad for Israel via @NYTimes. Hopefully our President will reverse his decision to abandon Syria. Jeb Bush on 26 December 2018 Donald Trump destroyed the Reagan Republican paradigm in 2016, but he didn’t exactly elucidate a new set of ideas, policies, and alliances. Trump’s devastation of the old order produced a grand struggle on the right to build a new one on Trumpian populist lines. The NatCons are wrong to think there is a unified thing called “the left” that hates America. This is just the apocalyptic menace many of them had to invent in order to justify their decision to vote for Donald Trump. They are wrong, too, to think there is a wokeist Anschluss taking over all the institutions of American life. For people who spend so much time railing about the evils of social media, they sure seem to spend an awful lot of their lives on Twitter. Ninety percent of their discourse is about the discourse. Anecdotalism was also rampant at the conference—generalizing from three anecdotes about people who got canceled to conclude that all of American life is a woke hellscape. They need to get out more. ** David Brooks, as quoted in The Terrifying Future of the American Right (18 November 2021), The Atlantic In 1995, when he offered this company, if a monkey had thrown a dart, at the stock page, the monkey on average would've made 150 percent. But the people that believed in him, who listened to his siren song, ended up losing well over 90 cents in the dollar. They got back less than a dime. Warren Buffett C thumb|They love him in spite of everything they've heard. They love him, often, in spite of himself. They're not deluded. They know exactly who Trump is. They love him anyway. They love Donald Trump because no one else loves them. ~ Tucker Carlson Hillary is stealing America, whereas Donald Trump is trying to save our society. Herman Cain, on "Hannity" (29 July 2016) transcript If this guy pretends that closing the borders to anywhere either for trade (or) for people is going to provide prosperity to the United States, he is completely crazy... He is not very well informed. Felipe Calderón, interview with CNBC (6 February 2016). If he came to visit our country, I think he would unite us all against him. David Cameron, as quoted in "Donald Trump debate: Could UK really ban him?" (18 January 2016), by Max Foster, CNN, Georgia: Cable News Network He's a talker, a boaster, a booster, a compulsive self-promoter. At times, he's a full-blown BS artist. Tucker Carlson, as quoted in Fox News host Tucker Carlson admits media is right about Trump's lying: 'He's a full-blown BS artist' by Conrad Duncan, 28 November 2019, The Independent You can regularly say embarrassing things on television, you can hire Omarosa to work at the White House. All of that will be forgiven if you protect your people. But if you do not protect them... then you’re done. Tucker Carlson, as quoted in Tucker Carlson Blames Jared Kushner for Trump’s Protest Catastrophe by Justin Baragona, Daily Beast (June 1, 2020) Millions of Americans sincerely love Donald Trump. They love him in spite of everything they've heard. They love him, often, in spite of himself. They're not deluded. They know exactly who Trump is. They love him anyway. They love Donald Trump because no one else loves them. The country they built, the country their ancestors fought for over hundreds of years, has left them to die in unfashionable little towns, mocked and despised by the sneering halfwits with finance degrees -- but no actual skills -- who seem to run everything all of a sudden. Whatever Donald Trump's faults, he is better than the rest of the people in charge. At least he doesn't hate them for their weakness. Donald Trump, in other words, is and has always been a living indictment of the people who run this country. That was true four years ago when he came out of nowhere to win the presidency. And it's every bit as true right now, maybe even more true than it's ever been. It will remain true regardless of whether Donald Trump wins reelection. Tucker Carlson, as quoted in November 2, 2020 Tucker Carlson Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-2020-election-trump-supporters-love-him Tucker Carlson: Why Donald Trump's supporters love him so much; November 2, 2020 Christina Zhao Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/tucker-carlson-says-millions-americans-love-donald-trump-because-no-one-else-loves-them-1544219 Tucker Carlson Says Millions of Americans Love Donald Trump 'Because No One Else Loves Them' I've come to know Donald Trump, he is actually a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America. Ben Carson endorsing Donald Trump, as quoted in "'He is actually a very intelligent man'; Former candidate Ben Carson endorses Donald Trump" by Alain Tolhurst, The Sun (11 March 2016) The American people are smart enough to pick a new administration if they don’t like the old one. And they just did. He was removed by the voters. Bruce Castor, lawyer for Trump, said after Trump lost the 2020 election, as quoted by 2021-02-09 WATCH: Lawyer for Trump concedes he lost election during impeachment trial PBS News Hour https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-lawyer-for-trump-concedes-he-lost-election-during-impeachment-trial Trump hit the established world of American politics like a rogue wave, obliterating almost all political precedent. He'd begun his campaign by suggesting that most undocumented Mexican immigrants were rapists and murderers, then later accused an American-born federal judge who was presiding over fraud claims against Trump University of being unable to do his job because of his Mexican heritage. Julian Castro An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up from My American Dream (2018) what I think is important for folks to realize out there — and now I’m speaking, you know, directly to the Latinx community — is that it’s night and day with Joe Biden versus Donald Trump. Donald Trump has been the cruelest, most ill-intentioned president when it comes to not only immigrants, migrants, but the broader Latino community, scapegoated the community, otherized the community, uses it as a political piñata. And Joe Biden is somebody who brings compassion, who brings understanding, and, most importantly — because what you want to judge politicians on is, OK, what are you going to do, and what is your track record — has a track record of expanding opportunity, with Barack Obama. The Affordable Care Act expanded healthcare to 4 million — more than 4 million Latinx folks in this country. On educational opportunity, on violence against women, on housing opportunity. I remember going to Delaware with him — I think it was Veterans Day of 2016 — and marking the effective end of veteran homelessness there in Wilmington, and seeing how much that meant to him. So, this is somebody that is going to work to make life better for everybody in this country, in a way that Donald Trump — as Michelle Obama pointed out, Donald Trump just isn’t up to it and doesn’t want to do it. Julian Castro Interview with Democracy Now (August 2020) Okay, look, this is weird. Because a lot of people on both sides are saying there's nothing funny about Trump being hospitalized with coronavirus. And those people are obviously wrong. There's a lot funny about this. Maybe not from a moral standpoint. But mathematically, if you were constructing a joke, this has all the ingredients you need. The problem is, it’s almost too funny. Like, it’s so on the nose. It would be like if I were making fun of people who wear belts and my pants just immediately fell down. Michael Che on Saturday Night Live, October 3, 2020, quoted in "SNL premiere does not hold back on jokes about Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis: ‘It’s almost too funny’", The Washington Post. Trump probably met discharge requirements Sunday Dr Sean Conley (Physician to the President) via cnbc videoon October 5, 2020 The myriad vulgarities of Donald Trump—examples of which are retailed daily on Web sites and front pages these days—are not news to those of us who have been living downwind of him for any period of time. I first encountered Trump more than 30 years ago. Back then he was a flashy go-getter from an outer borough eager to make his name in Manhattan real estate. Which he succeeded in doing in the only way he knew how: by putting his name in oversize type on anything he was associated with—buildings, yes, but also vodka, golf courses, starchy ties, and even a sham of a real-estate school... Just to drive him a little bit crazy, I took to referring to him as a "short-fingered vulgarian" in the pages of Spy magazine. That was more than a quarter of a century ago. To this day, I receive the occasional envelope from Trump. There is always a photo of him—generally a tear sheet from a magazine. On all of them he has circled his hand in gold Sharpie in a valiant effort to highlight the length of his fingers. Graydon Carter, "Why Donald Trump Will Always Be a "Short-Fingered Vulgarian", Vanity Fair (November 2015) I think I would choose Trump, which may surprise some of you, but the reason is Trump has proven already that he's completely malleable. I don't think he has any fixed opinions that he would really go to the White House and fight for. Ted Cruz is not malleable. He has far right-wing policies, in my opinion, that would be pursued aggressively if and when he would become president. Jimmy Carter to the House of Lords, when asked about the 2016 United States presidential election. As quoted in Jimmy Carter: I would choose Donald Trump over Ted Cruz (February 3, 2016) by Stephanie Condon, CBS News I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that I’ve known about, I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation. Jimmy Carter, as quoted in "Jimmy Carter: The media has been harder on Trump than predecessors" by David Jackson, USA Today, (October 22, 2017) At times he is extremely abrasive. I know that's kind of his campaign, but I think time will tell, he's already locked up in some controversial business and it certainly doesn't speak proudly for America that the person who sits in the Oval Office is involved in controversy, so that's never a good thing, but time will tell, a man's legacy is defined by time. John Cena, as quoted in "If John Cena 'got in the ring' with Donald Trump" by Alex Michael, Daily Mail (27 June 2017) I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. Donald Trump and Billy Bush recording It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine. My wife and I, we have a 15-year-old daughter, and if I can't look her in the eye and tell her these things, I can't endorse this person. Jason Chaffetz, Jason Chaffetz Pulls Trump Endorsement Because He Has a 15-Year-Old Daughter (October 2016) We're all tying ourselves in knots about what Donald Trump said about Mexicans... Just as Dylann Roof doesn't represent white people, Mexican rapists don't represent anyone other than themselves either... While I like a good brawl as much as the next person, it seems that Trump is the answer only if the question is: Why can't we get more oafish egomaniacs into politics? Just when the Republican Party needs finesse and sensitivity when discussing immigration; just when it needs to focus on issues that unite all sectors of the electorate, including Hispanic and Asian voters; it gets a blowhard with all the nuance of a grenade... Trump's smear about Mexican immigrants was about as far away as you can get from Ronald Reagan... He tarred most Mexican immigrants as drug dealers, criminals, and rapists, allowing only as an afterthought that some may be good people. He claimed to have discussed the matter with border guards. Would those officers please step forward? In any case, crude and vulgar people always preen that they are brave truth tellers. Mona Charen, "The Trump Sideshow Plays Right into Democrats' Hands" (10 July 2015), National Review Put aside for a moment Trump's countless past departures from conservative principle on defense, racial quotas, abortion, taxes, single-payer health care, and immigration. That's right. In 2012, he derided Mitt Romney for being too aggressive on the question, and he's made extensive use of illegal-immigrant labor in his serially bankrupt businesses. The man has demonstrated an emotional immaturity bordering on personality disorder, and it ought to disqualify him from being a mayor, to say nothing of a commander-in-chief. Trump has made a career out of egotism, while conservatism implies a certain modesty about government. The two cannot mix... When a con man swindles you, you can sue—as many embittered former Trump associates who thought themselves ill used have done. When you elect a con man, there's no recourse. Mona Charen, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. It seems, at times, as though your administration’s approach has more in common with Obama’s foreign policy than traditional Republican foreign policy. Dick Cheney, speaking to Mike Pence, "Cheney grills Pence on Trump's foreign policy", Politico, (March 11, 2019) In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. Dick Cheney, quoted in "Dick Cheney Is Voting For Kamala Harris", Huffington Post (September 6, 2024) I don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country. Liz Cheney, House GOP Conference Chair, R-Wyo., the third-ranking House Republican, as quoted in "Awkward moment as House Republican leaders clash over Trump speaking at CPAC", Benjamin Siegel, ABC News (24 February 2021) President Trump has built the most powerful and most professional team in political history and, under his leadership, has overcome every single obstacle in his way. From the illegal witch-hunts to the weaponization of the justice system to an assassination attempt to the political coup of replacing Biden, the enemies of America will stop at nothing to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House. Steven Cheung, Trump campaign spokesman, as quoted in Trump and his campaign enter turbulent phase in final weeks, The Washington Post (September 21, 2024) It's pretty easy to tell if a picture of Donald Trump is AI-Generated, okay? Here's the trick: If Donald Trump is in a picture and looks completely insane, then it's a real picture. Ronny Chieng, The Daily Show (5 March 2024) [President Trump] is perfectly right when he says we should have better relations with Russia. Being dragged through the mud for that is outlandish... Noam Chomsky, Noam Chomsky on Mass Media Obsession with Russia & the Stories Not Being Covered in the Trump Era, Democracy Now! (27 July 2018) The scale of the plague is surprising, indeed shocking, but not its appearance...Trump has reacted during his years in office in the manner to which we have become accustomed: by defunding and dismantling every relevant part of government and assiduously implementing the instructions of his corporate masters to eliminate the regulations that impede profits while saving lives — and leading the race to the abyss of environmental catastrophe, by far his greatest crime — in fact, the greatest crime in history when we consider the consequences. Noam Chomsky, in an interview with C.J. Polychroniou, Chomsky: Ventilator Shortage Exposes the Cruelty of Neoliberal Capitalism (April 1, 2020), Truthout Trump was not silent, however. He issued a stream of confident pronouncements informing the public that it was just a cough; he has everything under control; he gets a 10 out of 10 for his handling of the crisis; it’s very serious but he knew it was a pandemic before anyone else; and the rest of the sorry performance. The technique is well-designed, much like the practice of reeling out lies so fast that the very concept of truth vanishes. Whatever happens, Trump is sure to be vindicated among his loyal followers. Noam Chomsky, in an interview with C.J. Polychroniou, Chomsky: Ventilator Shortage Exposes the Cruelty of Neoliberal Capitalism (April 1, 2020), Truthout Donald is a leader. He is a successful person that, like me, isn't afraid to tell it like it is. Our system is broken and it won't be fixed from the inside. I am proud to offer my endorsement of his candidacy for President. Chris Christie, endorsing Donald Trump for President, at a campaign rally in Fort Worth, TX (2016) Please stop it with voting for Trump. It was funny for a little while. But the guy is Hitler. And by that I mean that we are being Germany in the 30s. Do you think they saw the shit coming? Hitler was just some hilarious and refreshing dude with a weird comb over. Trump is not your best. He's the worst of all of us. He's a symptom to a problem that is very real. But don't vote for your own cancer. You're better than that. Louis C.K. in an email to fans, quoted in Louis C.K. Compares Donald Trump to Hitler: ‘He's an Insane Bigot' (2016) Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose. They make it seem as though our wonderful Aiden appreciates your hate that we should follow their hate. Morally bankrupt politicians – Bernie Moreno, Chip Roy, J.D. Vance and Donald Trump – they have spoken my son’s name and used his death for political gain.They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the Border crisis and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However they are not allowed nor have they ever been allowed to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield Ohio. Please stop the hate. Nathan Clark, father of Aiden Clark, boy killed in a car accident involving a Haitian driver in Springfield, Ohio, speaking on the night of the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, quoted in Haitian families in Ohio under attack as racist claims spread, The Haitian Times (September 10, 2024) A Trump supporter, a middle-aged woman, was asked how she felt about Trump's comments that being a celebrity meant women could expect him to grope their private parts. The woman said he would never have said it if Trump had known he was being recorded. That made me laugh. John Cleese, as quoted in "John Cleese on How Donald Trump Is Stealing Comedians' Best Lines" by Nick Holdsworth, The Hollywood Reporter, (August 17, 2017) Donald Trump has been uncommonly nice to Hillary and me. We're all New Yorkers. And I like him. And I love playing golf with him. Bill Clinton, as quoted in "Bill Clinton Said What?", Salon (4 June 2012) He mostly talks about himself. So the next time you hear him, don't count the lies. Count the I's. Bill Clinton, as quoted in "5 takeaways from the Democratic convention and Tim Walz on Day 3", The Washington Post (August 22, 2024) He's a master brander, and he's the most interesting character out there. And...he says something that overrides the ideological differences. There is a macho appeal to saying, 'I'm just sick of nothing happening. I'll make things – vote for me.' Bill Clinton on CBS 'Late Show' — 2015-10-06 Bill Clinton to Stephen Colbert: Donald Trump Has a "Macho Appeal" Ryan Gajewski The Hollywood Reporter http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/bill-clinton-donald-trump-has-830195 Despite what you hear, we don't need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great. But we do need to make America whole again. Instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers. Hillary Clinton, speech (February 2016) We cannot let him roll the dice with America. Hillary Clinton during an election speech, as quoted on boston.com, 2 June 2016 It is insufficient to state the obvious of Donald Trump: that he is a white man who would not be president were it not for this fact. With one immediate exception, Trump's predecessors made their way to high office through the passive power of whiteness—that bloody heirloom which cannot ensure mastery of all events but can conjure a tailwind for most of them. Land theft and human plunder cleared the grounds for Trump's forefathers and barred others from it. Once upon the field, these men became soldiers, statesmen, and scholars; held court in Paris; presided at Princeton; advanced into the Wilderness and then into the White House. Their individual triumphs made this exclusive party seem above America's founding sins, and it was forgotten that the former was in fact bound to the latter, that all their victories had transpired on cleared grounds. No such elegant detachment can be attributed to Donald Trump—a president who, more than any other, has made the awful inheritance explicit. Any empirical evaluation of the relationship between Trump and the white working class would reveal that one adjective in that phrase is doing more work than the other. In 2016, Trump enjoyed majority or plurality support among every economic branch of whites. It is true that his strongest support among whites came from those making $50,000 to $99,999. This would be something more than working-class in many nonwhite neighborhoods, but even if one accepts that branch as the working class, the difference between how various groups in this income bracket voted is revealing. Sixty-one percent of whites in this "working class" supported Trump. Only 24 percent of Hispanics and 11 percent of blacks did. Indeed, the plurality of all voters making less than $100,000 and the majority making less than $50,000 voted for the Democratic candidate. So when [George] Packer laments [in the New Yorker] the fact that "Democrats can no longer really claim to be the party of working people—not white ones, anyway," he commits a kind of category error. The real problem is that Democrats aren't the party of white people—working or otherwise. White workers are not divided by the fact of labor from other white demographics; they are divided from all other laborers by the fact of their whiteness. Obama himself, underestimating Trump and thus underestimating the power of whiteness, believed the Republican nominee too objectionable to actually win. In this Obama was, tragically, wrong. And so the most powerful country in the world has handed over all its affairs—the prosperity of its entire economy; the security of its 300 million citizens; the purity of its water, the viability of its air, the safety of its food; the future of its vast system of education; the soundness of its national highways, airways, and railways; the apocalyptic potential of its nuclear arsenal—to a carnival barker who introduced the phrase "grab 'em by the pussy" into the national lexicon. It is as if the white tribe united in demonstration to say, "If a black man can be president, then any white man—no matter how fallen—can be president." Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The First White President," The Atlantic, October 2017 issue. I would never trust him to follow the law. We're dealing with a dangerous egomaniac who has no control of himself, recognizes no limits, no bounds and does not recognize the constraints of law or anything else. Eliot A. Cohen, in Analysis: The Vengeful World of Donald Trump, and Why It Matters, at NBC News; published October 31, 2016 Donald Trump never thought he was going to win this election, he actually did not want to win this election, this was supposed to be the greatest infomercial in the history of politics. If you take that line, and you add the to it the Trump a la Moscow project, you'll understand that this was a branding deal, that's all the presidential campaign started out as.. there only one problem, one problem, he won. Michael Cohen on the Rachel Maddow Show on September 8, 2020 Apart from his wife and children, I knew Trump better than anyone else did. In some ways, I knew him better than even his family did because I bore witness to the real man, in strip clubs, shady business meetings, and in the unguarded moments when he revealed who he really was: a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator, a con man... He has no one he trusts to keep his secrets. For ten years, he certainly had me, and I was always there for him, and look what happened to me. I urge you to really consider that fact: Trump has no true friends. He has lived his entire life avoiding and evading taking responsibility for his actions. He crushed or cheated all who stood in his way, but I know where the skeletons are buried because I was the one who buried them Michael Cohen, as quoted by 2020-08-13 Michael Cohen offers preview of tell-all Trump book: 'I know where the skeletons are buried' Joseph A Wulfsohn Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-cohen-trump-disloyal-skeletons A warning label should be affixed to Trump's forehead. Richard Cohen, "Reince Priebus, fool" (16 May 2016), The Washington Post, Washington, D.C. I can't believe he's doing this to me. Donald pisses ice water. Roy Cohn, upon being ostracized by Trump for having contracted HIV. (from Wayne Barrett's 1992 Trump: The Deals and the Downfall, as quoted in Donald Trump Is The 'Red' Sanders Candidate: 'Winning Isn't Everything; It's The Only Thing.' at Forbes.com) A war crimes complaint has been filed against President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump adviser Jared Kushner in the International Criminal Court (ICC).... The complaint, filed by Middlesex University law professor William Schabas on June 30 on behalf of four Palestinians who live in the West Bank, states “there is credible evidence” that Trump, Netanyahu and Kushner “are complicit in acts that may amount to war crimes relating to the transfer of populations into occupied territory and the annexation of the sovereign territory of the State of Palestine.” Under article 15 of the ICC’s Rome Statute, any individual, group or organization can bring a complaint to the Office of the Prosecutor. ... Schabas’ complaint comes on the heels of unusual moves last month from the Trump administration, which declared a “national emergency” in June in an effort to shield U.S. and Israeli officials from ICC accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Marjorie Cohn in Trump Is Trying to Hide US & Israeli War Crimes by Attacking the International Criminal Court, TruthOut, (8 July 2020) There's a populism to Trump that I found very appealing. The party elders would like him to go away, but the people have decided that he is not going to... [T]here is something really hopeful about the fact that, well, 36 percent of the likely voters want him to win, so the people in the machine don't get to say otherwise. Stephen Colbert, as quoted in "Colbert: Trump's populism 'very appealing'" by Bradford Richardson, The Hill (23 December 2015) John Dickerson has way too much dignity to trade insults with the President of the United States to his face. But I, sir, am no John Dickerson. Let me introduce you to something we call the Tiffany Way. When you insult one member of the CBS family, you insult us all. Bazinga. All right. Here we go. All right. Mr. Trump, your presidency, I love your presidency, I call it "Disgrace the Nation". You're not the POTUS, you're the BLOATUS. You're the glutton with the button. You're a regular Gorge Washington. You're the presi-dunce, but you're turning into a real prick-tator. Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign-language gorilla who got hit in the head. In fact the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's cock holster. Your presidential library is going to be a kids' menu and a couple of Juggs magazines. The only thing smaller than your hands is your "tax returns" [holds up little finger] and you can take that any way you want. Stephen Colbert, during his opening monologue of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, after showing a clip of Trump calling the CBS reporter part of the "fake media" and referring to his show as "Deface the Nation". The Trump-designated chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, has since stated he would investigate the comedian for broadcasting this material (1 May 2017) There once was a man in NantucketWhose poll numbers really did suck it;At least he is notThat orange pol potWho ate all his meals from a bucket. Stephen Colbert; limerick from his opening monologue of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert of 25 November 2021, after reading about President Biden's revival of his family's tradition of visiting Nantucket at Thanksgiving. Do you know how bad of a job you have to be doing to get fired while you're getting fired? Steve Colbert, quoted by 2021-01-14 Late night hosts mock Trump's second impeachment: 'I wonder if he's tired of all the winning yet?' Frank Pallotta CNN Business https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/14/media/late-night-trump-impeachment/index.html The president has been impeached. That's a pretty big lesson. I'm voting to acquit. Susan Collins, CBS Evening News, quoted in 2020-02-04 Susan Collins explains her vote to acquit Trump Grace Segers CBS Evening News https://www.cbsnews.com/news/susan-collins-explains-her-vote-to-acquit-trump/ Trump denied knowing that Serge (Kovaleski) was disabled, and demanded an apology, saying that anyone could see his imitation was of a flustered, frightened reporter, not a disabled person. It's true that Trump was not mimicking any mannerisms that Serge has. He doesn't jerk around or flail his arms. He's not retarded. He sits calmly, but if you look at his wrists, you'll see they are curved in. That's not the imitation Trump was doing—he was doing a standard retard, waving his arms and sounding stupid: "'Ahhh, I don't know what I said—ahhh, I don't remember!' He's going, ‘Ahhh, I don't remember, maybe that's what I said!'" There's nothing Trump can do that won't be forgiven, except change his immigration policies. In Trump We Trust (2016) Trump is an unreflective beneficiary of every sort of white privilege on offer, from his inherited fortune to his mass-media celebrity to his ability to lie with utter impunity about his career, his finances, and his easily documented record of public statements. If Barack Obama had committed but one of the transgressions Trump reveled in during his 2016 presidential run—deriding John McCain's war record, to take a comparatively minor instance—he would have suffered a torrent of righteous white moralizing that would have been unprecedented even in a country renowned for its righteous white moralizing. And if he'd been caught on tape bragging about a celebrity-enabled history of sexual assault—well, suffice it to say that it would have been a high-tech lynching on a scale that Clarence Thomas could scarcely begin to imagine. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Race to the Bottom: How the post-racial revolution became a whitewash President Trump doubled down Sunday on his push for the use of an anti-malarial drug against the coronavirus, issuing medical advice that goes well beyond scant evidence of the drug’s effectiveness as well as the advice of doctors and public health experts. Mr. Trump’s recommendation of hydroxychloroquine, for the second day in a row at a White House briefing, was a striking example of his brazen willingness to distort and outright defy expert opinion and scientific evidence when it does not suit his agenda. Michael Crowley, Katie Thomas and Maggie Haberman, Ignoring Expert Opinion, Trump Again Promotes Use of Hydroxychloroquine (April 5, 2020), The New York Times. Standing alongside two top public health officials who have declined to endorse his call for widely administering the drug, Mr. Trump suggested that he was speaking on gut instinct and acknowledged that he had no expertise on the subject. Saying that the drug is “being tested now,” Mr. Trump said that “there are some very strong, powerful signs” of its potential, although health experts say that the data is extremely limited and that more study of the drug’s effectiveness against the coronavirus is needed. [...] Mr. Trump, who once predicted that the virus might “miraculously” disappear by April because of warm weather, and who has rejected scientific consensus on issues like climate change, was undaunted by skeptical questioning. “What do you have to lose?” Mr. Trump asked, for the second day in a row, saying that terminally ill patients should be willing to try any treatment that has shown some promise. Michael Crowley, Katie Thomas and Maggie Haberman, Ignoring Expert Opinion, Trump Again Promotes Use of Hydroxychloroquine (April 5, 2020), The New York Times. Even as Mr. Trump has promoted the drug, which is also often prescribed for patients with lupus, it has created rifts within his own coronavirus task force. And while many hospitals have chosen to use hydroxychloroquine in a desperate attempt to treat dying patients who have few other options, others have noted that it carries serious risks. In particular, the drug can cause a heart arrhythmia that can lead to cardiac arrest. Michael Crowley, Katie Thomas and Maggie Haberman, Ignoring Expert Opinion, Trump Again Promotes Use of Hydroxychloroquine (April 5, 2020), The New York Times. Hydroxychloroquine has not been proved to work against Covid-19 in any significant clinical trials. A small trial by Chinese researchers made public last week found that it helped speed the recovery in moderately ill patients, but the study was not peer-reviewed and had significant limitations. Earlier reports from France and China have drawn criticism because they did not include control groups to compare treated patients with untreated ones, and researchers have called the reports anecdotal. Without controls, they said, it is impossible to determine whether the drugs worked. But Mr. Trump on Sunday dismissed the notion that doctors should wait for further study. Michael Crowley, Katie Thomas and Maggie Haberman, Ignoring Expert Opinion, Trump Again Promotes Use of Hydroxychloroquine (April 5, 2020), The New York Times. I have been pointing out, and I have been screaming to the rooftops, that Donald Trump is the Charlie Sheen of politics. [...] I have to tell you, I love Charlie Sheen, I loved working with him when he was sober, but he was, he's full of shit. He has been full of shit, you know, he has serious addiction. You know, his addiction is obviously serious, drugs, and, but, Trump is just addicted to feeling important. You know, and I think if anybody is under the delusion that he cares about, uh, uh, anybody in America besides himself, they are, they are stoned and need to rethink their priorities, 'cause he's, you know, 'cause it's just ridiculous that's he's gotten as far as he has. Jon Cryer on the May 5, 2016, episode of the podcast Never Not Funny. When the voters examine Donald, they'll discover he actually embodies Washington corruption, the Washington deal-making that they're so angry about. Ted Cruz, interview with Charlie Rose (1 March 2016), CBS This Morning People are asking themselves, 'How would we feel if our children came in repeating the words of the president of the United States if that president was Donald Trump?' And if it would embarrass you to have your children repeat the words of the president, that's not a good thing... A president should unify us, should appeal to our better angels, should appeal to our shared values that make America who we are. Ted Cruz, interview with John Dickerson (March 2016), Face the Nation It's not easy to tick me off... I don't get angry often. But you mess with my wife, you mess with my kids; that'll do it every time. Donald, you're a sniveling coward and leave Heidi the hell alone. Ted Cruz, as quoted in "Cruz calls Trump "sniveling coward" and says 'leave Heidi the hell alone'" (24 March 2016), by Reena Flores, CBS News Let me be clear: Donald Trump may be a rat, but I have no desire to copulate with him. Ted Cruz, as quoted in Ted Cruz Will Do Anything for Love, But He Won't Do Rats [25 March 2016], by Matt Miller, Esquire thumb|The best thing to happen to politics in a long long time. ~Mark Cuban The best thing to happen to politics in a long long time. I don't care what his actual positions are. I don't care if he says the wrong thing. He says what's on his mind. He gives honest answers rather than prepared answers. This is more important than anything any candidate has done in years. Mark Cuban, as quoted in 2015-07-27 Mark Cuban: Congrats, Donald: You're best thing to happen to politics in a long time Dallas Mavericks Blog http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/07/mark-cuban-congrats-donald-youre-best-thing-to-happen-to-politics-in-a-long-time.html/ thumb|The Trump that stole Christmas ~Mark Cuban The Trump that stole Christmas Mark Cuban according to From the 'Shark Tank' to the campaign trail: Mark Cuban teams up with Kamala Harris (October 17, 2024) Hillary Clinton, speech in Warren, Michigan (August 11, 2016) Speech in Warren, Michigan. Transcript by Newsweek (August 11, 2016) He's made a career out of stiffing small businesses from Atlantic City to Las Vegas. There are companies that were left hanging because he refused to pay their bills. A lot of those companies scraped together what the could [sic] to pay their employees, and many of them put their businesses at risk and some of them ended up taking bankruptcy. It wasn't because Trump couldn't pay them, it was because he wouldn't pay them. It's just not right that Donald Trump can ignore his debts, but students and families can't refinance their debt. Mr. Trump may talk a big game on trade, but his approach is based on fear, not strength. Fear that we can't compete with the rest of the world even when the rules are fair. Fear that our country has no choice but to hide behind walls. Let's remember where Trump makes many of his own products. Because it sure is not America. ... One positive thing Trump could do to make America great again is actually make great things in America again. Trump would roll back the tough rules that we have imposed on the Financial Industry. I'll do the opposite – I think we should strengthen those rules so that Wall Street can never wreck Main Street again. He called for a new tax loophole – let's call it the Trump Loophole – because it would allow him to pay less than half the current tax rate on income from many of his companies. He'd pay a lower rate than millions of middle class families. He's making a big promise. But his advisors have said, his own advisors have said, he may not stand by them. ... One of the differences between Donald Trump and me is I'm telling you what I will do, I'm laying out my plans, and I will stand by them, and I want you to hold me accountable for delivering results. This all reminds me of that old saying, ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.' Guaranteeing equal pay won't just increase paychecks for women – it will boost family budgets and get incomes rising across the board. And I don't understand why Trump's against that. Paid family leave won't only make life easier for Moms and Dads – it will also keep skilled, talented Americans in the workforce and grow our economy. That's why every other advanced country already has it. Again, he's against it. Raising the federal minimum wage won't just put more money in the pockets of low-income families – it also means they will spend more at the businesses in their neighborhoods. Trump's against that as well. Based on what we know from the Trump campaign, he wants America to work for him and his friends, at the expense of everyone else. Hillary Clinton, speech in Reno, Nevada (August 25, 2016) Speech in Reno, Nevada. Transcript by Vox (August 25, 2016) Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia. He's taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take over one of America's two major political parties. His disregard for the values that make our country great is profoundly dangerous. In just the past week, under the guise of "outreach" to African Americans, Trump has stood up in front of largely white audiences and described black communities in insulting and ignorant terms. Donald Trump misses so much. He doesn't see the success of black leaders in every field… The vibrancy of black-owned businesses…Or the strength of the black church… He doesn't see the excellence of historically black colleges and universities or the pride of black parents watching their children thrive… And he certainly doesn't have any solutions to take on the reality of systemic racism and create more equity and opportunity in communities of color. It takes a lot of nerve to ask people he's ignored and mistreated for decades, "What do you have to lose?" The answer is everything! Trump's lack of knowledge or experience or solutions would be bad enough. But what he's doing here is more sinister. Trump is reinforcing harmful stereotypes and offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters. It's a disturbing preview of what kind of President he'd be. A man with a long history of racial discrimination, who traffics in dark conspiracy theories drawn from the pages of supermarket tabloids and the far reaches of the internet, should never run our government or command our military. If he doesn't respect respect all Americans, he can't serve all Americans! ... There's no other Donald Trump. This is it. Well, throughout his career and this campaign, Donald Trump has shown us exactly who he is. We should believe him. When Trump was getting his start in business, he was sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to black and Latino tenants. Three years later, the Justice Department took Trump back to court because he hadn't changed. The pattern continued through the decades. Someone detached from reality should never be in charge of making decisions that are as real as they come. He'd abolish the bedrock constitutional principle that says if you're born in the United States, you're an American citizen. He says that children born in America to undocumented parents are, quote, "anchor babies" and should be deported. Millions of them. He'd ban Muslims around the world – 1.5 billion men, women, and children –from entering our country just because of their religion. Ever since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, America has distinguished itself as a haven for people fleeing religious persecution. Under Donald Trump, America would distinguish itself as the only country in the world to impose a religious test at the border. Trump likes to say he only hires the "best people." But he's had to fire so many campaign managers it's like an episode of the Apprentice. D he’s spewing white supremacist views that have real consequences in the lives of ordinary people...I think he needs to realize that what he’s saying, from the biggest bully pulpit in the whole world, is affecting individual people. I don’t know that he cares, because I think he’s just spewing these things, and I think, in part, this was also—you know, this is what he believes. Edwidge Danticat Interview with Democracy Now (2018) The [Trump] family subscribes to a racehorse theory of human development... They believe that there are superior people and that if you put together the genes of a superior woman and a superior man, you get a superior offspring. Michael D'Antonio, The Choice (PBS documentary), 2016 Donald Trump...is the last hope for America. I don't want nuance, I want bold colors: red, white, and blue... When I saw those guys on the boats on their knees, I mean, that sends a picture about America that I haven't seen ever before. And I think we need Donald Trump right now. The country needs him. Robert Davi, as quoted in "‘Die Hard' Actor Robert Davi: Donald Trump Is The ‘Last Hope For America'" by Steve Guest, The Daily Caller (14 January 2016) Let's say five years ago, someone wanted to tell an end-of-the-world story. Governments have broken down, diplomacy has gone out the window, and lunatic nutbags are running things. If the storyteller wanted to provide a shorthand to establish how things could have possibly gone so wrong, all he would have to do is have a newscaster talking about "President Trump." Because five years ago, the audience would have snorted and said, "Well, sure, I totally believe that if this country was stupid enough to put Trump into office, then it makes sense that the entire world is falling apart." Peter David, Freak Out Friday, August 4 2017 Loser of the year German: "Der Verlierer des Jahres Der Spiegel, quoted by 2020-12-11 German magazine Der Spiegel names Trump 'Loser of the Year' Celine Castronuovo The Hill https://thehill.com/homenews/media/529830-german-magazine-der-spiegel-names-trump-loser-of-the-year Trump has been said to have extended his initial 30-day deadline to four months Karen DeYoun of Washington Post, 4 January 2019 The case for constitutional limited government is the case against Donald Trump. To the degree we take him at his word — understanding that Trump is a negotiator whose positions are often purposefully deceptive — what he advocates is a rejection of our Madisonian inheritance and an embrace of Barack Obama's authoritarianism. Trump assures voters that he will use authoritarian power for good, to help those who feel — with good reason — ignored by both parties. But the American experiment in self-government was the work of a generation that risked all to defeat a tyrannical monarch and establish a government of laws, not men. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people is precisely what the Constitution offers, and what is most threatened by "great men" impatient to impose their will on the nation. Conservatives should reject Trump's hollow, Euro-style identity politics. Ben Domenech, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. I come to very sad conclusion: Donald Trump is totally mad. It is the shame. We loved him. Aleksandr Dugin, quoted in "Trump envoy Witkoff urged to take tough approach with Putin in make-or-break meeting to end Ukraine war before sanctions" New York Post (August 5, 2025) If your claim to fame is that you’ve taken money from other people and haven’t delivered what you promised, that doesn’t make you a genius businessman, that makes you a thief. Kathy Duva, as quoted in "Donald Trump was awful at boxing, too" by Paul Gagno, The Boxing Tribune (January 19, 2017) E In his State of the Union address on February 6, 2019, Donald Trump said: ...we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair. Trump’s ridiculous comment was not considered controversial, because the Western media, including the anti-Trump outlets like the New York Times, have spent many years conveying a lie: that Venezuela had been very prosperous and democratic until Hugo Chávez, and then his successor Nicolás Maduro, came along and ruined everything. If readers believe that, then they may indeed wonder, “Why shouldn’t the US government help Venezuelans return to that prosperous state?” The Media Myth of ‘Once Prosperous’ and Democratic Venezuela Before Chávez, Joe Emersberger and Justin Podur, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), (26 August 2021) People are looking for somebody who is outspoken and who isn't afraid. And [Trump] seems to have kind of a fearless attitude. Clint Eastwood, as quoted in "Clint Eastwood Praises Trump, Carson: 'Really Good People'" by Todd Beamon, Newsmax (25 December 2015) I'd have to go for Trump ... you know, [because] she's declared that she's gonna follow in [President] Obama's footsteps. I mean, it's a tough voice to listen to for four years. It could be a tough one. If she's just gonna follow what we've been doing, then I wouldn't be for her. She's made a lot of dough out of a being a politician. I gave up dough to be a politician. I'm sure that [former President] Ronald Reagan gave up dough to be a politician. ... [Trump]'s onto something, because secretly everybody's getting tired of political correctness, kissing up. That's the kiss-ass generation we're in right now. We're really in a p-ssy generation. Clint Eastwood, interview with Esquire as quoted in "Clint Eastwood: 'I'd have to go for Trump' over Clinton" by Mark Hensch, The Hill (3 August 2016) The only thing that I can say about President Trump is that he is the only person who, in 2009 when I served a lot of subpoenas on a lot of people, or at least gave notice to some pretty connected people, that I want to talk to them, is the only person who picked up the phone and said, let's just talk. I'll give you as much time as you want. I'll tell you what you need to know, and was very helpful, in the information that he gave, and gave no indication whatsoever that he was involved in anything untoward whatsoever, but had good information. That checked out and that helped us and we didn't have to take a deposition of him in 2009. Bradley Edwards (attorney prosecuting Jeffrey Epstein) in December 2018, according to 7 July 2019 article by Joe Hoft of Gateway Pundit (Said in 2016) [Narcissistic] idiot,bully, [and someone who] really cannot be trusted to be consistent or accurate in anything Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign and the president, constitutional law attorney and former law professor from Colorado according to lawyer once called him an ‘idiot’ who ‘really cannot be trusted’ to tell truth published November 18, 2020 I was Donald’s closest friend for 10 years. He’s charming. In a devious way, he’s charming. To some extent it’s a typical tragedy where he believes his own bulls---. He has delusions of grandiosity, then he takes it on board. He’s a horrible human being. He does nasty things to his best friends, best friends’ wives, anyone who he first tries to gain their trust and uses it to do bad things to them. Jeffrey Epstein, talking about Trump, taped by author Michael Wolff, quoted in "Listen To The Jeffrey Epstein Tapes: ‘I Was Donald Trump’s Closest Friend’" U.S. House of Representatives Document Repository (February 27, 2025) I will not be voting for Donald Trump in the primary. I take my conservatism seriously, and I also take Saint Paul seriously. In setting out the qualifications for overseers, or bishops, Saint Paul admonished Timothy... We should not put a new conservative in charge of conservatism or the country, so that he does not become puffed up with conceit and fall into condemnation. Republicans have wandered in the wilderness already by letting leaders define conservatism in their own image. Donald Trump needs more time and more testing of his new conservative convictions. Erick Erickson, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review Hitler is not Hillary Clinton either. The neo-nazis and white supremacists backing Donald Trump fetishize Hitler too. Trump dog whistles to them. Erick Erickson, "Republicans for Hitler" (17 May 2016), The Resurgent F You got to give it up for Colorado — they’re the first state to legalize weed and illegalize Trump. Jimmy Fallon, as quoted in "Jimmy Fallon Cheers Colorado for ‘Illegalizing’ Trump" (21 December 2023), By Trish Bendix, New York Times I was trying to let science guide our policy, but he was putting as much stock in anecdotal things that turned out not to be true as he was in what scientists like myself were saying. That caused unnecessary and uncomfortable conflict where I had to essentially correct what he was saying, and put me at great odds with his people. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as quoted in "Dr Fauci Says Trump Would Do ‘Terrible Things’ Anytime He Disagreed With Him Publicly", Cameron Frew, Unila, 20 February 2021. In the United States, Trump’s diversionary theatrics and early failures in Congress kept off the front pages a bonfire of social and environmental regulations as well as a purge of liberal judges from the federal bench that continued in the background with little resistance and that promised to play out for decades. When thwarted by Congress, Trump resorted to executive orders and emergency powers, as had presidents before him, though with a radical, institution-shaking appeal in justification “to the people” rarely heard since the New Deal. Internationally, the unconservative revisionism of the hard right was evident in Trump’s questioning or pulling back from previous American commitments— the Iran nuclear deal, world climate accords, the Western alliance itself. Rather than standing up for liberal democracy and universal values, he praised authoritarians: China’s Xi, Russia’s Putin, Saudi princes, the Philippines’ Duterte. Rather than follow every administration, Democrat or Republic, since 1945 and align Americanism, Westernism, and universalism in an avowedly virtuous trinity, the Trump right detached Americanism as justified and defendable on its own. Edmund Fawcett, Conservatism: The Fight for a Tradition (2020), p. 348 Trump is Hillary Clinton's Christmas gift wrapped up under a tree. Carly Fiorina, Twitter (8 December 2015) I think Trump says a lot of things that are crazy... [repeating what a 10-year-old girl said] Trump's a moron. Carly Fiorina, as quoted in "Carly Fiorina Repeats After Girl: 'Donald Trump's a Moron'" (16 January 2016), by Ben Gittleson, ABC News He reminds me of Hitler. Vicente Fox, interview with Anderson Cooper (February 2016) Most amateur diagnosticians have mislabeled President Trump with the diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder. I wrote the criteria that define this disorder, and Mr. Trump doesn't meet them. He may be a world-class narcissist, but this doesn't make him mentally ill, because he does not suffer from the distress and impairment required to diagnose mental disorder. Mr. Trump causes severe distress rather than experiencing it and has been richly rewarded, rather than punished, for his grandiosity, self-absorption and lack of empathy. It is a stigmatizing insult to the mentally ill (who are mostly well behaved and well meaning) to be lumped with Mr. Trump (who is neither). Allen Frances, "An Eminent Psychiatrist Demurs on Trump's Mental State," The New York Times, February 14, 2017. A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel... I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Pope Francis, as quoted in "Pope Francis: Donald Trump 'is not Christian'" (18 February 2016), by Rebecca Kaplan, CBS News I was wrong. Weeks ago I said on a number of radio interviews that while I opposed Trump in the primary, I'd back him if he won the GOP nomination. I hadn't yet seen, or had been unwilling to believe, the full extent of his contempt for the truth, his fondness for far-left conspiracy theories, and his sheer malice. When I saw Trump in full, my decision was easy. Never Trump... I cannot abide the notion of voting for a man whose 'war strategy' is a child-killing war crime. David French, "Why I Changed My Mind and Joined the #NeverTrump Movement" (2 March 2016), National Review There is an Ivy League grad who has spent most of his life in Manhattan, where he is chauffeured around in limousines. He frequently brags to strangers about his massive personal wealth. In public statements, he has advocated government healthcare, a woman's right to an abortion, an assault weapons ban, and paying off the national debt by forcing rich people to forfeit 14.25 percent of their total wealth. When the man married his third wife, he invited Bill and Hillary Clinton to the wedding, and he has given many thousands to their political campaigns and their foundation. He's donated many thousands more that helped elect Democrats to the Senate and the House. And George W. Bush was "maybe the worst president in the history of this country," the man said in 2008. "He was so incompetent, so bad, so evil." On paper, this is not someone you'd expect to excel in the 2016 Republican Party primary. But Donald Trump is excelling. Thanks to his celebrity, a few epic flip-flops, and his willingness to pander to the most xenophobic element of the GOP's base, the real-estate developer and reality-TV star is polling near the top of the field. Conor Friedersdorf, "Donald Trump Is No Conservative" (13 July 2015), The Atlantic Trump has made it clear that he would rule as a dictator. His plans include destroying government as we know it, while acting on his desires without guardrails or accountability. He has vowed to use the power of the state to punish political opponents. In short, another Trump presidency would end American democracy as we know it. Dan Froomkin, Some Rules for Journalists Reporting on Fascism and Fascists in 2024 https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/reporting-on-trump-fascism-in-2024 Common Dreams 26 January 2024 You don’t go bankrupt as often as Trump has gone bankrupt if you’re good at assessing risk. David Frum, The Paradox of Trump’s Iran Attack https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/trump-iran-attack/686191/ The Atlantic 28 February 2026 Calling Donald Trump a racist only makes me like him more. Nick Fuentes, quoted in "Trump nominates official with ties to antisemitic extremists to lead ethics agency" NPR (May 30, 2025) G Donald Trump is a serial liar. Neal Gabler, "Donald Trump is a serial liar. More upsetting is that no one seems to care" (15 May 2016), Salon We thought about it when we made the movie! Are you kidding? You watch Part II again and there's a scene where Marty confronts Biff in his office and there's a huge portrait of Biff on the wall behind Biff, and there's one moment where Biff kind of stands up and he takes exactly the same pose as the portrait? Yeah. Bob Gale, ‘Back to the Future' Writer: Biff Tannen Is Based on Donald Trump, The Daily Beast (October 15, 2015) Donald Trump rightly criticized the Khan parents. Clearly, Trump does not oppose Muslim soldiers serving in the military. Nonsense. Trump opposes Muslim immigration from jihad-hot regions. We know Islamic terror groups are plotting attacks on the West and using the migration to import their soldiers. Pamela Geller, DNC, Mainstream Media's New SPOX — Muslim Parents of Fallen Soldier WHO OPPOSE TRUMP BUT NOT JIHAD TERROR @chucktodd @meetthepress (July 31, 2016) I remain a skeptic about Donald Trump. Trump fans look at us skeptics with incredulity that we could possibly object to their man... Yet I see people comparing Trump to Reagan. Donald Trump has been a conservative for about ten minutes. Jim Geraghty, "The Corner", National Review @realdonaldtrump you are full of shit! Chrysler executive Ralph Gilles Chrysler Exec Calls Donald Trump "Full Of Shit" On Twitter, at Jalopnik (2012) [W]e have to learn something from history here. Fascism begins with the rhetoric of dehumanization, humiliation, and reification, right? It starts with the language of brutality, which it normalizes. It legitimates hatred and racism and violence. It views certain groups through rhetoric as enemies of the American people. It operates off of the rhetoric of war, anti-intellectualism, and white supremacy. It operates off of the language of disposability. That language doesn’t just simply normalize increasingly the notions of white nationalism, white supremacy, racism, and xenophobia; it also enacts policies and it creates a culture of utter stupidity, a culture of ignorance. And, unfortunately, it functions so as to enable violence against groups labeled as dangerous, other, excess, and a threat to the whitewashed notion of citizenship.With respect to the latter, when people can’t tell the difference between fact and fiction, they can’t tell the difference between good and evil. They can’t recognize a crime when they see one or what lawlessness looks like. All standards of truth go out the window. It’s a very dangerous moment because it means that people become more susceptible to demagogues, to people like Trump, and I think that the media has played an enormous role in creating a formative culture that at its worst legitimates and at its best enables what we see happening in the United States today. Henry Giroux, Henry Giroux on His Latest Book — The Terror of the Unforeseen — and How Neoliberal Capitalism Sets the Stage for Fascism (August 19, 2019), Media For Us interview. I can’t really speak to what is in other people’s minds or why they make the decisions that they make. I think power is very alluring, but I think the more important question is why he’s caused such division among so many families in this country.This is so relatable, having this chasm in your family over Trump, and the reason for that is because he spews this toxic cruelty. And when you are a woman or a person of color or a gay person or trans person, and someone that you love supports a man like that, it is really hard to reconcile that support with their love for you.So I want healing for our country, and I do want us to find the common humanity in one another, even when we disagree about politics. But if Trump becomes the president again, that will not be possible. Kamala Harris is our only path to healing. She presents a really beautiful path to healing for us.…I view Trump as a disease, and I think it’s really important to remember that with every disease, prevention is a much more effective strategy than treatment. ... I thought we had cured ourselves of it the first time, but it doesn’t seem like we have. And I think if he becomes the president again, we may have a terminal illness in our country. And that really, really scares me. Caroline Giuliani, daughter of Rudy Giuliani, regarding Trump’s influence over her father in Rudy Giuliani’s daughter explains why families have been split wide open by Trump NJ.com (4 October 2024) President Trump made history Sunday when he became the first sitting U.S. president to step foot in North Korea. Trump was there to visit North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the military demarcation line at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Kim then invited Trump to cross the line, which has divided North and South Korea since 1953. Trump then took about 20 steps into North Korea. Following the meeting at the DMZ, Trump and Kim held a three-way gathering with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Sunday marked Trump and Kim's first meeting since nuclear talks broke down in February... It appears another round of nuclear talks could begin in the coming weeks. Amy Goodman in Trump Makes History by Walking into North Korea. Could This Help to Finally End the Korean War? DemocracyNow! (1 July 2019) As a party, we are better to risk losing without Donald Trump than trying to win with him. Enough already with Mister Trump. Lindsey Graham, Twitter post (August 2015) If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it. Lindsey Graham, Twitter post, (May 2016) Last week, the New York Times reported that the FBI, in 2017, launched an investigation of President Trump "to consider whether the president's own actions constituted a possible threat to national security" and specifically "whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests." ...As usual – this melodrama was accomplished by steadfastly ignoring the now-standard, always-buried paragraph pointing out the boring fact that no actual evidence of guilt has yet emerged. The FBI's counterintelligence investigation of Trump is far from the first time that the FBI has monitored, surveilled and investigated U.S. elected officials.... It is not difficult to understand what is so ominous and even tyrannical about the FBI investigating domestic political figures whose loyalties they regard as "suspicious," and whose political career they regard as a "national security threat," simply because those politicians express policy positions about U.S. adversaries that the FBI dislikes... If a politician adopts policy views... which is unduly accommodating to America's adversaries or "enemies," that's not a crime and the FBI thus has no business using its vast investigative powers against...[them]...the FBI investigation... clearly based, at least in part, on the FBI's disagreements with Trump's foreign policy views and the agency's assessment that such policies fail to safeguard "U.S. interests" as the FBI defines them. Glenn Greenwald, The FBI's Investigation of Trump as a "National Security Threat" is Itself a Serious Danger. But J. Edgar Hoover Pioneered the Tactic The Intercept (14 January 2019) President Trump is the most pro-gay president in American history. I can prove it. Richard Grenell, 19 August 2020 Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were both horny rich guys with an eye for young models. Michael Gross, author of the 1995 book “Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women” How Trump and 'terrific guy' Jeffrey Epstein's party boy friendship ended badly USA Today (July 25, 2025) Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke told radio show listeners that Jewish tribal nature is to blame for the media's harsh treatment of Trump and compared Jews to a pack of wild dogs. The white supremacist is a vocal supporter of Trump. Shanika Gunaratna, "Neo-Nazis Tag Jews on Twitter: Harassment, Hate Speech, Politics" (10 June 2016), CBS News, CBS Interactive, Inc. thumb|As you can imagine, [Pat] is an expert on politics and she predicts whenever you decide to run for office you will be a winner! ~ Richard Nixon thumb|I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that I’ve known about, I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation. ~ Jimmy Carter thumb|He's an ass. ~ George H. W. Bush thumb|He's a master brander, and he's the most interesting character out there. And...he says something that overrides the ideological differences. There is a macho appeal to saying, 'I'm just sick of nothing happening. I'll make things – vote for me.' ~ Bill Clinton thumb|We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism – forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America. We see a fading confidence in the value of free markets and international trade – forgetting that conflict, instability, and poverty follow in the wake of protectionism. ~ George W. Bush thumb|We're shocked that somebody would be saying these things. We're shocked that somebody is fanning anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-Muslim sentiment. We're shocked! We're shocked that somebody could be loose with the facts. Or distort someone's record -- shocked... This is the guy, remember, who was sure that I was born in Kenya. Who just wouldn't let it go. And all this same Republican establishment, they weren't saying nothing. As long as it was directed at me, they were fine with it. They thought it was a hoot. Wanted to get his endorsement... What is happening in this primary is just a distillation of what's been happening inside their party for more than a decade. ~ Barack Obama H When I tell you I’m angry, it’s an understatement. Mike has been nothing but loyal to that man. He’s been nothing but a good friend of that man... I am so disappointed in the fact that [despite] the loyalty and friendship he had with Mike Pence, that he would do that to him. Like, I’m disgusted by it. Nikki Haley in Nikki Haley’s Time for Choosing The 2024 hopeful can’t decide February 12, 2021 This is a dangerous world. I don't want to hear from him how great Hezbollah is. I don't want to see him congratulate the Communist Party anymore. I don't want him hitting Netanyahu. … We can't have someone who is so clouded with the past that they can't see the future. Nikki Haley in Trump's GOP opponents bristle at his response to Hamas' assault on Israel (October 13, 2023) I think he could be a great leader, because he's inspiring a lot of people, and especially people, including me, who are tired of Republicans being weak. I'm so sick of it. Sean Hannity — 2015-07-30 Hannity on Trump: 'That Boldness Needs to Be There If Republicans Want to Win' Fox News Insider http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/07/30/sean-hannity-donald-trump-boldness-needs-be-there-if-republicans-want-win His interview with New York Magazine featured doctors awkwardly shuffling papers with “talking points” about Trump’s health....That he was having to give an entire interview about his health was telling enough, after months of rumours about physical problems and nodding off in meetings, along with bizarre – even for Trump – public ramblings.At one point, Trump told the interviewer that his father had suffered from "what do they call it?" And pointed to his head. When he was told he meant Alzheimer’s, Trump replied: "Like an Alzheimer’s thing. Well, I don’t have it." This is not something most people have to announce, any more than that they’ve got fresh socks on or that they’ve remembered to wash that morning. Isabel Hardman in "Now Trump's 'friends' appear worried about his mental state - and fear what's next", iNews (January 29, 2026) The conservative president we desperately need requires a paradoxical combination of boldness and restraint. The president will need to be bold in challenging the runaway power and reach of his own branch, against the fury of the bureaucracy itself, its client groups, and the media. This boldness is necessary to restore the restraint that a republican executive should have in our constitutional order. Trump exhibits no awareness of this supreme constitutional task. Steven F. Hayward, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National ReviewDonald Trump is the result of a long process of political, cultural and social decay. He is a product of our failed democracy. The longer we perpetuate the fiction that we live in a functioning democracy, that Trump and the political mutations around him are somehow an aberrant deviation that can be vanquished in the next election, the more we will hurtle toward tyranny. The problem is not Trump. It is a political system, dominated by corporate power and the mandarins of the two major political parties, in which we don’t count. We will wrest back political control by dismantling the corporate state, and this means massive and sustained civil disobedience, like that demonstrated by teachers around the country this year... As a foreign correspondent I covered collapsed societies... It is impossible for any doomed population to grasp how fragile the decayed financial, social and political system is on the eve of implosion. All the harbingers of collapse are visible... We suffer the usual pathologies of impending death. I would be happy to be wrong. But I have seen this before. I know the warning signs. All I can say is get ready. Chris Hedges in The Coming Collapse, Common Dreams, (21 May 2018) The intentions of this president is to establish law and order using legal and lawful and constitutional means, which he completely has, and you know why they don't like him? He's got the guts to do it. He's got the guts to say, I'm gonna federalize the police that don't work. I'm gonna bring in the National Guard. I'm gonna bring in federal marshals. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responding to Laura Ingraham’s question: “The Left says Trump and Hegseth, they want to impose martial law as authoritarians…to that you say?” Pete Hegseth Responds to Claims That He and Trump Want 'Martial Law' Newsweek (11 August 2025) He doesn't know the Constitution, history, law, political philosophy, nuclear strategy, diplomacy, defense, economics beyond real estate, or even, despite his low-level-mafioso comportment, how ordinary people live. But trumping all this is a greater flaw presented as his chief strength. Governing a great nation in parlous times is far more than making "deals." Compared with the weight of the office he seeks, his deals are microscopic in scale, and as he faced far deeper complexities he would lead the country into continual Russian roulette. If despite his poor judgment he could engage talented advisers, as they presented him with contending and fateful options the buck would stop with a man who simply grasps anything that floats by. Following Obama's, a Trump presidency would be yet more adventure tourism for a formerly serious republic. Mark Helprin, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review What bitch is Donald Trump hanging his dick inside of today? Doug Henderson, guitarist/singer/lyricist of Spongehead in the song "Nothing" from Curb Your Dogma (Triple X Records, 1993) There’s no question that America would be better off if the president would resign or be removed from office. If that’s going to happen or how that should happen, I don’t know. But we need leadership right now, and we need to stop all of this craziness. Larry Hogan, Republican Governor, as quoted in "Maryland Gov. Hogan: ‘America would be better off’ if Trump resigns or is removed from office", 7 January 2021, The Baltimore Sun It's unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity. The American people deserve better. Larry Hogan, Republican Governor, as quoted in "GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan slams Trump's NABJ Convention remarks", ABC News (July 31, 2024) Trump undermines the free press because he wants to be the only legitimate source of information in society. He lies all the time to break down the processes by which we discern the truth about the world around us, and compile the observations and facts which make up the tapestry of reality. He has exposed the paper-thin vulnerability of our democratic society, which depends mightily on observing social norms—like yielding to shame—and a shared acceptance of some common set of truths.The American president is determined to bulldoze this architecture of social structures, and usher in an era where force, not deliberation and cooperation, determines the path our society will take. If he never acknowledges any truth besides his own, he never has to do anything outside his own direct interests. He does not have to actually respond to any kind of criticism, or ever reconsider his course of action. Relentless lying, after all, is a form of coercion, in which you bend others to your will by forcing them to accept the infrastructure of your false reality—or to give up caring whether anything is true or false in the first place. Don't believe your eyes and ears. Everybody was cheering for me. Jack Holmes, Politics editor at Esquire.com, "Donald Trump's Press Conference With Theresa May Would Not Be Complete Without an Assault on Truth", Esquire.com (June 4, 2019) White tears, as Damon Young explains in The Root, are why defeated Southerners refused to accept the freedom of black slaves and formed the Ku Klux Klan. And white tears are why 63 percent of white men and 53 percent of white women elected a malignant man-child as their leader. Cathy Park Hong Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning (2020) Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S. Note appended to every article about Trump published by the Huffington Post as of January 2016, but removed after Trump's presidential victory. HuffPost to publish anti-Trump kicker with all Trump coverage, at Politico, published January 28, 2016 [The] agency's ability to manage the former President's conflicts of interest during his term in office when he was effectively on both sides of the contract, as landlord and tenant House Oversight Committee in "Trump DC hotel incurred more than $70 million in losses while Trump was president, documents show" (October 8, 2021) Casting the Trump administration's credibility gap into sharp relief, allies like Japan and Germany have demanded more "credible" evidence to support the U.S. claim. While President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have been unequivocal in their assertion that Iran was responsible for the attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week, some of America's closest allies are demanding more proof. Both Japan and Germany have requested more concrete evidence... Jeremy Corbyn, Britain's opposition leader, said more "credible evidence" was needed to support Trump's allegation.... According to The New York Times, other European leaders have also been hesitant to lay the blame on Iran ― a doubt fueled in part by their "distrust of the Trump administration and its hawkish policy toward Tehran," the paper said. Huffington Post, Pompeo Claims There's ‘No Doubt' Iran Attacked Tankers, But U.S. Allies Want Proof, Huffington Post, Dominique Mosbergen (17 June 2019) We do not need to have a president that undermines our rule of law, that goes in the courtroom as he did today in New York and acts like a child, a petulant child. We don't need that in America. We need adults in the room. Asa Hutchinson, Hutchinson calls Trump a 'petulant child' after courtroom dispute with judge, WMUR-9 (6 November 2023) I Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the republic. He’s disqualified based on character and rationality, so I’ll be voting for Kamala Harris. I feel sorry for him. He’s really quite a sick puppy. He needs some help. He’s been unfaithful to three wives. Why would we, at the altar with him as the fourth, think that he’s going to be faithful to us? Talk about irrationality. If Donald Trump loses, that would be a good thing for the Republican Party. Because then we could have a Republican rethink and get a correction. Bob Inglis, Former six-term S.C. Republican Congressman, quoted in "Inglis endorses Harris, calling Trump ‘a clear and present danger’", Charleston City Paper (September 17, 2024) J I certainly empathize with Americans who are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East. I understand the concern, but the difference is that back then, we had dumb presidents, and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish America’s national security objectives. Vice-President JD Vance on NBC News’ Meet the Press responding to questions about Trump's directive to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities Iran strikes push Vance, a foreign intervention skeptic, into the role of salesman NBC News (June 22, 2025) Mr. Trump has crossed the line. More than one line. Captain Khan died in battle trying valiantly to save others. There is no place for criticism, stated or implied, of this brave soldier. He served our country. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery along with those of many ethnic backgrounds and religious denominations. They served our country. Mr. Trump did not. Criticizing Mrs. Khan for not speaking on stage is vile beyond words. No Gold Star Mother should ever be treated like that. Mr. Trump, you owe Mrs. Khan and all Gold Star families a huge apology. Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, about Trump's statements on the Khan family Jewish War Veterans Condemns Remarks of Donald Trump (2016) Of course, I recognize the president’s unique relationship with the press and how it compares with past presidents. I am curious myself how it will impact the future, if at all. But the tension between the press and the president is nothing new. President Trump expresses it more frequently and more … colorfully than others. Weijia Jiang, as quoted in "CBS News' Weijia Jiang on Newsroom Diversity, COVID-19 Racism, and Covering President Trump" in Asia Society (27 May 2020) The problem is, I know Trump, so my optimism has been squashed like a baby bird ... Everything bad I had to say about him, I said to his face. ... I think he's very good, very compelling on that show [Celebrity Apprentice] ... I really like him because of his absence of filters. I really like the glimpse we get into the human heart we get when someone loses their filters ... "A genius is the one most like himself." In a really weird way, Donald Trump has achieved that. If he weren't running for president, you'd be seeing essays from me about how much I learned from Donald Trump and how much I loved being on the show ... I'm feeling so, so, so guilty, because I feel like, along with millions of other people, I played right into this. The cynicism of the Clintons, the careful, tightrope walk of all politicians, forced me, as an atheist, to get down on my knees and pray that someone would come along with some kind of authenticity. Well, someone called my bluff, goddamn it. ... The stuff [Trump] is saying on immigration, the stuff he saying on torture, the stuff he is saying on war, is absolutely unforgivable ... He is coming out directly against the Statue of Liberty. I'm a pure and utter peacenik. I want a president who sings the praises of people, sings the praises of peace and sings the praises of working together for a great country ... Abraham Lincoln wouldn't have laughed about waterboarding ... I want a president that is kinder, smarter and more measured than me. ... I disagree with Hillary Clinton on just about everything there is to disagree with a person about. If it comes down to Trump and Hillary, I will put a Hillary Clinton sticker on my fucking car. ... Someone who is paying attention can do the same thing that Trump is doing with hate, and do it with love, and become president ... That's kind of beautiful. There's nothing more optimistic than that. ... Donald Trump does, when it comes right down to it, fuck up everything ... He fucks up his casinos. He fucks up his buildings.... Maybe he'll fuck up his campaign before he fucks up the country. Penn Jillette, as quoted in "Why Penn Jillette is Terrified of a President Trump" by Grant Burningham, in Newsweek (1 March 2016) I did two tours of duty on Celebrity Apprentice and I referred to someone who I knew was a dipshit, who I knew was a loser and a liar, as "Mr. Trump." And I didn't laugh out loud when they said he was a billionaire. And I didn’t laugh out loud when they said he was a good businessman. I knew he was a terrible businessman. I knew he wasn't really rich. I knew he was a liar. I knew all of that. And I sat there in a suit. What harm does it do to be on a TV show? To pretend that someone is a successful businessman? Turns out it matters a lot. Penn Jillette, as quoted in Penn & Teller on Giving Up Guns and Why Trump Is ‘The End of America’, by Brenna Ehrlich, in Rolling Stone (1 October 2023) The only reason I wouldn't go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump. Boris Johnson, as quoted in Boris Johnson: 'The only reason I wouldn't visit some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump' by Helena Horton, The Telegraph (8 December 2015) Donald Trump's a pussy. Gary Johnson, in U.S. Libertarian Party debate (2016) He is the third generation head of a four-generation white collar crime family. They don't break legs and kill people... they would never do that. But they cheat with contracts, broken promises, compromising law enforcement officials or others to get what they want. And and the Trumps are not the only family like this. They're just the most well-known family. And Trump believes he is America's dictator. And he is at the moment de facto the country's dictator. He just hasn't fully consolidated his power. He's eliminated many sources of accountability. David Cay Johnston, investigative journalist, in The Trump Report (September 11, 2025) When your ankles swell up three times the size they were before, that means heart failure. And he does look sick. And he does babble and it sounds like the brain’s not doing too hot. Alex Jones, quoted in "Alex Jones turns on Trump: ‘His brain’s not doing too hot’" Yahoo News / Wonderwall (April 2, 2026) K I'm rooting for him to do well for the same reason I root for a pilot on my airplane to do well. John Kasich, Kasich: ‘I don't know what I'm going to do' in 2020, The Hill, May 6 2017 The Trump phenomenon is better understood as an amalgam of three different, largely pathological strains in American history and culture... The first and perhaps most obvious strain is hostility toward immigrants... In the 1850s, the American Party, labeled the 'Know-Nothings' by its opponents, accused Irish and German Catholics of being agents of the pope and a threat... Later in the century, white workers on the Pacific coast led a mass campaign against Chinese newcomers, whom they blamed for undercutting wages... Federal lawmakers affirmed their bigotry by excluding any Chinese laborers... In the 1920s, fears of Slavs, Jews, Italians, and others suspected of being hostile to America's white 'Nordic' heritage persuaded Congress to impose quotas that all but banned immigrants... Trump's attacks on 'rapists and murderers' crossing the southern border and on potential Muslim terrorists jetting across the Atlantic belong to this long and ignominious tradition. Michael Kazin, "Trump in Context" (14 December 2015), Dissent His vow to 'Make America Great Again' lacks any explanation of what or who made it so wonderful before. Searching his website for clues turns up no proposals that might credibly bring about a national revival, unless one believes that a simplified tax code and a stern crackdown on illegal immigration amount to a sufficient blueprint for major change. Michael Kazin, "Trump in Context" (14 December 2015), Dissent The allure of Trump's candidacy and the dread it provokes at home and abroad stem from the same impulses, which run deep in U.S. political culture. A rich man whose name is familiar to everyone bashes people whom many citizens either fear or mistrust and makes vague promises to fix whatever ails the nation. And he does all this with a smirk, a threat, and yet also with a yearning for respect, even from those he routinely assaults in speeches. Trump probably will not be elected president, and it would be a disaster if he was. But his act is hardly as novel as he, and many of his fans and his critics, believe. After he leaves the stage, another wealthy performer with a talent for bombast and no political record to defend may well take his place. Michael Kazin, "Trump in Context" (14 December 2015), Dissent Trump is no true conservative. He's not even a reactionary in the best sense of the word. He's a self-aggrandizing opportunist. His policies go no further than his catchphrase, 'you're fired'. Listening to his first television ad is like a preview for a bad movie; an empty supercut of the highlights, or lowlights, without the plot being revealed because it's so thin. Trump is no everyman. He built his empire with $100 million from his wealthy father. Far from born into working or middle class, Trump never struggled a day in his life except by his own failings in business and the resulting repeated bankruptcies. His privileged background enabled him to make money off money; not exactly high on the hierarchy of middle-class values. As for being incorruptible, Trump gave big to politicians. He admitted that was meant to buy favors. His policy positions are similarly ephemeral; he supported the Big Government policies of Democrats and slippery values of the Clintons when it suited him. Steadfast, he is not. Sean Kennedy, "Donald Trump must be destroyed" (8 January 2016), CNN, Georgia: Cable News Network Donald Trump is convincingly playing the role of a pandering demagogue. He seeks to stir up a passionate reaction that serves the purposes of his ambition. America's founders repeatedly warned against such demagoguery, because it sets people up for tyranny. Given his background, it's advisable to assume Donald Trump is being used by the enemies of rightful liberty to lead otherwise sincerely conservative people down a blind canyon into the withering fire of their elitist foes... Given this track record, before following Trump's lead, shouldn't people sincerely anxious to restore America's constitutional liberty carefully examine the nature of his purported advocacy? With much fanfare, Trump is being attacked by his erstwhile elitist faction buddies. But has he attacked them for treacherous betrayal of the security and sovereignty of the American people? Alan Keyes, "Is Donald the Elitist Faction's Trump?" (16 July 2015), WND Every president lies at some point, for diplomatic or national security reasons or to sell a policy. But Trump is not known for one big lie — just a constant stream of exaggerated, invented, inconsistent, dubious and false claims. In the nine years I have run The Fact Checker, I have never encountered a politician so cavalier about the facts, so unconcerned with accuracy, so willing to attack people for made-up reasons and so determined to falsely depict his achievements. Glenn Kessler, editor and chief writer of The Washington Post Fact Checker, in Fact-checking Trump: He's on a dangerous path that must be documented and discouraged (June 2, 2020) Donald Trump has asked why I did not speak at the Democratic convention. He said he would like to hear from me. Here is my answer to Donald Trump: Because without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain. I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart. Donald Trump said I had nothing to say. I do. My son Humayun Khan, an Army captain, died 12 years ago in Iraq. He loved America, where we moved when he was 2 years old. He had volunteered to help his country, signing up for the ROTC at the University of Virginia. This was before the attack of Sept. 11, 2001. He didn't have to do this, but he wanted to. I cannot walk into a room with pictures of Humayun. For all these years, I haven't been able to clean the closet where his things are — I had to ask my daughter-in-law to do it. Walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak? Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn't allowed to say anything. That is not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak, but I told him I could not. My religion teaches me that all human beings are equal in God's eyes. Husband and wife are part of each other; you should love and respect each other so you can take care of the family. When Donald Trump is talking about Islam, he is ignorant. If he studied the real Islam and Koran, all the ideas he gets from terrorists would change, because terrorism is a different religion. Donald Trump said he has made a lot of sacrifices. He doesn't know what the word sacrifice means. Ghazala Khan, mother of fallen U.S. Army Captain Humayun S. M. Khan. Ghazala Khan: Trump criticized my silence. He knows nothing about true sacrifice., The Washington Post (July 31, 2016) Muslims are American, Muslims are citizens, Muslims participate in the well-being of this country as American citizens. We are proud American citizens. It's the values of this country that brought us here, not our religion. Trump's position on these issues do not represent those values. Khizr M. Khan in an interview with Vocativ. (December 08, 2015) If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country. Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words "liberty" and "equal protection of law." Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one. We can't solve our problems by building walls and sowing division. We are Stronger Together. Khizr M. Khan, speech during the final day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (29 July 2016) His policies, his practices, do not reflect that he has any understanding of the basic, fundamental constitutional principles of this country, what makes this country exceptional, what makes this country exceptional in the history of the mankind. There are principles of equal dignity, principle of liberty. He talks about excluding people, disrespecting judges, the entire judicial system, immigrants, Muslim immigrants. These are divisive rhetoric that is totally against the basic constitutional principle. If you read the Constitution, you will either deliberately would be violating those principles or you have not read. That is why I have watched whole ear and rest of the world has watched, and the love and affection and support that we have received after my statement, at every corner of the street, at every place. The affection, the support, the love that I have received, that we continue to receive is a testament that he is talking about ignorance. He is not fully aware of these principles. Two things are absolutely necessary in any leader or any person that aspires, wishes, to be a leader. That is moral compass and second is empathy. This candidate is void of both traits that are necessary for the stewardship of this country. I do not believe his whole year-long rhetoric, division, excluding people, talking about them derogatorily, has prepared him. He promised to the Republican leadership that he will change his manner, he will not be as ignorant as he had been. But he had continued. Those two traits of moral compass and empathy are absolutely necessary for the leader of a free world leader of nation like United States. This candidate for presidency to not be aware of the respect of a gold star mother standing there, and he had to take that shot at her, this is height of ignorance. This is why I showed him that Constitution. Had he read that, he would know what status a gold star mother holds in that nation. This country holds such a person in the highest regard. And he has no knowledge, no awareness. That is height of his ignorance. She is ill. She had high blood pressure. People that know her, looked at her face, and she said, "I may fall off the stage." And I told her that, you have to assemble yourself and stand for the beauty of this tribute that is being paid. This person is total incapable of empathy. I want his family to counsel him, teach him some empathy. He will be a better person if he could become -- but he is a black soul. And this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country, the love and affection that we have received affirms that our beliefs, our experience in this country had been correct and positive. The world is receiving us like we have never seen. They have seen the blackness of his character, of his soul, that he is void of recognizing, empathizing with people. Khizr M. Khan, on an interview with CNN about Donald Trump saying that Khan's wife didn't speak because she was forbidden. (July 31, 2016) I have exactly the same rights as he does. He had been abusing, disrespecting women, judges, all decent Americans. He had been so abusive of them. I exercise exactly the same rights. That, again, proves his ignorance. He wants to have one set of rights for himself, and he wants to have another set of rights for others. No, somebody should tell him that there is equal dignity, equal protection of law in this country. That is why that Constitution came to play. I keep that in my pocket, because I cherish this document. I wish somebody would read it to him. Certain fundamental values that enshrine in this document. Donald Trump needs to sit with his advisers and portray to this world that he is empathetic. You solve the problems with empathy, putting people together. There are bad people among us, but there are good people among us, as well. You gather good people to get rid of bad people, but you do not malign the whole religion -- the whole culture. We are the solution to the dealing with the terrorism in the United States. Join hands with good Muslims. Only war is not the solution. It is one of the solutions. Communities coming together is the solution. We are as concerned as Donald Trump is about the safety of this country. We are testament to the goodness of this country. We need to stop fighting with one another, but we need a leader that will unite us, not disrespect, not by derogatory remarks. I feel bad about the discourse that this campaign -- this election campaign has taken. We need to join hands. We have a very serious problem of this for the safety of the citizens of this country. We are solution. Look, the treatment of Muslims in France and other places, there is much worse security issues than United States does. Khizr M. Khan, in an interview in New Day on CNN Monday (August 1, 2016) When a person becomes Commander-in- Chief, president, you are president and Commander-in-Chief of everybody that has supported you and that has not supported you. Khizr M. Khan, in an interview in Anderson Cooper 360° Transcript (August 2, 2016) But, far from making remarks of any persuasive power that can be viewed to be helpful to defusing tension, he made unprecedented rude nonsense one has never heard from any of his predecessors. A frightened dog barks louder. [...] He is unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country, and he is surely a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire, rather than a politician. [...] Action is the best option in treating the dotard who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wants to say. [...] I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire. Kim Jong-un, quoted in 2018-09-22 Trump Is A Rogue And Gangster Playing With Fire- North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Seun Oyedele Odua Voice https://www.oduavoice.com/2017/09/22/trump-is-a-rogue-and-gangster-playing-with-fire-north-korean-leader-kim-jong/ Donald Trump is a fascist. ... Not in the sense of an all-purpose bad guy, but in the sense of somebody who sincerely believes that the toxic combination of strong government and strong corporations should run the nation and the world. He spent his previous career negotiating with the government on behalf of corporations; now he has switched teams. But it's the same game. Michael Kinsley, Donald Trump is actually a fascist, The Washington Post (December 9, 2016) It will be at least 40 years before our loved and lovely America recovers from the wounds this selfish, stupid, and ego-driven man has inflicted. That it will recover seems certain to me, but it will leave scars. Stephen King quotes in "'The country will take 40 years to recover': Stephen King takes a dig at President Trump", McGill Media (Jun 25, 2026) If instead of having ten fingers, I had ten combs for fingers, I'd love to meet Donald Trump, just so I could run my fingers through his hair. Jarod Kintz 2011-05-18 This Book is Not For Sale We want every vote counted, yes every legal vote (of course). But, if you have legit concerns about fraud present EVIDENCE and take it to court. STOP Spreading debunked misinformation... This is getting insane. Adam Kinzinger, Republican Congress member (2020-11-06) to Donald Trump about the 2020 election, Tweet Yesterday, it became evident that not only has the president abdicated his duty to protect the people and the people’s house, he invoked and inflamed passions that only gave fuel to the insurrection that we saw here. When pressed to move and denounce the violence, he barely did so while of course victimizing himself and seeming to give a wink and a nod to those doing it. All indications are that the president has become unmoored, not just from his duty or even his oath but reality, itself. It is for this reason that I call on the vice president and members of the Cabinet to ensure the next few weeks are safe for the American people and that we have a sane captain of the ship. Adam Kinzinger, quoted by Rick Pearson, Lisa Donovan 2020-01-07 Republican US Rep. Adam Kinzinger calls for 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-adam-kinzinger-trump-calls-for-invoking-25th-amendment-20210107-ldf2chdunbecbo6ry6uino4dpq-story.html The worst president the USA ever had. He was a liar and a charlatan. And he was a man with a most fragile ego I ever met. Adam Kinzinger, quoted by Bradley Cortright 2022-02-07 Kinzinger Ramps Up Criticism of Trump: I Will Tell My Son He Was the 'Worst President' https://ijr.com/kinzinger-ramps-criticism-trump-will-tell-son-worst-president/ I have spent my life building bridges and tearing down barriers — not building walls. That’s why I find Donald Trump’s belief that an American-born judge of Mexican descent is incapable of fairly presiding over his case is not only dead wrong, it is un-American. As the Presidential campaign progressed, I was hoping the rhetoric would tone down and reflect a campaign that was inclusive, thoughtful and principled. While I oppose the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump’s latest statements, in context with past attacks on Hispanics, women and the disabled like me, make it certain that I cannot and will not support my party’s nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party. It is absolutely essential that we are guided by a commander-in-chief with a responsible and proper temperament, discretion and judgment. Our President must be fit to command the most powerful military the world has ever seen, including an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons. After much consideration, I have concluded that Donald Trump has not demonstrated the temperament necessary to assume the greatest office in the world. Mark Kirk, quoted in Sen. Mark Kirk withdraws support for Trump by Lynn Sweet, 7 June 2016, Chicago Sun-Times. I think Trump may be one of those figures in history who appears from time to time to mark the end of an era and to force it to give up its old pretenses. It doesn’t necessarily mean that he knows this, or that he is considering any great alternative. It could just be an accident. Henry Kissinger, interview with the Financial Times, 18 July 2018 Donald Trump — a political neophyte, a New York loudmouth who plays fast and loose with the truth, a massive egotist and a not altogether pleasant human being — has delivered conservatives one of the greatest years in living memory and has made our government more moral in the process. The left and many on the right didn't see it coming because they hate the man. And because they didn't see it coming, they won't see that it's come. Andrew Klavan, "Trump Has Made Our Government More Moral", PJ Media (December 15, 2017) these children are ready to deliver their moral verdict on the people and institutions who knew all about the dangerous, depleted world they would inherit and yet chose not to act. They know what they think of Donald Trump in the United States and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Scott Morrison in Australia and all the other leaders who torch the planet with defiant glee while denying science so basic that these kids could grasp it easily at age eight. Naomi Klein On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal (2019) President Trump has violated many of the norms and laws on which our democracy depends. He circumvents Congress by declaring the “crisis” at the border a national emergency. He orders his staff to ignore subpoenas. He uses his presidential status to enhance his family’s wealth. He demands absolute loyalty from his appointees. He treats truth like a despot and jokes with Vladimir Putin about his “fake news” problem. He boasts about his misogyny and spews racist insults. Trump is not a despot. But neither were Mussolini and Hitler early on. No black or brown shirts march in our streets. President Trump’s enablers wear white shirts and black robes. They are unified. Democrats are not. Claudia Koonz, Autocrats do not need a majority to destroy democracy. A divided opposition helps them. (September 15, 2019), History News Network. Behold. The festering carcass of American rot shoved into an ill-fitting suit: the sleaze of a conman, the cowardice of a draft dodger, the gluttony of a parasite, the racism of a Klansman, the sexism of a back-alley creep, the ignorance of a bar-stool drunk, and the greed of a hedge-fund ghoul—all spray-painted orange and paraded like a prize hog at a county fair.Not a president. Not even a man. Just the diseased distillation of everything this country swears it isn’t but has always been—arrogance dressed up as exceptionalism, stupidity passed off as common sense, cruelty sold as toughness, greed exalted as ambition, and corruption worshiped like gospel.It is America’s shadow made flesh, a rotting pumpkin idol proving that when a nation kneels before money, power, and spite, it doesn’t just lose its soul—it shits out this bloated obscenity and calls it a leader. Oliver Kornetzke, "This vividly insulting description of Donald Trump is the most brutal summary of the US president you’ll ever read", originally posted on Facebook on 18 August 2025, reposted by Michael White, The Poke, 27 September 2025 Look, Trump has been elected, he will be our president and he has the right to choose conservatives. But instead of turning to the many principled Republicans available, he seems drawn to hotheads and bigots, embarrassing himself and our nation. Nicholas D. Kristof, Trump Embarrasses Himself and Our Country, The New York Times (November 19, 2016) Isn't Donald Trump the very epitome of vulgarity? In sum... Isn't Trumpism a two-bit Caesarism of a kind that American conservatives have always disdained? Isn't the task of conservatives today to stand athwart Trumpism, yelling Stop? William Kristol, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. What do African-Americans have to lose, asks Donald Trump. Paul Krugman, about the comments of Trump on African Americans in the United States. Twitter, August 20, 2016 L There is nothing like a common adversary to make people recognize what they have in common. Once there was consensus that civility, compassion, immigration, equal opportunity and foreign allies were good; that racism, misogyny, discrimination, voter suppression and foreign autocrats were bad; that respect for the U.S. military, intelligence community, political leaders, science, the Constitution and the rule of law was a given; that the American promise was based on good faith, compromise and checks and balances; and that presidents should be role models. 2020-10-19 Trump’s COVID-19 Misinformation Since Testing Positive Jill Lawren USA Today https://usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/10/19/never-trump-conservatives-for-biden-patriots-role-models-column/3696503001/ On January 20, 2017, Donald John Trump became president, unskilled in the machinery of government and unmoved morally by the calling of the position, but aglow in his unmatched power. The first three years of Trump's term revealed a presidency of one, in which the universal value was loyalty- not to the country, but to the president himself. Scandal, bluster, and uninhibited chaos reigned. Decisions were driven by a reflexive logic of self-preservation and self-aggrandizement. Delusions born of narcissism and insecurity overtook reality. Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year (2021), p. 1 The year 2020 will be remembered in the American epoch as one of anguish and abject failure. The coronavirus pandemic killed more than half a million people in the United States and infected tens of millions more, the deadliest health crisis in a century. Through the administration's Operation Warp Speed helped produce vaccines in record time, its overall coronavirus response was mismanaged by the president and marred by ineptitude and backbiting. The virus was only one of the crises Trump confronted in 2020. The pandemic paralyzed the economy, plunging the nation into a recession during which low-wage workers, many of them minorities, suffered the most. The May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man, under the knee of a white police officer ignited protests for racial justice and an end to police discrimination and brutality. Yet Trump sought to exploit the simmering divisions for personal political gain, quickly declared himself "your president of law and order" and relentlessly pressured Pentagon leaders to deploy active-duty troops against Black Lives Matter protestors. The worsening climate crisis, meanwhile, was almost entirely ignored Trump, who earlier in his term had rolled back environmental regulations and withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement. The president was instead preoccupied with stoking doubts about the legitimacy of the election. After he lost to Joe Biden, Trump fanned the flames of conspiracies and howled about fraud that did not exist. His false claims of a "rigged election" inspired thousands of people to storm the Capitol in a violent and ultimately failed insurrection on January 6, 2021. Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year (2021), p. 2 Most of Trump's failings can be explained by a simple truth: He cared more about himself than the country. Whether managing the coronavirus or reacting to his election defeat, Trump prioritized what he thought to be his political and personal interests over the common good. Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year (2021), p. 4 ...shrewdness, coupled with shamelessness and unnatural political stamina, allowed Trump to deliver on many of his political promises. He pleased his conservative base by remaking the federal judiciary, including with three nominations to the Supreme Court; cutting taxes on corporations and the wealthy; expanding the military; toughening border enforcement; and weakening the regulatory state. Trump also forged new bilateral trade agreements, negotiated peace accords in the Middle East, and won concessions from European allies he had argued were taking advantage of the United States. Trump nearly won a second term. More than 74 million people voted to reelect him- the second-highest total ever recorded, the highest being Biden's 81 million. Were it not for Biden's victories in a handful of swing states, Trump would have won the electoral college and secured four more years in office. It would be foolhardy then to dismiss his presidency as a failure and to turn the page on this period. Rather, we must try to understand what made him so appealing to so many, and what that reveals about the country. Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year (2021), p. 6-7 Deserate people do desperate things in desperate times, unfortunately the American people are facing desperate times of COVID-19, but this president is in desperate times... as he speaks ill about senator Harris he speaks ill about women, and we hear it and it is a loud siren across this nation Sheila Jackson Lee on Anderson Cooper 360 (video) on October 26, 2020 The institution of the president of the United States ought to be bigger than a guy doing a talk show. David Letterman at The Atlantic Festival, responding to Jimmy Kimmel's recent firing following pressure by President Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr reported in David Letterman’s Jimmy Kimmel Reaction: ‘We All See Where This Is Going, Correct?’ The Atlantic (September 18, 2025) Sadism has even found a prominent position in popular culture. Many prime-time television series now owe their staying power to the sadistic impulses they exploit on the tube. Audience members find tremendous enjoyment in viewing horrified contestants who devour worms and insects on NBC's Fear Factor; Donald Trump who exclaims without nuance, "You're fired" on his wildly popular series, The Apprentice... Jack Levin and James Alan Fox, "Normalcy in Behavioral Characteristics of the Sadistic Serial Killer", Chapter 1 in Serial Murder and the Psychology of Violent Crimes, edited by Richard N. Kocsis, 2008 Humana Press; p. 12-13 Donald Trump is no conservative. That's not a crime, it's just a reason to vote against him. Many fine people are not conservatives. But the reason Trump's candidacy should worry the Right runs much deeper than that. He poses a direct challenge to conservatism, because he embodies the empty promise of managerial leadership outside of politics. Yuval Levin, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. Trump...is an unstable, reckless and irrational extremist who is not bound by the rule of any law, and is eager to dismantle all constraints on the looting of the planet. If he wins again, he will be even less constrained. Some of his actions will be catastrophically irreversible. Aurora Levins Morales "Midnight in the Latrines" (2020) We have now arrived at a point where what is being spouted by Donald Trump, and others, amounts to a shallow, vulgar, uncompassionate conservatism. Sadly, to many Republicans, Bush is now a punchline, and Trump is the fad of the moment. Matt Lewis, "You Guys, I'm Starting to Miss Dubya" (25 November 2015), The Daily BeastPresident Trump’s order to take out Qasem Soleimani was morally, constitutionally and strategically correct. It deserves more bipartisan support than the begrudging or negative reactions it has received thus far from my fellow Democrats. Joe Lieberman, "The Democrats and Iran", The Wall Street Journal (January 5, 2020) I know Donald Trump. He's been a frequent guest on my radio and television programs, and I introduced him at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2015. He has always been amiable and complimentary. I genuinely like him. But not as my presidential pick. Dana Loesch, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. Trump's time in the White House is finally over. His presidency can be summarized as chaos, division, threats and hate. It's a wake up call for what can happen when hate and extremism are let in. Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden, on FaceBook, January 20 2021 (in Swedish). While Trump's appeal to various groups may be understandable, he makes a terrible champion for Republicans, and especially for conservatives. By the standards we typically use to evaluate candidates — their records, their views, their popularity with the general public, their experience, their temperament, their character — Trump should be dismissed out of hand. No candidate is perfect, but large numbers of conservatives have never before supported any candidate so obviously deficient in all of these respects. That Trump has a long history of liberal positions that extends even into the fairly recent past should not by itself be disqualifying. Conservatism has always welcomed converts. But conservatives have also expected some demonstrated commitment to their principles, some action that advanced their causes, before seeking to elevate a convert to high office. When Mitt Romney ran for the Senate in 1994, for example, he tried to distance himself from Reagan-era conservatism. He later moved right. But even on his least conservative day, Romney was arguing for a smaller government and lower taxes (and for an end to Ted Kennedy's career). Trump, by contrast, has done essentially nothing for any conservative cause prior to deciding to run for the Republican presidential nomination. Rich Lowry and Ramesh Ponnuru, "Trump Wrongs The Right" (19 October 2015), National Review. Trump obviously never meant to impose a wealth test on his administration, or he would have failed it himself. He is proof that a fortune isn't necessarily an obstacle to being a champion of an agenda of populist reform. Rich Lowry, No, the Swamp Won't Be Drained, Politico (December 01, 2016) He wouldn't drain the swamp, but merely feed different alligators. Rich Lowry, No, the Swamp Won't Be Drained, Politico (December 01, 2016) No participant in an administration that caged children, performed involuntary surgeries on captive women, and scoffed at science as millions were infected with a deadly virus should be enriched by the almost rote largesse of a big book deal. And no one who incited, suborned, instigated, or otherwise supported the January 6, 2021 coup attempt should have their philosophies remunerated and disseminated through our beloved publishing houses. Barry Lyga, novelist, in a letter signed by more than 250 authors, editors, agents, professors and others in the American literary community, as quoted in 2021-01-15 Hundreds in publishing sign letter objecting to book deals for the Trump administration Dorany Pineda Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-01-15/book-world-signs-letter-to-block-trump-book-deals When you get up there and try to say you want to see Hillary Clinton win, that wouldn't go over so big. Trump has sold me. What more can I say? I just think he's the only one who's going to turn this country around. Loretta Lynn, as quoted in "This Huge Country Star Just Revealed The Republican She's Supporting For President" by Kaitlan Collins, The Daily Caller (13 January 2016) M [Trump ... alpha male] they’re overcompensating for how insecure they feel — a man who is secure with himself, a human who is secure with themselves, doesn’t have to go around bullying people all the time. Madonna stating it was not true that she had ever asked Donald Trump for a date according to Madonna at Sixty published June 5, 2019 Donald Trump, for all of his bluster, is at least authentically stupid... All these other guys are clown posers. Trump is the genuine article. And, God help me, I think I'd rather have him sitting in the Oval Office, getting stupidly out-maneuvered by the politicians under him, than bringing in a guy like Carson who is willing to shred every last bit of his intellectual credibility in order to lord over a citizenry he doesn't seem to have much respect for. Drew Magary, "F*ck Ben Carson", GQ (8 October 2015) New Rule: Whenever you think the Tea Party can't get any dumber, they get dumber. Now they're in love with Donald Trump. Because nothing says "We're serious about fiscal responsibility" quite like a billionaire whose corporations have filed for bankruptcy three times. Bill Maher 2011 The New New Rules: A Funny Look At How Everybody But Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass New York Blue Rider Press 978-0399158414 Here's the thing about Donald Trump: He never apologizes. He's never wrong, no matter what crazy thing he says. He's totally— he's the white Kanye. And they are gonna love him. For a party whose base adores belligerence, this is the guy. Bill Maher, 2015-06-26 Real Time with Bill Maher TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTL-M3e6lq0 Did you know that of the 14 states with the highest number of painkiller prescriptions per person, they all went for Trump? Bill Maher Real Time with Bill Maher, January 20th 2017 His behavior defies the traditional definition of what it means to be "manly." He wears bronzer, loves gold and gossip, is obsessed with his physical appearance, whines constantly, can't control his emotions, watches daytime television, enjoys parades and interior decorating, and used to sell perfume. Windsor Mann, 2019-02-18 The least macho president The Week https://theweek.com/articles/816310/least-macho-president He set us back like 10 years. We have worked so hard to promote our values, values that made him president when he hawked them, and now he does this, leaving everything in shambles? Nah, destroy him. Let it be a lesson to every other 'populist'. Frances Martel, international news editor at Breitbart News, as quoted by Will Sommer 2021-01-15 ‘Destroy Trump’: Breitbart Staffers Seethe After Capitol Riot Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/breitbart-staffers-clashed-over-blaming-trump-for-capitol-riot-leaked-chats-show?ref=home?ref=home I think even during the campaign I said that Trump reminded me most of Joffrey. They have the same level of emotional maturity. And Joffrey likes to remind everyone that he's king. And he thinks that gives him the ability to do anything. And we're not an absolute monarchy, like Westeros is. We're a constitutional republic. And yet, Trump doesn't seem to know what that means. He thinks the presidency gives him the power to do anything. And so, yeah, Joffrey is Trump. George R. R. Martin, interviewed by Jamie Sims in the T: The New York Times Style Magazine, "George R. R. Martin Answers Times Staffers’ Burning Questions," October 16, 2018. Today's violent assault on our Capitol, an effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump. His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice. Our Constitution and our Republic will overcome this stain and We the People will come together again in our never-ending effort to form a more perfect Union, while Mr. Trump will deservedly be left a man without a country. James Mattis 2020-01-07 Former Defense Secretary Mattis says Trump 'fomented' the security breach at the US Capitol abc NEWS https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/defense-secretary-mattis-trump-fomented-security-breach-us/story?id=75100611 Trump is a potential disaster as commander-in-chief—uninformed, volatile, poor judgment. Hard to believe this is the candidate of a major political party. Barry McCaffrey, retired four-star U.S. Army general, as quoted in "What Does the Military Think of Donald Trump?" (15 June 2016), Time In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier's parents. He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service. I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump's statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates. John McCain, statement regarding Donald Trump's comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan (transcript by CNN) (August 1, 2016) I claim no moral superiority over Donald Trump. I have a long and well-known public and private record for which I will have to answer at the Final Judgment, and I repose my hope in the promise of mercy and the moderation of age. I challenge the nominee to set the example for what our country can and should represent. John McCain, statement regarding Donald Trump's comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan (transcript by CNN) (August 1, 2016) Arizona is watching. It is time for Donald Trump to set the example for our country and the future of the Republican Party. While our Party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us. John McCain, statement regarding Donald Trump's comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan (transcript by CNN) (August 1, 2016) Today's press conference in Helsinki was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump's naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. … President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world. … No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant. Not only did President Trump fail to speak the truth about an adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are — a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad. American presidents must be the champions of that cause if it is to succeed. Americans are waiting and hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred responsibility. One can only hope they are not waiting totally in vain. John McCain, official statement: "SASC Chairman John Mccain on Trump-Putin Meeting" (16 July 2018) The presidency's most crucial duty is the protection of American national security. Yet, interviewed by Hugh Hewitt months into his campaign, Donald Trump did not know the key leaders of the global jihad. The man who would be commander-in-chief was unfamiliar with Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader who has been murdering Americans for over 30 years; Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's longtime deputy who has quite notoriously commanded al-Qaeda since the network's leader was killed by U.S. forces in 2011; and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State (ISIS) and a jihadist so globally notorious that many teenagers are aware of him. Of course a man who wants to be president should make it his business to know such things. Andrew C. McCarthy, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. About the attack on US Capitol: The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President and other powerful people. Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, Republican, quoted by 2021-01-19 Alex Rogers, Clare Foran Mitch McConnell: Capitol Hill mob was 'provoked' by Trump CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/19/politics/mitch-mcconnell-rioters-provoked/index.html About the attack on US Capitol: Former President Trump's actions that preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty. Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. Impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American justice We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former Presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one. He did not do his job. He didn't take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed and order restored. No. Instead, according to public reports, he watched television happily -- happily -- as the chaos unfolded. Mitch McConnell, as quoted by 2021-02-13 Alex Rogers and Manu Raju McConnell blames Trump but voted not guilty anyway CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/13/politics/mitch-mcconnell-acquit-trump/index.html When you think of how far we have come, and at what cost, and with what faith, to just turn it all over to this monstrous clown with a monstrous ego, with no experience, never served his country in any way — it's just crazy. We can't stand by and let it happen. The Republican Party shouldn't stand by and let it happen. David McCullough, quoted by Jim Dwyer in The New York Times, "Scholars Steeped in Dead Politicians Take On a Live One: Donald Trump," July 12 2016. Trump had been calling for better relations with Russia during his presidential campaign... Stooping to a new low, Friday's (New York) Times headline screamed: "F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia." For those interested in evidence — or the lack of it— regarding collusion between Russia and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, we can thank the usual Russia-gate promoters at The New York Times and CNN for inadvertently filling in some gaps in recent days... NYT readers had to get down to paragraph 9 to read: "No evidence has emerged..." Ray McGovern in Ray McGovern: Russia-gate Evidence, Please, (15 January 2019) Donald Trump is no conservative. He's a populist whose theme is: Our government is broken, and I'll fix it. He's right on point one: Both parties have failed to lead. Obama and congressional Democrats manipulate the levers of power to push America farther toward European socialism; Republicans promise free-market alternatives but end up caving in to pressure or carrying water for the GOP's own big-government special interests. The American people have signaled in recent elections that they've had enough of business as usual, and now they want to clean house. Yet Trump is no better than what we already have. He'll say anything to get a vote but give us more of the same if he gets into office. Trump beguiles us, defies the politically correct media, and bullies anyone who points out that the emperor has no clothes. None of that makes him a conservative who cherishes liberty... For decades, Trump has argued for big government. David McIntosh, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. Trump himself thought it was a good idea in the recent past to support Hillary Clinton, including to be President. Dan McLaughlin, "The Never Trump Movement Is Neither Anti-American Nor Hypocritical" (17 May 2016), Red State Trump is unexpectedly increasing my enthusiasm for Hillary. What he is saying is not based on facts: it's based on immaturity, bad judgment and ignorance, and I think it's going to be hard for people in uniform who are thoughtful about this, to vote for him. Merrill McPeak, retired U.S. Air Force chief of staff, as quoted in "What Does the Military Think of Donald Trump?" (15 June 2016), Time Donald Trump is an original John McWhorter Language Expert: Donald Trump's Way Of Speaking Is 'Oddly Adolescent' | The 11th Hour | MSNBC (September 15, 2017) Trump, who came in as a peacemaker president, has started a new war for the U.S. Dmitry Medvedev, ex-Russia president and the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Many Nations Ready To Supply Iran With Their Nuclear Warheads: Top Putin Aide NDTV World (June 22, 2025) Trump's brawling, blustery, mean-spirited public persona serves to associate conservatives with all the negative stereotypes that liberals have for decades attached to their opponents on the right. According to conventional caricature, conservatives are selfish, greedy, materialistic, bullying, misogynistic, angry, and intolerant. They are, we're told, privileged and pampered elitists who revel in the advantages of inherited wealth while displaying only cruel contempt for the less fortunate and the less powerful. The Left tried to smear Ronald Reagan in such terms but failed miserably because he displayed none of the stereotypical traits... Trump is the living, breathing, bellowing personification of all the nasty characteristics Democrats routinely ascribe to Republicans. Michael Medved, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. There are two tactical approaches for candidates seeking their party's nomination in election campaigns. One is to strongly debate the issues and firmly advocate your positions, but to avoid personal attacks on your opponents or needless divisiveness. The other is to vigorously attack your fellow candidates, disparaging them personally and seeking to raise yourself up by dragging them down. Ronald Reagan was famous for epitomizing the former path. Donald Trump, unfortunately, has chosen to follow the latter course... At a time when the nation is suffering under one of the most divisive and incompetent presidents in history, our people need positive, unifying leadership, not negative, destructive political rhetoric. Edwin Meese, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. Trump owes less to Willkie's tradition than to Benito Mussolini's, and not only because of the superficial: Trump's chin-out toughness, sweeping right-hand gestures and talk of his "huge" successes and his "stupid" opponents all evoke the Italian dictator's style. Monday's breathtaking announcement that he would block all Muslims from entering the United States has many pointing out the obvious fascist overtones... Trump uses many of the fascist's tools: a contempt for facts, spreading a pervasive sense of fear and overwhelming crisis, portraying his backers as victims, assigning blame to foreign or alien actors and suggesting only his powerful personality can transcend the crisis. He endorsed the violence done to a dissenter at one of his rallies, and he now floats the idea of making entry to the United States contingent on religion. Dana Milbank, "Donald Trump, America's modern Mussolini" (8 December 2015), The Washington Post. For all the promises Trump is breaking, there is one he has kept without wavering: his vow to be unpredictable. ... Some suggest that there is a method to Trump's madness, that he is trying to make would-be adversaries think he is irrational and capricious, thereby making foes and rivals wary of pushing him too far. ... But in Trump's application of the Madman Theory there seems to be less theory than madman. There may be advantages to keeping foes and opponents off guard, but Trump is baffling friends and allies, too. In foreign affairs, unpredictability spooks allies and spreads instability. And unpredictable policy at home has long been seen as toxic for business. ... The widespread chaos suggests Trump isn't signaling new policies as much as he's winging it. His unpredictability is not a theory. It's the absence of one. Dana Milbank, Trump's one consistent policy: Chaos, The Washington Post (December 6, 2016) You never know where the president's trigger point is Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley according to "Milley took top-secret action to limit Trump's ability to order military strike, book says" (January8, 2021) He needs no introduction. His name is familiar to every person on the planet Earth. His name comes up in almost every conversation in the world on global politics. His every word is followed by tens of millions. He has left a deep and lasting impact everywhere. Narendra Modi, speaking at the "Howdy Modi" rally at NRG Stadium in Houston, United States, ETV Andhra Pradesh (22 September 2019) thumb|President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. ~ Moon Jae-in President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. Moon Jae-in, as quoted in "South Korea president says Trump deserves Nobel Peace Prize" by Hyonhee Shin, Reuters (30 April 2018) The three primary goals of religious conservatives: to protect all human life, including that of the unborn; to reinforce the sanctity of marriage and the family; and to conserve the religious freedom of all persons. All three goals would be in jeopardy under a Trump presidency. Yes, Trump says that he is pro-life now, despite having supported partial-birth abortion in the past. The problem is not whether he can check a box. Pro-life voters expect leaders to have a coherent vision of human dignity and to be able to defend against assaults on human life in the future—some of which may be unimaginable today and will present themselves only as new technologies develop. Russell Moore, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. Trump's proposal would assure the enmity of all Muslims, including those whose support we need if we are to prevail. Even assuming an infallible way to identify who is Muslim, the proposal is both under- and over-inclusive. It is under-inclusive because it does not address potential terrorists who have U.S. passports or residence permits, or are already here, or may threaten us abroad; it is over-inclusive because it bars the huge majority of Muslims who are not potential terrorists. Trump says he would order the military to kill the families of terrorists. That would be a direct violation of the most basic laws of armed conflict, which require that deadly force be used only when required by military necessity, under circumstances that allow distinction between military and civilian targets, and when incidental damage to non-military targets is proportional to the military advantage gained. A military that adhered to the laws of armed conflict would necessarily disobey such an order; if it followed the order, both the person who gave it and those who followed it would be subject to prosecution for war crimes. Michael B. Mukasey, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. What a fucking idiot. Rupert Murdoch, as quoted in "Donald Trump Didn't Want to Be President" (January 2017), by Michael Wolff, NY Mag I want him out. He has caused enough damage. Lisa Murkovski, Republican senator, quoted by 2021-01-10 Kate Sullivan, Nicky Robertson Republican Sen. Pat Toomey says he thinks Trump 'committed impeachable offenses' CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/09/politics/pat-toomey-trump-impeachable-offenses/index.html Trump has gotten six or seven stories in his presidency so far, that if they happened in 1981, there would have been serious talk about the president needing to resign. And that's gone now, that ray gun of, "We don't do this. You can't get away with that" is pretty much gone... Everything is a racial stereotype with him half the time. We've got to admit that about Trump. Mike Murphy, interview with Bill Kristol (20 June 2017) A Moscow loving grifter is on the loose in the White House. Shame on the Vichy Republicans who constantly enable him. Mike Murphy, interview with Daniel Lippman (2018) Yes, I’m supporting Donald Trump; I’m doing so as enthusiastically as I can do. In fact, I think he’s a terrible human being. Mick Mulvaney according to Debate between Mulvaney and the Democrat Fran Person in York, South Carolina (15 Dec 2018) I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!? Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69. Elon Musk, quoted in "Elon Musk: Time for Trump to ‘hang up his hat & sail into the sunset’", 7 July 2022 What kind of son have I created? Mary Trump (Trump's mother), is said to have asked Ivana Trump N [Trump is the] greatest friend Israel has ever had. Benjamin Netanyahu. As quoted in Lazar Berman, Netanyahu calls Trump ‘greatest friend Israel has ever had,’ hailing his actions in past 2 weeks, The Times of Israel (February 4, 2025) When Trump came for the Mexicans, I did not speak out — as I was not a Mexican. When he came for the Muslims I did not speak out — as I was not a Muslim. Then he came for me. The Daily News, variant of First they came ... by Martin Niemöller, as quoted in Daily News cover shows Donald Trump cutting off the Statue of Liberty's head (December 09, 2015) by Colin Campbell, Business Insider I love Donald, and he would make a great president. Number one, he tells the truth. Number two, he's been where most of these guys want to be, in terms of riding on his own plane. He doesn't have to worry about what hotels he stays in, he doesn't have to worry about how his family gets to Hawaii, so on and so forth. I could give you so many reasons. But most of all, most important I think for Mr. Trump, is he tells it like it is. Look, we can talk about these radicals all we want, but it's my opinion, and I heard [Trump] say this too: They're only going to be as radical as we let them be. Wayne Newton on 2015-10-06 Fox & Friends TV — as quoted in "Wayne Newton all in on Trump" by Judy Kurtz, The Hill (6 October 2015) Mr President... STOP THE INSANITY You lost the election - here's how to save your legacy New York Post, quoted in "New York Post to Donald Trump: Stop the insanity", David Goldman, CNN (29 December 2020) Trump has chosen to identify himself as a Republican as a matter of egotistical convenience. Tom Nichols, "I'll Take Hillary Clinton Over Donald Trump" (24 February 2016), The Federalist Donald Trump is the most willfully ignorant man ever to hold the presidency. He does not understand even basic concepts of … well, almost anything. (Yesterday, he explained to a woman in Michigan that he would lower food prices by limiting food imports—in other words, by reducing the supply of food. Trump went to the Wharton School, where I assume “supply and demand” was part of the first-year curriculum.) He is insensate to anything that conflicts with his needs or beliefs, and briefing him on any topic is virtually impossible. Tom Nichols, Scientific American Didn’t Need to Endorse Anybody (18 September 2024) As you can imagine, [Pat] is an expert on politics and she predicts whenever you decide to run for office you will be a winner! Richard Nixon, crediting his wife Pat Nixon in a letter to Trump in 1987, FACT CHECK: Did Richard Nixon Write a Letter Predicting Donald Trump’s Success in Politics?, Snopes, (May 18, 2017) Have you ever argued with a toddler? Because if you have, you probably lost that argument, or you killed the toddler. Either way, you didn't win the argument, because you can't win an argument against a toddler. Toddlers will say the most outlandish shit. [...] Over the course of this election season, we've come to realize that president-elect Donald Trump might have the mind of a toddler. And if you think about it, it makes sense. He loves the same things that toddlers do. They like building things. They love attention, always grabbing things they're not supposed to. [...] You don't argue with a child if you want to win. Don't amplify the toddler's voice, because you'll just get trapped in the toddler's world. Rather, just keep asking the toddler to elaborate. Because logic is the downfall of every toddler. The point is to gently demoralize the toddler and smother his tantrums. And, as a bonus, stop him from delegitimizing the press. Trevor Noah, The Daily Show, November 30, 2016. Quoted in Trevor Noah: How journalists really need to deal with Trump (November 30, 2016) by Paul Schrodt, Business Insider Donald Trump should be given the Medal of Freedom for speaking his mind in such a bold, honest and straight-forward manner. Ted Nugent, Give Trump the Medal of Freedom, WorldNetDaily (August 7, 2015). Quoted in Shaq Didn’t Call Trump the 'Best President' (September 17, 2018) by Catherine Monk, FactCheck.org Donald Trump comes closer than anyone else to being the archetype of the species; crossing genres, he exemplifies all the ways an asshole can capture our attention. Geoffrey Nunberg 2012-08-14 Ascent of the A-Word: Assholism, the First Sixty Years New York PublicAffairs 978-1610391757 164-165 I'd like to take Donald Trump to Palestine,/set him free in the streets of Ramallah or Nablus/amidst all the winners who never gave up in sixty-/nine years./They'd like to make their country great again too,/if only their hands weren't tied by the weapons/our country donates. Naomi Shihab Nye Voices in the Air (2018) O [Americans have] a continuing normative commitment to the ideals of individual freedom and mobility, values that extend far beyond the issue of race in the American mind. The depth of this commitment may be summarily dismissed as the unfounded optimism of the average American—I may not be Donald Trump now, but just you wait; if I don't make it, my children will. Barack Obama, in a 1991 law school paper called "Race and Rights Rhetoric", as quoted in Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama (2017) by David Garrow, and reported in "Young Obama Said the American Dream Is to Be Donald Trump", Vice (12 May 2017) We've got a debate inside the other party that is fantasy and schoolyard taunts and selling stuff like it's the Home Shopping Network. And then you've got the Republican establishment -- they're very exercised: We're shocked that somebody would be saying these things. We're shocked that somebody is fanning anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-Muslim sentiment. We're shocked! We're shocked that somebody could be loose with the facts. Or distort someone's record -- shocked... This is the guy, remember, who was sure that I was born in Kenya. Who just wouldn't let it go. And all this same Republican establishment, they weren't saying nothing. As long as it was directed at me, they were fine with it. They thought it was a hoot. Wanted to get his endorsement... What is happening in this primary is just a distillation of what's been happening inside their party for more than a decade. I mean, the reason that many of their voters are responding is because this is what's been fed through the messages they've been sending for a long time -- that you just make flat assertions that don't comport with the facts. That you just deny the evidence of science. That compromise is a betrayal. That the other side isn't simply wrong, or we just disagree, we want to take a different approach, but the other side is destroying the country, or treasonous. I mean, that's - look it up. That's what they've been saying. So they can't be surprised when somebody suddenly looks and says, you know what, I can do that even better. I can make stuff up better than that. I can be more outrageous than that. I can insult people even better than that. I can be even more uncivil. Barack Obama on Trump, March 2016 I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously … But he never did. For close to four years now, he’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. … Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. Barack Obama on Trump, 20 August 2020 I like Donald Trump because he speaks from the heart. Make America Great Again is a great slogan. I would like to meet him. Malik Obama, President Obama's half-brother, as quoted in "Why Obama's half-brother says he'll be voting for Donald Trump" by Isabel Vincent, New York Post (24 July 2016) Let's take a page from Donald Trump's book and ignore political correctness for a moment. If you support Trump, you support his sexist, bigoted and racist views. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it, and this is especially true for GOP party leaders, elected officials and even community leaders. Some have said things such as, 'I don't like Trump's history of demeaning women, but I think he will be good for the economy'. Sorry, you don't get a pass because you like one of his policy proposals. It's akin to saying, 'I supported Hitler for his tax plan'. And no, I'm absolutely not comparing Trump to Hitler. But Anne Frank's 86-year-old stepsister, Eva Schloss, who survived Auschwitz, did just that a few weeks ago, telling Newsweek that Trump 'is acting like another Hitler by inciting racism'. Dean Obeidallah, "A Vote For Trump Is A Vote" (24 February 2016), CNN, State of Georgia: Cable News Network He lives in fear of going down the path his father went down, which was dementia, followed by Alzheimer's, into his 90s. And I think he's carried that burden forever. And watching how he answers questions now compared to Donald Trump and Trump 1.0, he slurs his words a little, he looks weary, he is slouched. Timothy L. O'Brien, senior executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion and political analyst, quoted in Trump 'Lives in Fear' of Developing Dementia, Alzheimer's Like His Father, Political Analyst Claims Latin Times (5 May 2025) He’s not all that. And much less impressive in person than on television, as well. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Interview with Democracy Now (2020) He said to me, "if you're ever caught cheating, you deny, deny, deny, and wear them out, and they will believe you eventually because you've denied so long." Jack O'Donnell, former president of the Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City, Believing Him: For Trump, Sticking With Men Like Stephen Moore Is Nothing New (26 April 2019), New York TimesIn my mind, [Epstein] was his best friend, you know, [throughout] the time I was there for four years.…This [state casino commission inspector] happened to be a tennis fan and he said, 'Jack, I know she’s 19 years old'. They had determined that the women that [Epstein and Trump] brought down were underage to be in the casino.I had to call them and say, 'They're giving you a break this time, but if this happens again, the fine is going to be substantial and it's going to be on your head.’I did tell him in that conversation, 'I don’t think you should be hanging out with this guy, just so you know, and you certainly shouldn’t be doing that in Atlantic City.’ Jack O’Donnell, who oversaw the Atlantic City Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in the 1980s, describing his observations of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein during his time there Ex-Casino Boss Claims Trump and 'Best Friend' Jeffrey Epstein Were Once Caught Bringing Underage Girls to Casino Floor (July 17, 2025) People If Donald Trump gets dementia, how will we know? Lawrence O'Donnell, MSNBC host, quoted in "Lawrence O’Donnell Finds New Signs of ‘How Small’ Trump’s Brain Is" The Daily Beast (June 19, 2025) This young girl, Tara Conner, how old is she? 20? 21. She went out and she was partying. She's from Kentucky. She went to New York and she was hanging out at all the parties, and doing what Paris and Lindsay do — you know, dancing, whatever. And so he held a press conference to announce whether or not she was going to retain her crown. And then she started to cry, going, "I just want to thank Donald for giving me a second chance." And there he is, hair looping, going [flipping hair over top of her head, imitating Trump] "Everyone deserves a second chance. I'm going to give her a second chance."He annoys me on a multitude of levels. He's the moral authority? Left the first wife, had an affair. Left the second wife, had an affair. Had kids both times, but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America. Donald, sit and spin, my friend! I don't enjoy him. No. No, no, no. He inherited a lot of money — wait a minute — and he's been bankrupt so many times where he didn't have to pay. But the people beneath him who he owed money to got shorted out of the money, but he got to again, try again and again. And you know what saved him the second time? After his father died, with that money, he paid off all his bankruptcy. This is not a self-made man. I just think that this man is sort of like one of those, you know, snake oil salesmen in Little House on the Prairie. Rosie O'Donnell, The View (2006), quoted in "Rosie O'Donnell Hits Back at Donald Trump After Debate Bashing - and Calls Him an 'Orange Anus'", People () Referring to Trump's announcement that he would give Miss USA 2006 a "second chance" after her substance abuse scandal. This man just can't be president. They've got this button — this briefcase. He's going to find it. P. J. O'Rourke, alluding to the nuclear codes the commander-in-chief takes control of upon assuming office, May 7, 2016 on NPR The Founding Fathers created a system of checks and balances to limit the power of the President, but it only works if someone fucking checks or balances. And if you don't, it's no longer on Trump, it's on you. Because when you've got the presidential equivalent of a five-year-old shitting on the salad bar of a Ruby Tuesdays, at some point you stop blaming the five-year-old, and you start blaming the people who are not stopping him. Stop that boy, that's what I am saying. Stop that boy, now. John Oliver during a piece on the aftermath of Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey on his Last Week Tonight show (14 May 2017) in 2019, President Trump repeated the baseless conspiracy theory that I had committed immigration fraud, nearly three years after I thought I had answered it once and for all. Ilhan Omar This is What America Looks Like (2021) Now that he’s president-elect, you just hope that he can make the world a better place. He won fair and square. We have to give him a chance. There’s no need talking about recounts and this and that. Shaquille O'Neal, as quoted in Shaq Didn’t Call Trump the 'Best President' (September 17, 2018) by Catherine Monk, FactCheck.orgto me, Trump is more like [former Italian prime minister [Silvio] Berlusconi than like Hitler. Trump is many things. He is pampered, he is an immature man, he is a teenager craving unconditional, endless love from everybody. I don’t think he is fanatic. I’m not sure I would say about his vice president that he is not a fanatic, he probably is, but I don’t think Donald Trump strikes me as a fanatic. Amos Oz interview with Forward (2018) P I'm happy with what Trump has done, because he's totally blown up the media! All of a sudden, ‘BOOM!' That lack of caution and shooting from the hip. He's not a president, of course. He's not remotely a president. He has no political skills of any kind. He's simply an American citizen who is creating his own bully pulpit. Camille Paglia, as quoted by Luke Morgan Britan, "Before Calling Taylor Swift A ‘Nazi Barbie', Camille Paglia Laid Into Plenty Of Other Celebrities", NME.com, Dec 11, 2015; retrieved 15 September 2017 Had Hillary won, everyone would have expected disappointed Trump voters to show a modicum of respect for the electoral results as well as for the historic ceremony of the inauguration, during which former combatants momentarily unite to pay homage to the peaceful transition of power in our democracy. But that was not the reaction of a vast cadre of Democrats shocked by Trump's win. In an abject failure of leadership that may be one of the most disgraceful episodes in the history of the modern Democratic party, Chuck Schumer, who had risen to become the Senate Democratic leader after the retirement of Harry Reid, asserted absolutely no moral authority as the party spun out of control in a nationwide orgy of rage and spite. Nor were there statesmanlike words of caution and restraint from two seasoned politicians whom I have admired for decades and believe should have run for president long ago—Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. How do Democrats imagine they can ever expand their electoral support if they go on and on in this self-destructive way, impugning half the nation as vile racists and homophobes?All of which brings us to the issue of Trump's performance to date. The initial conundrum was: could he shift from being the slashing, caustic ex-reality show star of the campaign to a more measured, presidential persona? Perhaps to the dismay of his diehard critics, Trump did indeed make that transition at the Capitol on inauguration morning, when he appeared grave and focused, palpably conveying a sense of the awesome burdens of the highest office. As for his particular actions as president, I am no fan of executive orders, which usurp congressional prerogatives and which I was already denouncing when Obama was constantly signing them (with very little protest, one might add, from the mainstream media). Camille Paglia, as quoted by Johnathan V. Last, "Camille Paglia: On Trump, Democrats, Transgenderism, and Islamist Terror", The Weekly Standard, June 15, 2017 Only one candidate's record of success proves he is the master of the art of the deal... I'm here to support the next president of the United States, Donald Trump. Sarah Palin, "Sarah Palin's speech endorsing Donald Trump in full", Independent (20 January 2016) With Donald Trump as the presumptive presidential nominee, we are witnessing a populist hijacking of one of the United States' great political parties... [R]ooted in ignorance, prejudice, fear and isolationism... This troubles me deeply as a Republican, but it troubles me even more as an American... Enough is enough... It's time to put country before party and say it together: Never Trump. Henry Paulson, "Choose country over party" (24 June 2016), The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., as quoted in CBS News (June 2016) Trump has made a living out of preying on and bullying society's most vulnerable, with the help of government. He isn't an outsider, but rather an unelected politician of the worst kind. He admits that he's bought off elected officials in order get his way and to openly abuse the system. The rabid defense he gets from some quarters is astonishing. Trump's liberal positions aren't in the distant past—he has openly promoted them on the campaign trail. Trump isn't fighting for anyone but himself, which has been his pattern for decades. Conservatives have a serious decision. Do we truly believe in our long-held principles and insist that politicians have records demonstrating fealty to them? Or are we willing to throw these principles away because an entertainer who has been a liberal Democrat for decades simply says some of the right things? Katie Pavlich, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review Observing his behavior, I have concluded that he is like the man who refuses to ask for directions. All of the answers are there. And yet the president continues to go down the wrong path and refuses to ask for directions from scientists who know better than any of us. Nancy Pelosi, talking about the need for testing, contact tracing, treatment, social distancing, masking and equipment for handling the Coronavirus pandemic, as quoted by Marisa Schultz, "Pelosi compares Trump to 'the man who refuses to ask for directions'", July 17 2020, CNN We might get somebody of his ilk who's sane, and that would really be dangerous, because it could be who's smart, who's strategic, and the rest. This is a slob. He doesn't believe in science. He's a snake-oil salesman. And he's shrewd. Give him credit for his shrewdness. Nancy Pelosi, as quoted by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year (2021), p. 6 Donald Trump and I believe that Captain Humayun Khan is an American hero and his family, like all Gold Star families, should be cherished by every American. Captain Khan gave his life to defend our country in the global war on terror. Due to the disastrous decisions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a once stable Middle East has now been overrun by ISIS. This must not stand. By suspending immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, rebuilding our military, defeating ISIS at its source and projecting strength on the global stage, we will reduce the likelihood that other American families will face the enduring heartbreak of the Khan family. Mike Pence, about the statements of Donald Trump on the fallen Captain Humayun S. M. Khan's family — Facebook, July 31, 2016 I wrote the scripture reference, which is 2 Corinthians 3:17, which is how it's written, I'm guilty as charged. That's exactly what I did. I sent him a couple of suggestions of some things he could talk about as a connection point. It shows that he's not familiar with Bible, Donald Trump's a very interesting guy. There are some things about him that I find fascinating, that I like about him, as well as other evangelicals. Tony Perkins, in an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett on OutFront, about Trump saying "two Corinthians" instead of "Second Corinthians" during a speech at Liberty University. (January 22, 2016) He offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued... Let no one be mistaken: Donald Trump's candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded. ... Donald Trump is the modern-day incarnation of the Know Nothing movement. Rick Perry, campaign event, Willard Hotel, , quoted in 2015-07-22 Perry: Trump's campaign ‘a barking carnival act' and ‘a cancer on conservatism' Jose A. DelReal The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/07/22/rick-perry-donald-trumps-campaign-a-barking-carnival-act-and-a-cancer-on-conservatism/ I don't know how far Trump will go. But in giving confidence to the American people and exposing establishment hypocrisy, he has already done a great service for our country. Jesse Lee Peterson, "Cowards join forces to attack the 'bully'", WND (21 September 2015) To most of us, the American presidential campaign is a media freak show, in which Donald Trump is the arch villain. But Trump is loathed by those with power in the United States for reasons that have little to do with his obnoxious behaviour and opinions. To the invisible government in Washington, the unpredictable Trump is an obstacle to America’s design for the 21st century...To the militarists in Washington, the real problem with Trump is that, in his lucid moments, he seems not to want a war with Russia; he wants to talk with the Russian president, not fight him; he says he wants to talk with the president of China. In the first debate with Hillary Clinton, Trump promised not to be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into a conflict. He said, “I would certainly not do first strike. Once the nuclear alternative happens, it’s over.” That was not news... what is clear is that Trump is considered a serious threat to the status quo maintained by the vast national security machine that runs the United States, regardless of who is in the White House. The CIA wants him beaten. The Pentagon wants him beaten. The media wants him beaten. Even his own party wants him beaten. He is a threat to the rulers of the world – unlike Clinton who has left no doubt she is prepared to go to war with nuclear-armed Russia and China... Without a shred of evidence, she has accused Russia of supporting Trump and hacking her emails. John Pilger, Inside the Invisible Government: War, Propaganda, Clinton & Trump, Information Clearing House, October 28, 2016 The coming war on China is likely to happen by mistake or accident as a result of deliberate provocations by the US and its echoes. Under cover of the pandemic, the Trump regime is sending strategic bombers and spy drones within sight of China itself. Our silence is our peril. John Pilger, Twitter (17 June 2020) Trump is an unbalanced force. He is the politicized American id. Should his election results match his polls, he would be, unquestionably, the worst thing to happen to the American common culture in my lifetime. John Podhoretz, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. Donald Trump was so awful, so horrible, so disgusting... His lies, his distortions, his deceits, and his libels thicker and fouler than they've yet been... Since he began running he has demonstrated he knows things we don't know about the emotions roiling in the American underbelly. Maybe he knows this too... He interrupts, he yells over them, he insults them, he goes over his allotted time, and the whirlwind he creates turns into a vacuum that sucks all the air out of the place and right into his attention-whore lungs. John Podhoretz, "Trump was out of control in South Carolina debate" (13 February 2016), New York Post. There is no comparison between the stance of Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and U.S. President Donald Trump: the former had a sober, science-based attitude, while the latter has consistently laughed off the coronavirus as a simple flu as recently as June 24. Vijay Prashad in COVID-19: Why Laos, Vietnam & China Have Beaten the Virus and India, Brazil and the US Have Not, Consortium News (16 July 2020) It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals. But apparently to get a pardon, one has to be either a Republican, a convicted child murderer or a turkey. Senior US District Judge Robert Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa, as quoted by 2020-12-30 'A criminal like Trump': Federal judge ridicules President's pardons Ryan J. Foley The Sydney Morning Herald https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/a-criminal-like-trump-federal-judge-in-iowa-ridicules-trump-s-pardons-20201230-p56qrs.html Donald Trump and his top Republican allies in Congress are fighting a war, and the battle lines have begun to clarify themselves. Their war is not being waged against COVID-19, the pandemic that has killed tens of thousands in this nation alone. Their war is being waged against the nation itself, and specifically against areas of the nation that are heavy on population but light on Trump supporters. In other words, the big-city blue states, whose governors have refused to fawn over Trump's gibberish-flecked "leadership" during this crisis. William Rivers Pitt, Trump and McConnell Aren’t Waging War on COVID. They’re Waging War on Us. (April 28, 2020), Truthout Trump has been treating the delivery of federal aid to the states like his own personal spoils system: rewarding loyalty, punishing critics, and demanding to be praised for doing his job whenever he actually does it, but especially when he doesn't. William Rivers Pitt, Trump and McConnell Aren’t Waging War on COVID. They’re Waging War on Us. (April 28, 2020), Truthout If you don’t pay your bills, your bank account stays full. It’s a trick Trump learned a long time ago. William Rivers Pitt, Trump and McConnell Aren’t Waging War on COVID. They’re Waging War on Us. (April 28, 2020), Truthout Trump and McConnell know these states are reopening too soon, but they don’t care, because they need to make the money happy. [...] The utter cruelty of these tactics, the nihilistic self-destruction of it in the face of more than 55,000 dead and thousands more to follow, has scarce precedent in the annals of U.S. politics. Instead of helping the entire country in this time of grievous crisis, Trump and McConnell are putting their boots to the neck of every state they deem ideologically unfit. It will be a damn miracle if the nation survives this, and them. William Rivers Pitt, Trump and McConnell Aren’t Waging War on COVID. They’re Waging War on Us. (April 28, 2020), Truthout Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously. I hereby hold you in civil contempt Presiding judge Donald Trump found in contempt of court in New York civil case (Apr 25, 2022) People imnitate Autistic hand flapping when they want to imply a disabled person is stupid, annoying, or out of control. Donald Trump famously did a cruel imitation of hand flapping during his 2016 campaign, while criticizing a physically disabled reporter. Devon Price Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity (2022) This is not about fighting crime. This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city, in a blue state, to try and intimidate his political rivals.This is about the president of the United States and his complicit lackey, Stephen Miller, searching for ways to lay the groundwork to circumvent our democracy, militarize our cities and end elections. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker addressing reports President Trump is planning to send the military to Chicago Full text of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's speech at news conference on reported Trump military plan for Chicago CBS News (August 26, 2025) thumb|He's a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt. It's not our job to judge his qualities, that's a job for American voters, but he's the absolute leader in the presidential race. ~ Vladimir Putin He's a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt. It's not our job to judge his qualities, that's a job for American voters, but he's the absolute leader in the presidential race. Vladimir Putin, as quoted in "Putin praises Trump: 'He's a really brilliant and talented person'" by Neetzan Zimmerman, The Hill (17 December 2015) R Donald Trump lost the election fair and square. Brad Raffensperger, Republican and top voting official in Georgia, quoted in "‘He knows he lost’: Georgia Republican braces for Trump rally in Perry", the Guardian, 25 sept 2021 There are side effects to hydroxychloroquine. It causes psychiatric symptoms, cardiac problems and a host of other bad side effects. [...] There may be a role for it for some people, but to tell Americans ‘you don’t have anything to lose,’ that’s not true. People certainly have something to lose by taking it indiscriminately. Megan Ranney, in response to Trump's statement on using the drug as treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19. Quoted in Ignoring Expert Opinion, Trump Again Promotes Use of Hydroxychloroquine (April 5, 2020) by Michael Crowley, Katie Thomas and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times. Your reminder that America's richest 1 percent now own half the value of the U.S. stock market. The richest 10 percent own 92 percent. So when Trump says the stock market is the economy, know who he's really talking about. Robert Reich, Twitter, (5 Jul 2020) As the pandemic surges back, Trump and his lackeys have: —Tried to dismantle the Affordable Care Act —Rallied to pass a $740,000,000,000 defense spending bill —Declined extending additional unemployment benefits to out-of-work Americans Their priorities are crystal clear. Robert Reich, Twitter, (5 Jul 2020) You may not agree with his authenticity but he's authentic. People like that. He speaks his mind, which reminds me of me once in a while. I think that's something that's refreshing. Harry Reid, as quoted in "Reid praises Trump for being 'authentic'" by Rebecca Savransky, The Hill (11 February 2016) He presents himself as a Strong Man who promises to knock heads and make things right again. In this, he has a lot more in common with South American populist demagogues than with our tradition of political leaders... The middle-class consensus in America has collapsed. This is the most important political and social earthquake since World War II. The conservative movement's leadership isn't up to the challenge, and a good number of voters are willing to gamble on Trump's bluster. Bad bet. Our nation's solidarity is being tested. It will only make things worse if we go Trumpster diving. R.R. Reno, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. For anyone to compare their 'sacrifice' to a Gold Star family member is insulting, foolish and ignorant. Especially someone who has never served himself and has no children serving, our county has been at war for a decade and a half and the truth is most Americans have sacrificed nothing. Most of them are smart and grounded enough to admit it. Paul Rieckoff, in response to Trump's comparison of his sacrifices with those of someone like Khizr M. Khan — Donald Trump to Father of Fallen Soldier: 'I've Made a Lot of Sacrifices', ABC News (July 30, 2016) The most mentally ill human being in America right now seems to be the president. Rihanna, pop singer, quoted in "Donald Trump Calls Rihanna's Super Bowl Halftime Performance an 'Epic Fail'", Vanity Fiar, 13 February 2023 He is a successful man for a reason. He's actually created a dialogue [and] forced conversations. He has gotten more people engaged in the political process and current events and what's going on in the world than anyone else has for a long time. More people are engaged than ever before. I think whether you agree with Donald or you don't agree with Donald, he starts conversations. That's what democracy is — you've got to get people engaged to make this country run. Melissa Rivers, as quoted in "Melissa Rivers: Trump is ‘a successful man for a reason'" by Mark Hensch, The Hill (9 December 2015) With all his talent, and the ability to raise money and draw large crowds, the President still lives in an alternate reality. He really does. People say, 'Well he lies about this, that and the other.' But he isn't lying. To him, that's the truth. Pat Robertson, televangelist, as quoted in "Televangelist Pat Robertson says Trump lives in an 'alternate reality' and should move on from election loss" by Veronica Stracqualursi and Jason Hoffman, CNN (22 December 2020) If Donald Trump's plans were ever implemented, the country would sink into prolonged recession.A few examples: His proposed 35 percent tariff-like penalties would instigate a trade war and that would raise prices for consumers, kill export jobs, and lead entrepreneurs and businesses to flee America…. So even though Donald Trump has offered very few specific economic plans, what little he has said is enough to know that he would be very bad for American workers and American families.But wait, you say, isn't he a huge business success? Doesn't he know what he's talking about? No he isn't. And no he doesn’t….Now not every policy that Donald Trump has floated is bad. He wants to repeal and replace Obamacare. He wants to bring jobs home from China and Japan. But his prescriptions to do those things are flimsy at best.…Successfully bringing jobs home requires serious policy and reforms that make America the place businesses want to come, want to plant and want to grow. You can't punish business into doing what you want. Mitt Romney, from the transcript Text of Speech: Mitt Romney Slams Republican Front-runner Donald Trump VOA, 3 March 2016 He has by far the largest voice and a big impact in my party. I don't know if he's planning to run in 2024 or not, but if he does, I'm pretty sure he would win the nomination. Mitt Romney, as quoted in "What Mitt Romney gets *exactly* right about Donald Trump", Chris Cillizza, CNN, 25 February 2021 Dishonesty is Trump's hallmark: He claimed that he had spoken clearly and boldly against going into Iraq. Wrong, he spoke in favor of invading Iraq. He said he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating 9/11. Wrong, he saw no such thing. He imagined it. His is not the temperament of a stable, thoughtful leader. His imagination must not be married to real power.We have long referred to him as "The Donald." He is the only person in America to whom we have added an article before his name. It wasn't because he had attributes we admired. Mitt Romney, remarks on Donald Trump and the 2016 race at the University of Utah. (March 3, 2016) It's impossible to ignore the conspicuous regularity with which Donald Trump issues intentionally provocative, news-cycle-dominating comments. It's equally difficult to look past their timing, which tends to often coincide with scandalous revelations that reflect poorly on Democratic politicians... This is far from an isolated event; it's a pattern. First, a Democrat becomes embroiled in a controversy or an external event reflects negatively on the party. Donald Trump then makes an outrageous comment calculated for maximum political impact. Like clockwork, the press abandons their critical examination of Democratic policies, and Republicans are back at each other's throats. This is a measurable phenomenon. In just the last six months, there are almost too many examples to count. Noah Rothman, "The Many Times Trump Rescued Dems" (8 December 2015), Commentary Mr. Trump lacks the focus or self-discipline to do the basic work required of a president. His chronic impulsiveness is apparently unstoppable and clearly self-defeating. Karl Rove, Republican strategist, Political Death by 1,000 Tweets, in the Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2017 Donald Trump, champion and avatar of the shallow state, has won power because his supporters are threatened by what they don't understand, and what they don't understand is almost everything. Indeed, from evolution to data about our economy to the science of vaccines to the threats we face in the world, they reject vast subjects rooted in fact in order to have reality conform to their worldviews. They don't dig for truth; they skim the media for anything that makes them feel better about themselves. To many of them, knowledge is not a useful tool but a cunning barrier elites have created to keep power from the average man and woman. The same is true for experience, skills, and know-how. These things require time and work and study and often challenge our systems of belief. Truth is hard; shallowness is easy. David Rothkopf, "The Shallow State," Foreign Policy, February 22, 2017. I think it's time for a war president. Republicans, conservatives and Christians, and capitalist, any who love capitalism, any who loves America, patriots, I think we need a war president and I think God sent us someone named Donald Trump, I think he's perfect for this election. We needed someone who is a bit coarse and foul-mouthed and vicious and fights with a gun in a gunfight, not with a knife in a gun fight. Wayne Allyn Root (August 8, 2016) Voldemort was nowhere near as bad. J. K. Rowling, Twitter post (December 8, 2015), as cited in "JK Rowling on Donald Trump: 'Voldemort was nowhere as bad'", The Guardian (December 8, 2015) Trump made no comment on the horror swirling around him. Instead he conferred on Narendra Modi, the most divisive, hateful political figure in modern India, the title "Father of the Nation." Until recently, this was Gandhi's title. I am no fan of Gandhi, but surely, even he did not deserve this. Arundhati Roy, about Trump's visit to India during the 2020 Delhi Riots. Introduction to Azadi: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction (2020) S Attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman are unacceptable and must be fully investigated... but this incident must not be used as a pretext for a war with Iran, a war which would be an unmitigated disaster for the United States, Iran, the region, and the world... The time is now for the United States to exert international leadership,... and bring the countries in the region together to forge a diplomatic solution to the growing tensions...I would also remind President Trump that there is no congressional authorization for a war with Iran... A unilateral U.S. attack on Iran would be illegal and unconstitutional. Bernie Sanders, Trump Must Not Be Allowed to Use Gulf of Oman Incidents as 'Pretext for Illegal War With Iran': Bernie Sanders, Common Dreams, Andrea Germanos, (14 June 2019) I think that the American people are never going to elect a president who insults Mexicans, who insults Muslims, who insults women, who insults African-Americans. And let us not forget that several years ago, Trump was in the middle of the so- called birther movement, trying to delegitimize the president of the United States of America. You know, I find it very interesting, Karen, my dad was born in Poland. I know a little bit about the immigrant experience. Nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate. Maybe it has something to do with the color of my skin.In this country, immigration reform is a very hot debate. It's divided the country. But I would hope very much, that as we have that debate, we do not, as Donald Trump and others have done, resort to racism and xenophobia and bigotry. This idea of suddenly, one day or maybe a night, rounding up 11 million people and taking them outside of this country is a vulgar, absurd idea that I would hope very few people in America support.When you have Republican candidates for president and in Congress telling you that climate change is a hoax, which is Donald Trump and other candidates' position, what they are really saying is, we don't have the guts to take on the fossil fuel industry. ... You know what happens to that Republican who listens to the scientists? On that day, that Republican loses his campaign funding from the Koch brothers and the fossil fuel industry. Bernie Sanders, Democratic Presidential Debate in Miami. transcript by The New York Times (March 9, 2016) Donald Trump is a pathological liar. Bernie Sanders, (September 24, 2016) America you were never great./Are you fake news?/America this is the impression I get after feeding from Trump's/Twitter trough. Craig Santos Perez "This Changes Everything" in habitat threshold (2020) Yes, we must donate and volunteer and protest and vote, all while reminding ourselves daily that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. And we must commit to defending our friends, neighbors, and coworkers who are immigrants (documented or not), Muslims (American born, immigrants, or refugees), people of color, women seeking reproductive health care, trans men and women seeking safety, lesbian and gay men seeking to protect their families, and everyone and everything else Trump has threatened to harm, up to and including the planet we all live on. But we must make time for joy and pleasure and laughter and friends and food and art and music and sex. During the darkest days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, when Republicans and religious conservatives controlled the federal government and were doing everything in their power to harm the sick and dying, queers organized and protested and volunteered and mourned. We also made music and theater and art. We took care of each other, and we danced and loved and fucked. Embracing joy and art and sex in the face of fear and uncertainty made us feel better—it kept us sane—and it had the added benefit of driving our enemies crazy. They couldn't understand how we could be anything but miserable, given the challenges we faced—their greed, their indifference, their bigotry—but we created and experienced joy despite their hatred and despite this awful disease. We turned to each other—we turned to our lovers and friends and sometimes strangers—and said, "Fuck them. Now fuck me." [...] We may never eradicate racism and sexism and hatred. But fight it we will. And don't listen to anyone who tells you that music and dance and art and sex and joy are a distraction from the fight. They are a part of the fight. Dan Savage, Mourning in America, Savage Love column, The Stranger, 15 November 2016 Winston Churchill of our time. Michael Savage — 2015-07-29 Savage: Trump is 'Winston Churchill of our time' WND http://www.wnd.com/2015/07/savage-trump-is-winston-churchill-of-our-time/ I found that when I was briefing him, I had to put pictures of him in the briefing. When I put the pictures in, it was a good sign, and when I didn’t put the pictures in, you couldn’t get him to focus on it. Here’s the bad news, though. Even if you got him to focus on it, he wouldn’t listen to you anyway because he’s so maniacally narcissistic. Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director serving under Trump, as quoted by David Smith, 2020-07-17 'The guy stinks and he’s a racist': Anthony Scaramucci on Donald Trump the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jul/17/the-guy-stinks-and-hes-a-racist-anthony-scaramucci-on-donald-trump No two people on this planet seem less concerned with criticism, more content with themselves, or more oblivious to the obscenity of the words they speak. Dave Schilling on Donald Trump and Sarah Palin, "Apocalypse now: Sarah Palin's bizarre Trump endorsement analyzed" (20 January 2016), The Guardian. He does look like he's the last hope [for America]. We don't hear anybody saying what he's saying. In fact, most of the people who ought to be lining up with him are attacking him. They're probably jealous of the amount of press coverage he gets. But the reason he gets so much press coverage is the grassroots are fed up with people who are running things, and they do want a change. They do want people to stand up for America. It really resonates when he says he wants to 'Make America Great Again.' Phyllis Schlafly, as quoted in "Phyllis Schlafly: Trump is 'last hope for America'", WND (21 December 2015) It [Trump University] was a classic bait-and-switch scheme State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in Trump University controversy ... in 2 minutes March 8, 2016 If Donald Trump becomes the next president of the U.S. it would be a complete disaster... I think he is acting like another Hitler by inciting racism... I remember how upset the world was when the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 and now everybody is building walls again to keep people out. It's absurd. Eva Schloss, Anne Frank's step-sister, interview with Newsweek (January 2016) When that trial ends senators will have to decide if they believe Donald John Trump incited the erection Chuck Schumer on 22 January 2021 (also quoted by The Wrap) I put lipstick on a pig. I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is. I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes, there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization. Tony Schwartz, as quoted in Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All (July 25, 2016) by Jane Mayer, The New Yorker. There are two Trumps. The one he presents to the world is all bluster, bullying and certainty. The other, which I have long felt haunts his inner world, is the frightened child of a relentlessly critical and bullying father and a distant and disengaged mother who couldn't or wouldn't protect him.Trump's temperament and his habits have hardened with age. He was always cartoonish, but compared with the man for whom I wrote The Art of the Deal 30 years ago, he is significantly angrier today: more reactive, deceitful, distracted, vindictive, impulsive and, above all, self-absorbed – assuming the last is possible.Fear is the hidden through-line in Trump's life – fear of weakness, of inadequacy, of failure, of criticism and of insignificance. He has spent his life trying to outrun these fears by "winning" – as he puts it – and by redefining reality whenever the facts don't serve the narrative he seeks to create. It hasn't worked, but not for lack of effort.Whatever happens, may the worst of Trump inspire the best in us. Tony Schwartz (author), I wrote The Art of the Deal with Trump. He's still a scared child (18 January 2018), The Guardian. Lying is second nature to him. More than anyone else I have ever met, Trump has the ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true. Tony Schwartz (author), 'Lying is second nature to him': Trump's ghostwriter regrets penning Art of the Deal (19 July 2016), TheJournal.ie. Since my time collaborating with Mr. Trump, I've spent my adult life studying, writing about and working with leaders and other high achievers. I've focused especially on how their early childhood experiences have influenced their adult lives — mostly unconsciously — and on exploring the often vast gulf between how they present themselves on the outside and how they feel on the inside. Mr. Trump, for me, has always been Exhibit A. Tony Schwartz quoted in "Trump ghostwriter 'deeply unsettled' by evidence of ex-president's 'psychopathy'", Raw Story (October 11, 2024) President Trump sought to overturn the results of an election, of a fair election. He sought a coup by misleading people with lies. President Trump is a failed leader. He will go down in history as the worst President ever. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Republican governor, quoted by 2021-01-11 Arnold Schwarzenegger calls Trump 'worst president' ever, 'failed leader' after Capitol riot abc7 https://abc7.com/politics/arnold-schwarzenegger-calls-trump-worst-president-ever/9533922/ Trump wants to institute a ban that will keep all Muslims out of America... Of course such a ban will not come to pass. The Constitution forbids it. Republicans and Democrats oppose it. Even Israeli politicians, who have a far longer history of confronting terrorism, have chided him for equating Islam with terrorism... Republicans support Trump because he appears to be authentic, isn't afraid to tell it like it is and is not worried about being politically correct. I see the opposite. He isn't authentic, he is cynically opportunistic. Khosrow Semnani, "My view: Trump's Fear-Mongering Threatens Republican Party" (17 December 2015), Deseret News Their cruelty made them feel good, it made them feel proud, it made them feel happy. And it made them feel closer to one another…Their shared laughter at the suffering of others is an adhesive that binds them to one another, and to Trump.Donald Trump, whose uncritical support for Israel and belief that America is fundamentally a nation for white Christians exacerbates a divide between the two largest Jewish populations in the world. Adam Serwer, The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America (2021) Trump and Barr let the biggest drug dealers in America off with a slap on the wrist. Law and Order indeed. Adam Serwer 11/18/2020 on Twitter, responding to story about "the $8.3 billion settlement between the Justice Dept. and Purdue Pharma over its marketing of Oxycontin and other addictive opioids. Under the deal, the Sackler family will admit no wrongdoing and face no criminal charges." And [then] you end up in idiocies like Donald Trump on stage waiving around a Bible, pretending he gives a damn what's in it. Right, after two marriages, and several adulterous affairs, and all that and bragging about having his experiences with married women; standing up there with a Bible and going 'this is an even better book than the odd of the deals'." Ben Shapiro, Ben Shapiro on Gay Marriage, Gun Control, and Piers Morgan, The Rubin Report on YouTube. (12:39 to 13:07) (February 18, 2016) We know Hillary will be a terrible, hard-core ideological leftist; there is probably a 75 percent chance that Trump would govern less badly than Hillary. There is also a 25 percent chance that Trump would do something so catastrophically awful that he seriously harmed the country in ways Hillary wouldn't dream of. His trade policy alone could cast America back into recession; his foreign policy is a shambles. Any talk of him listening to advisers must be based on conjecture — so far, Trump hasn't just been a bull in a china shop, he's been a tank in a glass factory. Ben Shapiro, Conservatism's Sad and Ugly Transformation into Trumpism, National Review (August 3, 2016) I have faith that good and decent people will make the right choice and the circus will leave town before it contaminates the oval office. Charlie Sheen in an interview in 2016, quoted in "‘Dirty’: Charlie Sheen Thought Trump’s ‘Diamond’ Gift Was Real, Then He Got It Appraised and What the Jeweler Said Left Him Stunned" Atlanta Black Star (July 15, 2025) We have predicted nine of his last eight stumbles, and they have yet to all materialize... I think it's more than childish and juvenile and adolescent. There is something creepy about this, his attitude toward women. Take Megyn Kelly of FOX News, who he just has an absolute obsession about, and he's constantly writing about, you know, how awful she is and no talent and this and that. It's an obsession. And I don't know if he's just never had women — strong, independent women in his life who have spoken to him. It doesn't seem that way. His daughter... But there is something really creepy about this that's beyond locker room. It's almost like a stalker, and I just — I thought this was — it actually did the impossible. It made Ted Cruz look like an honorable, tough guy on the right side of an issue. Mark Shields, as quoted in "Shields and Brooks on Trump-Cruz wife feud, ISIS terror in Brussels" (25 March 2016), PBS NewsHourThe 2017 World Environment Day was dominated by US President Donald Trump walking out of the Paris agreement. What does Trump's arrogance imply for international obligations to protect the earth, for a future based on ecological justice, for sowing the seeds of earth democracy? Vandana Shiva Oneness vs. the 1%: Shattering Illusions, Seeding Freedom (2018) I've known Donald for a few decades, and what you can say without argument is that he's a good father. His kids have turned out really well. There's nothing bad you can say about that. Gene Simmons, Interview with Radio.com (July 6, 2016) [Trump] is not someone who would rule justly or wisely. His track record shows that he is a man of coveting and self-serving – a liar and a cheat should not hold that position. Art Sisneros, Republican member of the Electoral College who resigned rather than vote for Trump.Teen becomes seventh 'faithless elector' to protest Trump as president-elect at the Guardian, November 30 2016 Quite simply: there never would have been a president Donald Trump without talkshow host Rush Limbaugh paving the way Michael Smerconish on CNN "" (February 20, 2021) Before the 2016 election I dreaded a return to the Jim Crow era signaled by the slogan “Make America Great Again”, which obviously meant white. Tragically that is exactly what happened. Four more years is unthinkable. That is why I am working to elect President Bernie Sanders. Barbara Smith article in The Guardian For the first time in our Nation’s history, a grand jury has charged a former President with committing crimes while in office to overturn an election that he lost. In response, the defendant claims that to protect the institution of the Presidency, he must be cloaked with absolute immunity from criminal prosecution unless the House impeached and the Senate convicted him for the same conduct. He is wrong. Jack Smith, filing with United States Court of Appeals quoted in RawStory December 30, 2023 A great leader treats people with respect even when they present different opinions. Without a variety of views and opinions, we would have no innovation or creativity in our nation. Being a bully and being strong are not the same thing. Being strong is standing up for your convictions. Being a bully is trying to intimidate those who are perceived to be weaker or a threat. As a proud nerd, I had to deal with bullies over many years; it is tragedy watching our world suffer from one. In addition, President Trump lacks a moral compass. He ignores the truth. Rick Snyder, Republican governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2018. Former Michigan governor Rick Snyder: I am a Republican vote for Biden at USA Today, September 3 2020 It's very difficult to respond in a serious way to any statement that's made by Donald Trump. Edward Snowden in response to Trump calling Snowden "a total traitor" and "a bad guy" and saying "there is still a thing called execution." "Edward Snowden says Hillary Clinton 'ridiculous' to think emails were secure", The Guardian (3 September 2015) Donald Trump is a thin-skinned reality TV star with an authoritarian streak. Robby Soave, "Don't fall for 'lesser of two evils' argument" (1 June 2016), CNN, State of Georgia: Cable News Network He is, as of this writing, the most mocked man in the world. (...) He is the The Fisherman and His Wife old fisherman's wife who wished for everything and sooner or later he will end up with nothing. Rebecca Solnit, The Loneliness of Donald Trump, May 30, 2017 Let me put this in language Donald Trump understands... You're a loser. You're a third-rate politician, who clearly doesn't understand issues, and is so scared of Megyn Kelly exposing it, that you're looking to use veterans to protect you from facing her questions. Jon Soltz, VoteVets (January 2016) Trump (and Bannon and other right-wing authoritarian leaders around the world) is often referred to as a "populist" because he displays faux concern for the working class and a resentment of science and education, but his policies are in fact grotesquely elitist. If by "populist" we mean whipping up resentment against immigrants and people of color, then we should say that. Otherwise, "populism" is just a lazy euphemism for racism. Jen Sorensen Greetings from the Wasteland (2020) Donald Trump is the son of a rich father, who was raised on money since he was a child. I grew up in wealth too. My father would jokingly warn me when I was a child, "Don’t be like Trump." Alexander Soros, interviewed by Nahum Barnea for YNet, "Why they hate George Soros". Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law. Relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom about the need for “bold and unhesitating action” by the President, ante, at 3, 13, the Court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more. Because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent. Justice Sotomayor in Trump v. United States (July 2024) In a country with more than 300 million people, it is remarkable how obsessed the media have become with just one—Donald Trump. What is even more remarkable is that, after seven years of repeated disasters, both domestically and internationally, under a glib egomaniac in the White House, so many potential voters are turning to another glib egomaniac to be his successor. Thomas Sowell, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. I had some friends over for dinner and we were of course talking about Trump. People are saying, we don't think Trump's going to be the nominee. I said, I'll tell you what: I think he is. I'll tell you why I think he's going to be the nominee: he's proven that no matter what he says, people dig him. ... I think more or less, people are super tired of politicians, meaning that they like the idea of a successful businessman running the country who might actually be able to get shit done. Howard Stern — as quoted in 2015-08-24 Matt Wilstein Howard Stern Predicts Trump Will Be GOP Nominee: He 'Gets Sh*t Done' Mediaite.com http://www.mediaite.com/online/howard-stern-predicts-trump-will-be-gop-nominee-he-gets-sht-done/ His stance on Muslim immigration, which he would cease until the terror threat is brought under control, is racist. Trump does not care about the things that regular conservatives have dedicated their lives to fighting for: controls on abortion, protection of marriage, reform of the healthcare market. His inclination towards expanding the government and putting it on the side of his people isn't terribly constitutional. And his claim in a debate that the purpose of conservatism is to conserve wealth is spiritually impoverished. The Republican Party needs to stop him; and sooner rather than later. Timothy Stanley, "Donald Trump can win – and he must be stopped" (10 February 2016), CNN, State of Georgia: Cable News Network In the past few months, a Republican front-runner has emerged who has praised Planned Parenthood, pushed elements of a big spending agenda and questioned the neoconservative agenda. There's a case for saying that some or all of these were in need of analysis and revision. But Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the American conservative movement that threatens to leave it in pieces. It's a revolutionary moment and, unless I'm very much mistaken, conservatives are not supposed to be the revolutionaries. They exist to bring order to chaos, rationality over passion. Trump seems to exist to "mix things up." He is "nasty" and "fun" - although more the former than the latter. His enthusiasm for torture is unpleasant to say the least. Timothy Stanley, "Trump is blowing up conservatism - can he be stopped?" (21 February 2016), CNN, State of Georgia: Cable News Network In January 2018, the experts at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock to two minutes before midnight, where it had stood during the darkest days of the Cold War, from 1953 to 1960. The latest move of the hands was precipitated by the recklessness in Trump's nuclear thinking... Trump wondered aloud about the point of having nuclear weapons if he couldn't use them. His answer was to make them more usable, which he did with his new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), the first since Obama's 2010 NPR, which had reduced the role of nuclear weapons in the US defense posture. The 2018 NPR significantly elevated their role, permitting use in response to vaguely defined "extreme circumstances," such as cyberattacks or attacks on the infrastructure of both the United States and its "allies and partners." The review doubled down on Obama's unconscionable 30-year trillion-dollar modernization of all parts of the nuclear arsenal. The actual cost looks to be closer to $1.7 trillion and climbing. To make matters worse, all eight other nuclear powers are undertaking their own modernizations, though on a far more modest scale. Russia, it should be noted, actually cut its defense spending this past year. On top of this, we have the rapid and accelerating drift toward planetary disaster exacerbated by the climate change–denying troglodytes in the Trump administration. 2 Minutes and Counting, Crises that seemed contained not long ago have now spiraled out of control—and the prospects for resolving them peacefully look depressingly bleak, the Nation, Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, (April 2019) Trump is not just a wacky politician of the far right, or a riveting television spectacle, or a Twitter phenom and bizarre working-class hero. He is not just another candidate to be parsed and analyzed by TV pundits in the same breath as all the others. In terms of our liberal democracy and constitutional order, Trump is an extinction-level event. It's long past time we started treating him as such. Andrew Sullivan, in "America Has Never Been So Ripe for Tyranny" in New York (2 May 2016) No one claimed fraud. No one derided the lopsided unfairness of the parliamentary results, where Labour got 34 percent of the vote and a whopping 63 percent of the seats, and where the new rightist Reform Party won 14 percent of the vote and got only 5 seats. Those were the rules ahead of the game, and they were the rules everyone had agreed to.There is one reason and one reason only why this kind of conciliatory exchange cannot happen any time soon in America, and that is Donald J. Trump. With a mind warped by pathological and malignant narcissism, incapable of generosity or grace or fairness, Trump has dominated this country’s politics for almost a decade now. He has systematically corroded every democratic norm and institution: the rule of law, the process of elections, the integrity of the Supreme Court, the independence of the Justice Department, the peaceful nature of the transfer of power, and the reliability of our alliances around the world. And none of this damage has been done to advance any broad policy or meaningful agenda, but merely and solely to advance the narcissism and corruption of the president himself. Andrew Sullivan, in "Wanted: An American Starmer" in The Weekly Dish (July 12, 2024) But we do know for a fact that Trump is criminally inclined, driven by vengeance and rage, and has now been granted vague and unprecedented immunity powers by SCOTUS whose limits he will doubtless exploit. We know he will delegitimize any institution that gets in his way; and we know that electing a convicted felon who has already once tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power will be a watershed for a purported republic. Andrew Sullivan, in "Wanted: An American Starmer" in The Weekly Dish (July 12, 2024) Trump is, of course, a master of distraction and media ma­nipu­la­tion. It's possible to resist being his chump, but it takes continued self-regulation. Margaret Sullivan, Journalists in the age of Trump: Lose the smugness, keep the mission., The Washington Post (November 29, 2016) The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is crazy. And I’ll say it this way: I don't think he’s so crazy that you could put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain’t getting out! Chris Sununu, Republican, governor in New Hampshire, quoted in "POLITICO Playbook: A night of laughter and cringe at the Gridiron", Politico, 4 April 2022 Like many of you, I watched the [September 9, 2024 presidential candidate] debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.With love and hope,Taylor SwiftzChildless Cat Lady Taylor Swift in "Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris for president after debate ends", AP News (September 10, 2024) But at some point—if you understand, and this is not just ideological, it's not just the fact that he's abandoned one position after another or that he has the penchant for internet hoaxes or conspiracy theories. I mean a week ago tonight, remember, he was peddling the notion that Ted Cruz's dad had something do with the JFK assassination. So there are people who say that just because of party loyalty we're supposed to forget all of that. I just don't buy that. Because I've cautioned my fellow conservatives, you embrace Donald Trump, you embrace it all. You embrace every slur, every insult, every outrage, every falsehood. You're going to spend the next six months defending, rationalizing, evading all that. And afterwards, you come back to women, to minorities, to young people and say, that wasn't us. That's not what we're about. The reality is, if you support him to be president of the United States, that is who you are, and you own it. Charlie Sykes, on The Kelly File (2016), FOX News However the media portrays him. I see him as a man of peace. We’ve both been shot at by the same enemy. Trump understands leverage, strength, and outcomes. Syria needs an honest broker who can reset the conversation. If there is a possibility of alignment that helps bring stability to the region — and security to the U.S. and its allies — I am ready to have that conversation. He is the only man capable of fixing this region, bringing us together, one brick at a time. Ahmed al-Sharaa, Interview with The Jewish Journal (May 28, 2025) T All of Trump's constant bragging about his money and his poll numbers and his virility speak directly to this surprisingly vibrant middle American fantasy about a castrated white America struggling to re-grow its mojo... as basketball star turned pundit Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pointed out earlier this week, PC isn’t a new thing, or even a thing at all. It’s just an “emotional challenge every generation has had to go through.” We get older, our kids correct our bad habits, it happens. Not to Trump’s supporters. They’ve turned some minor cultural changes into a vast conspiracy of white victimhood. They're eating up Trump's Make America Great Again theme, which one supporter hilariously explained must be his true goal, because 'it's on his hat', because it's a fantasy tale of a once-great culture ruined by an invasion of mongrel criminals. Matt Taibbi, "The Republicans Are Now Officially the Party of White Paranoia", Rolling Stone. The Biden team is trying to go on with business as usual, but at some point, barring Trump getting a personality transplant, this is going to come to a head. The President is refusing to concede, he is refusing to allow the transition process to begin... Jake Tapper on CNN's The lead with Jake Tapper (video) November 18, 2020 at 4:22et What we saw week in and week out, for me, after two and a half years in that administration, was terrifying. We would go in to try to talk to him about a pressing national security issue -- cyberattack, terrorism threat -- he wasn't interested in those things. To him, they weren't priorities. Given what I have experienced in the administration, I have to support Joe Biden for president and even though I am not a Democrat, even though I disagree on key issues, I'm confident that Joe Biden will protect the country and I'm confident that he won't make the same mistakes as this President. I saw firsthand how dangerous Trump is for America. Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff to Department of Homeland Security Secretary in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. Quoted by 2020-08-17 Gillian Turner, Paul Steinhauser Former senior Trump administration official backs Biden Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-senior-trump-administration-official-backs-biden I watched Trump operate at close range from a perch inside the Department of Homeland Security. He spent more time with our department than any other. What I observed was a man of genuinely unusual cognitive disarray. He was disorganised in ways that were structurally alarming for a commander-in-chief. For instance, he appeared to think in sudden associations, not sequences, and he absorbed information through flattery and visual repetition rather than briefings. We were literally told to stop sending him documents to read that were longer than a page in length, and, where possible, to provide information in pictures instead of words.The machinery of government was largely adapted to these peculiarities. Fifty-page background papers were reduced to one-pager descriptions using Trump’s “winners-and-losers” lexicon to try to help him understand complex topics and to coach him through difficult decisions. Miles Taylor quoted in I worked with Trump. Here’s what I know about his mental state, iNews (March 26, 2026) What we saw week in and week out and for me after two and a half years in that administration was terrifying Miles Taylor, former DHS chief of staff on CBS News [T]he media always is taking Trump literally. It never takes him seriously, but it always takes him literally. I think a lot of the voters who vote for Trump take Trump seriously, but not literally. Peter Thiel, Speech at the National Press Club (October 31, 2016) Trump has given more than $100,000 to the Democratic House and Senate campaign committees. In 2006, the year Democrats took back Congress, he gave $25,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee... Trump wanted Nancy Pelosi to be speaker of the House and Harry Reid the Senate majority leader. Which is not surprising. At the time he made those contributions, from August 2001 to September 2009, Trump was a registered Democrat... Trump continued to support Reid as majority leader in the election immediately after the passage of Obamacare... With all his past support for Democrats, Trump ought to be asked: Will he commit to supporting whoever is the eventual Republican nominee? After all, why should he be welcomed into the Republican fold if he is going to end up throwing his support to Clinton? The fact is, Trump isn't a Democrat or a Republican; he is an opportunist... He's less a candidate than a brand. And running for president is great for the Trump brand, an opportunity for Donald Trump to take the national stage and tell us all how great he is. He pretty much admitted as much during his announcement speech, when he pointed out that some questioned whether he was really as successful as he claimed. Marc A. Thiessen, "How Donald Trump helped Democrats pass Obamacare" (22 June 2015), The Washington PostI wanted to like Donald Trump, much as I wanted to like Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew. Both men have said many things with which I agree. Agnew attacked media bias, and Trump attacks the establishment's failure to "make America great," as he nonspecifically puts it. But a proper diagnosis does not equal competence in administering a cure. If I developed a brain tumor, I would want Ben Carson to operate on me, but do I want Donald Trump "operating" on America? Everyone has a temperament. The dictionary defines it as "the combination of mental, physical, and emotional traits of a person." Would Trump's "combination" make him a good president? I think not. Cal Thomas, "Conservatives Against Trump" (21 January 2016), National Review. I do think the President committed impeachable offenses. Pat Toomey, Republican senator, quoted by 2021-01-10 Kate Sullivan, Nicky Robertson Republican Sen. Pat Toomey says he thinks Trump 'committed impeachable offenses' CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/09/politics/pat-toomey-trump-impeachable-offenses/index.html There was a strange aftertaste to many of the calls for grand social reform in 2020. As the coronavirus crisis overtook us, the left wing on both sides of the Atlantic, at least that part that had been fired up Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, was going down to defeat. The promise of a radicalized and reenergized left, organized around the idea of the Green New Deal, seemed to dissipate amidst the pandemic. It fell to governments mainly of the center and the right to meet the crisis. They were a strange assortment. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States experimented with denial. For them climate skepticism and virus skepticism went hand in hand. In Mexico, the notionally left-wing government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador also pursued a maverick path, refusing to take drastic action. Nationalist strongmen like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey did not deny the virus, but relied on their patriotic appeal and bullying tactics to see them through. It was the managerial centrist types who were under most pressure. Figures like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the United States, or Sebastián Piñera in Chile, or Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, and their ilk in Europe. They accepted the science. Denial was not an option. They were desperate to demonstrate that they were better than the 'populists.' To meet the crisis, very middle-of-the-road politicians ended up doing very radical things. Most of it was improvisation and compromise, but insofar as they managed to put a programmatic gloss on their responses—whether in the form of the EU's Next Generation program or Biden's Build Back Better program in 2020—it came from the repertoire of green modernization, sustainable development, and the Green New Deal. Adam Tooze, Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World Economy (2021) The governments that have been negligent from the beginning [...] are afraid of demonstrating their ineptitude in the face of such a health crisis. At the last minute, Trump declared a "national emergency" and agreed with the Democrats in Congress on a special package for sick leave and rapid testing. If he appears incompetent in the face of a crisis and thousands of people die, he could lose the U.S. presidency, even to Biden. Trotskyist Fraction – Fourth International, Coronavirus and the Healthcare Crisis: Our Lives Are Worth More than Their Profits! (March 14, 2020), Left Voice. He's got to condemn this sh*t ASAP. We need an Oval office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand. Donald Trump Jr. writing text messages to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on January 6 2021, urging Meadows to make Donald Trump stop the attack on the Congress Building. Every family has their crazy uncle. My Uncle Donald is atomic crazy. Fred Trump III, nephew of Donald Trump, cited in "Fred Trump III calls uncle Donald Trump 'atomic crazy,' says he used racial slur decades ago", ABC News (July 30, 2024) I think he would be a great president... He is one of the most dynamic people in the world. He looks presidential, and he talks presidential, and he would make the changes he promises. Ivana Trump, as quoted in 2016-02-11 Eddie Roche Daily Exclusive: Ivana Trump Uncensored Daily Front Row http://fashionweekdaily.com/daily-exclusive-ivana-trump-uncensored/ My father is an unbelievable listener, and I don't think people realize that until they actually know him. And he ultimately makes his own decisions and that's what any leader needs to do. Ivanka Trump, as quoted in 2015-10-14 Judy Kurtz Ivanka Trump: Dad's conflict with Megyn Kelly 'very sensationalized' The Hill http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/256903-ivanka-trump-dads-conflict-with-megyn-kelly-very Today, Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning, or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in & synthesize information. 2020-07-07 Mary Trump (niece of Donald Trump) The explosive tell-all book by Trump's niece is coming out two weeks earlier than expected CNN https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/06/media/mary-trump-book-release-date/index.html Donald's pathologies are so complex and his behaviors so often inexplicable that coming up with an accurate and comprehensive diagnosis would require a full battery of psychological and neurophysical tests that he'll never sit for 2020-07-08 William Goldschlag, Dan Janison Donald Trump's niece: He lies, cheats, is cruel, incompetent and cheap Newsday https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/trump-niece-mary-book-conway-coronavirus-schools-reopening-biden-who-jacksonville-rnc-tiktok-1.46510343 I have no problem calling Donald a narcissist — he meets all nine criteria. Mary Trump, as quoted by 2020-07-14 Kurt Andersen Review: The most devastating thing about Mary Trump’s portrait is her empathy for Donald Trump Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-07-14/the-most-devastating-thing-about-mary-trumps-portrait-of-trump-is-i In order to understand what brought Donald- and all of us- to this point, we need to start with my grandfather and his own need for recognition, a need that propelled him to encourage Donald's reckless hyperbole and unearned confidence that hid Donald's pathological weaknesses and insecurities. As Donald grew up, he was forced to become his own cheerleader, first, because he needed his father to believe he was a better and more confident son than Freddy was; then because Fred required it of him; and finally because he began to believe his own hype, even as he paradoxically suspected on a very deep level that nobody else did. By the time of the election, Donald met any challenges to his sense of superiority with anger, his fear and vulnerabilities so effectively buried that he didn't even have to acknowledge they existed. And he never would. Mary L. Trump, Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man (2020), p. 11 In the 1970s, after my grandfather had already been preferring and promoting Donald for years, the New York media picked up the baton and began disseminating Donald's unsubstantiated hype. In the 1980s, the banks joined in when they began to fund his ventures. Their willingness (and then their need) to foster his increasingly unfounded claims to success hung on the hopes of recouping their losses. After a decade during which Donald floundered, dragged down by bankruptcies and reduced to fronting for a series of failed products from steaks to vodka, the television producer Mark Burnett gave him yet another chance. The Apprentice traded on Donald's image as the brash, self-made dealmaker, a myth that had been the creation of my grandfather five decades earlier and astonishingly, considering the vast trove of evidence disproving it, had survived into the new millennium almost entirely unaltered. By the time Donald announced his run for the Republican Party nomination in 2015, a significant percentage of the American population had been primed to believe that myth. Mary L. Trump, Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man (2020), p. 11 To this day, the lies, misrepresentations, and fabrications that are the sum total of who my uncle is are perpetuated by the Republican Party and white evangelical Christians. People who know better, such as Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell; true believers, such as Representative Kevin McCarthy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Attorney General William Barr; and others too numerous to name, have become, unwittingly or not, complicit in their perpetuation. Mary L. Trump, Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man (2020), p. 11-12 Donald was to my grandfather what the border wall as been for Donald: a vanity project funded at the expense of more worthy pursuits. Mary L. Trump, Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man (2020), p. 194 He's smart, he's tough, he knows what he's doing. He's speaking from his heart. He's the best. Melania Trump, as quoted in "Melania Trump not nervous for husband" by Judy Kurtz, The Hill (16 December 2015) Trump's entire personal and professional history is Obama-esque. When it serves his interests, Trump lies. He has lied to business associates, employees, friends, spouses, and now to millions of prospective voters. Anyone who thinks that Trump will not lie to them, or that he will at least tell the truth about 'important things', immigration or ISIS or whatever, is deluding himself. When it becomes expedient for Trump to lie, he will. Ian Tuttle, "Donald Trump's Huge Lies", National Review After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence. Twitter, as quoted by 2021-01-08 Brian Fung Twitter bans President Trump permanently CNN Business https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/08/tech/trump-twitter-ban/index.html Right now, I’m not sure whether he should stay in place for a week or step down immediately. Christian Tybring-Gjedde, quoted in "Trump 'scares' Norwegian politician who nominated him for Nobel Peace Prize" 7 January 2021 We're really good friends, we go back to '86, '87. Most of my successful and best fights were at Trump's hotels. He didn't manage me, though. He was just helping me with my court case. We're the same guy, a thrust for power, a drive for power. Whatever field we're in, we need power in that field. That's just who we are. Balls of energy. We're not even who we think we are. We're fire. We're made of this crap—water, motion, dirt, diamonds, emeralds. We're made out of that stuff, can you believe it? That shit is the real deal. Listen: I'm a black motherfucker from the poorest town in the country. I've been through a lot in life. And I know him. When I see him, he shakes my hand and respects my family. None of them—Barack, whoever—nobody else does that. They're gonna be who they are and disregard me, my family. So I'm voting for him. If I can get 20,000 people or more to vote for him, I'm gonna do it. Mike Tyson, in an interview with The Daily Caller. (January 21, 2016) U thumb|President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. ~ Impeachment by the House (acquittal by the Senate followed) President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, Donald John Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law. Donald John Trump thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, profit under the United States. United States House of Representatives; the concluding lines of "H.Res.24 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors", introduced 11 January 2021, and approved 13 January 2021. Trump was later acquitted by the Senate. V you have to remember that Trump has no shame. There’s nothing that we can say to him, or nothing that he can say, that will make him blush. However, he’s only in power because of all these seemingly normal people supporting him. If we can make all of them radioactive, beyond radioactive, then we can take some steps towards hopefully neutralizing this larger threat. Eli Valley Interview (2018) I wrote about him as a buffoon, a dangerous buffoon, someone who wouldn’t actually become president. And so I spoke about him in terms of what it revealed about Jewish leaders who were supporting him despite his being a hero of American naziism — this was clear long before Charlottesville...I call Trump Netanyahu with smaller hands in the introduction. Netanyahu shares a lot in common with Trump. Including demagoguery, bigotry, attacks on the press, attacks on institutions of democracy, attacks on human rights organizations. I don’t know if Trump has gone that far yet, but he will. It’s a similar method of autocrats. Eli Valley about Donald Trump Interview (2017) Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office. J.D. Vance "Why Trump’s Antiwar Message Resonates with White America", The New York Times (April 4, 2016) People no longer trust the career politicians, no longer trust the status-quo because they screwed it up so bad. I loved listening to you talk to those other talking heads about 'Donald Trump could be the destruction of the whole Republican party.' I throw my hands up in the air and cheer. I hope it happens! And I hope Bernie Sanders is the destruction of the Democratic Party. It's time to break up the two party dictatorship. Jesse Ventura on CNN with Don Lemon, as quoted in 2015-10-07 Chris Enloe Jesse Ventura Wants to Destroy the Political Establishment and He's Named Two Guys to Do It IJ Review https://www.ijreview.com/2015/10/439711-jesse-ventura-supports-donald-trump-bernie-sanders-destroying-political-establishment/ We believe your final decision yesterday was the right one — given the so-called "fog of war" and against the background of a long list of intelligence mistakes, not to mention "cooking" shenanigans. We... think Tucker Carlson had it right yesterday evening: "The very people — in some cases, literally the same people who lured us into the Iraq quagmire 16 years ago — are demanding a new war — this one with Iran. Carlson described you as "skeptical." We believe ample skepticism is warranted. Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, in VIPS Memo to the President: Is Pompeo's Iran Agenda the Same As Yours? (21 June 2019) After the close call yesterday when you called off the planned military strike on Iran, we remain concerned that you are about to be mousetrapped into war with Iran. You have said you do not want such a war (no sane person would), and our comments below are based on that premise. There are troubling signs that Secretary Pompeo is not likely to jettison his more warlike approach, More importantly, we know from personal experience with Pompeo's dismissive attitude to instructions from you that his agenda can deviate from yours on issues of major consequence... Pompeo's behavior betrays a strong desire to resort to military action — perhaps even without your approval — to Iranian provocations (real or imagined), with no discernible strategic goal other than to advance the interests of Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, in VIPS Memo to the President: Is Pompeo's Iran Agenda the Same As Yours? (21 June 2019) If Pompeo failed to report back to you on the conversation you instructed him to have with Binney, you might ask him about it now (even though the flimsy evidence of Russia hacking the DNC has now evaporated, with Binney vindicated). There were two note-takers present at the October 24, 2017 meeting at CIA headquarters. There is also a good chance the session was also recorded. You might ask Pompeo about that... Binney had the impression Pompeo was simply going through the motions — and disingenuously, at that. If he "really wanted to know about Russian hacking," he would have acquainted himself with the conclusions that VIPS, with Binney in the lead, had reached in mid-2017, and which apparently caught your eye.... Had he pursued the matter seriously with Binney, we might not have had to wait until the Justice Department itself put nails in the coffin of Russiagate, CrowdStrike, and Comey. In sum, Pompeo could have prevented two additional years of "everyone knows that the Russians hacked into the DNC." Why did he not? Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, in VIPS Memo to the President: Is Pompeo's Iran Agenda the Same As Yours? (21 June 2019) We are all Gold Star Families, who have lost those we love the most in war. Ours is a sacrifice you will never know. Ours is a sacrifice we would never want you to know. Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant, and personally offensive to us. When you question a mother's pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice. You are not just attacking us, you are cheapening the sacrifice made by those we lost. You are minimizing the risk our service members make for all of us. This goes beyond politics. It is about a sense of decency. That kind decency you mock as "political correctness." VoteVets' Gold Star Family Members, open letter to Trump (August 1, 2016) W We've never had a president whose business created as many potential conflicts of interest as Donald Trump, and at the same time we've never had a president who cared less about conflicts of interest as Donald Trump. Indeed, he and his children are making it quite clear that they will use the presidency as a tool to make as much money as they can. And Republicans, particularly Congress, have apparently decided that if Trump does it, it's okay. Paul Waldman, Republicans are already making it clear: Trump can do whatever he wants, The Washington Post (December 5, 2016) The political triumph of Donald Trump is a symbol and symptom—not cause or origin—of our imperial meltdown. Trump is neither alien nor extraneous to American culture and history. In fact, he is as American as apple pie. Yet he is a sign of our spiritual bankruptcy—all spectacle and no substance, all narcissism and no empathy, all appetite and greed and no wisdom and maturity. Cornel West Race Matters (2017 edition) Can we get Trump to prove he's a good citizen or we'll deport him? Shannon Wheeler, cartoonist, twitted 10.10 Trump actually faces unique obstacles as he courts black voters. The mogul has a long history of using racially charged rhetoric and his real estate company was sued for allegedly discriminating against black renters in the 1970s. His stance on Muslims, which has drawn praise from white supremacists, could also prove problematic, since over 25 percent of American Muslims are black. Hunter Walker, "Donald Trump has a plan to win ‘100 percent' of the black vote and prove he's not a racist" (10 December 2015), Yahoo! NewsAmerica has lost more than 12 million jobs in the last six months. An estimated 12 million people have lost their employer-sponsored health insurance during the worst pandemic in a century. Tens of millions report not having enough to eat. But one month ago, tens of millions of unemployed Americans lost... a $600 weekly federal unemployment insurance benefit that Congress failed to renew... How can this happen in a democracy? This is a question that everyone who works for a living... might want to consider on this Labor Day... If the facts of this political disaster were more widely known and understood, Republicans could lose not only the presidency but also the Senate in November. After all, millions of unemployed Republicans lost most of their income as a result of what their political party...did... Who would want to be forcing layoffs — potentially totaling millions at the state and local level — during a depression and pandemic? Ask Sen. McConnell and Donald Trump. Mark Weisbrot, What is our government doing to labor?, Times Free Press, (6 September 2020) He will be a real American leader, who might not always be the best one from Europe's perspective but defends the interests of his own people. I wish we had political leaders like this in the Netherlands who defend their own country... and forget the rest. Geert Wilders, on BNR radio, as quoted in "Geert Wilders says the Netherlands needs a leader like Donald Trump" (18 July 2016), DutchNews.nl. I'd vote for a bowling ball covered in dog shit and pubic hair before I vote for Trump. bestselling author Chuck Wendig, "I'm With Her", June 8, 2016 The cost of appearing with a bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me. Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics. George Will on 2012-05-27 This Week ABC, quoted in 2012-05-27 George Will Calls Donald Trump a ‘Bloviating Ignoramus' Jake Tapper ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/george-will-calls-donald-trump-a-bloviating-ignoramus-on-this-week/ It has come to this. The GOP, formerly the party of Lincoln and ostensibly the party of liberty and limited government, is being defined by clamors for a mass roundup and deportation of millions of human beings. To will an end is to will the means for the end, so the Republican clamors are also for the requisite expansion of government's size and coercive powers... Trump evidently plans to deport almost 10 percent of California's workers, and 13 percent of that state's K–12 students. He is, however, at his most Republican when he honors family values: He proposes to deport intact families, including children who are citizens... Trump proposes seizing money that illegal immigrants from Mexico try to send home. This might involve sacrificing mail privacy, but desperate times require desperate measures. He would vastly enlarge the federal government's enforcement apparatus, but he who praises single-payer health care systems and favors vast eminent domain powers has never made a fetish of small government. George Will, "Trump Should Have No Place in the Party of Liberty and Limited Government" (22 August 2015), National ReviewIf Donald Trump were a Democratic mole placed in the Republican Party to disrupt things, how would his behavior be any different? I don't think it would be. George Will, as quoted in "Is Donald Trump a Democratic secret agent?" (11 December 2015), by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation He has an advantage on me, because he can say everything he knows about any subject in 140 characters, and I can't. George Will, when asked to comment on Trump's tweet calling Will "one of the most overrated political pundits (who lost his way long ago)", which was itself a response to Will's 2016 announcement that Trump's recent emergence as the Republican Party Presidential nominee had finally prompted the longtime conservative pundit to change his party registration from "Republican" to "Unaffiliated"; as quoted in "George Will on Republican Exit: Like Reagan Said, I Didn't Leave The Party, The Party Left Me" (June 26, 2016) by Ian Schwartz, RealClearPolitics They were best friends. I dated Jeffrey for a period of more or less, I think, about four or five months. And the only friend that he would mention every time we saw each other or had a phone conversation was Donald. And he would share a lot of anecdotes. I have plenty of anecdotes. And yeah, they were very close and they were up to no good. Stacey Williams, a former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein’s, speaking about her observations of Trump's relationship with Epstein in 1993, reported in ‘That Was His Bro’: Former Epstein Girlfriend Says Trump and Epstein Were ‘Very Close and Up to No Good’ Mediaite (January 18, 2025) Shortly after 8pm on Election Night, when the unexpected trend - Trump might actually win - seemed confirmed, Don Jr told a friend that his father, or DJT, as he calls him, looked as if he had seen a ghost. Melania was in tears - and not of joy. There was, in the space of little more than an hour, in Steve Bannon's not unamused observation, a befuddled Trump morphing into a disbelieving Trump and then into a horrified Trump. But still to come was the final transformation: Suddenly, Donald Trump became a man who believed that he deserved to be, and was wholly capable of being, the president of the United States. p. 18 Trump did not enjoy his own inauguration. He was angry that A-level stars had snubbed the event, disgruntled with the accommodations at Blair House, and visibly fighting with his wife, who seemed on the verge of tears. Throughout the day, he wore what some around him had taken to calling his golf face: angry and pissed off, shoulders hunched, arms swinging, brow furled, lips pursed. In pursuing a friend's wife, he would try to persuade the wife that her husband was perhaps not what she thought. p. 23 Murdoch suggested that taking a liberal approach to H-1B visas, which open America's doors to select immigrants, might be hard to square with his promises to build a wall and close the borders. But Trump seemed unconcerned, assuring Murdoch, 'We'll figure it out.' "What a fucking idiot," said Murdoch, shrugging, as he got off the phone. p. 36 The unique problem here was partly how to get information to someone who did not (or could not or would not) read, and who at best listened only selectively. But the other part of the problem was how best to qualify the information that he liked to get... The information he did not get was formal information. The data. The details. The options. The analysis. He didn't do PowerPoint. For anything that smacked of a classroom or of being lectured to- "professor" was one of his bad words, and he was proud of never going to class, never buying a textbook, never taking a note- he got up and left the room. p. 188 The president liked generals. The more fruit salad they wore, the better. The president was very pleased with the compliments he got for appointing generals who commanded the respect that Mattis and Kelly and McMaster were accorded (pay no attention to Michael Flynn). What the president did not like was listening to generals, who, for the most part, were skilled in the new Army jargon of PowerPoint, data dumps, McKinsey-like presentations. One of the things that endeared Flynn to the president was the fact that Flynn, quite the conspiracist and drama queen, had good storytelling sense. p. 188 Michael Wolff, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House (2018) Let's begin with [Trump's] the simplest assertion: we are doing "great" economically... over the last 20 years the United States has had a hard time achieving economic growth. The last year or two are slightly better... because the government gave an enormous boost... not private capitalist corporations, the government gave... The 2017 tax cut... gave corporations... hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes they don't have to pay anymore... and they mostly used it to increase salaries of executives... very good for the top one percent, but not for the rest of the American people. Chinese workers, the average amount of money they get adjusted for inflation, has quadrupled in the last 12, 15 years. What happened to the average wage in America, adjusted for inflation? It hardly budged... Excluding that from the conversation - prancing around as if the economy here is the envy of the world - that's not just nonsense. ...he spent more time... demonizing immigrants than on any other topic.... the United States is an economy of three hundred and twenty five million people; the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States is estimated between 10 and 12 million [~3.4]% ...Focusing on immigrants is pure scapegoating; it's focusing people on something that doesn't matter because you don't want them to focus on what does matter. Richard Wolffe in Wolff responds to Trump's "State of the Union" address, (6 February 2019) I still call myself a conservative, but only in full knowledge that there is a blot on the escutcheon, and many a writer who claims that title is an open traitor to all I in truth uphold and he in word only. Because, honestly, a conservative who opposes Trump on the grounds of ideals, despite what this administration has already done in deregulating and defanging the bureaucracy, reversing foreign policy mistakes, and appointing originalist judges, falls into the same error of being a cultist and not a political thinker. John C. Wright, "Objectivism and Alt-Right" (2017) Y The president of the United States has no authority to freeze funds allocated by Congress. Yet Donald Trump has done just that. He has also begun rolling back congressionally mandated government agencies such as the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, USAID, and even the Department of Education.He has created an entire agency—the Department of Government Efficiency—out of thin air, something presidents have no authority to do, and empowered it with wide-ranging authority to dig into the public’s private data and slash whole sections of the federal government workforce. Trump has even tried to revoke birthright citizenship, which is constitutionally protected.Ultimately, he is doing what he promised he would: undermining the U.S. Constitution to expand his own power. The question is, what recourse do we have? And is it too late to save U.S. democracy? Who Will Hold Trump Accountable for Violating the Constitution? Yes! Magazine, published February 19, 2025 He's the classic demagogue described well in the Federalist Papers that our system is designed to stop. John Yoo, Analysis: the Vengeful World of Donald Trump and Why It Matters, at NBC News, published October 31, 2016 Donald Trump is also a coward. For all of his tough talk and bluster, the president of the United States is a punk ass bitch. And this has also been apparent for as long as we've known who he is. He slipped out of draft duty because of ... bone spurs. Bone spurs don't even get you on the NFL injury report, but he used it to stay the fuck away from actually having to fight. We know his history of bullying and insulting women. And, since he's been in office, we've seen him cower to Kim Jong Un and literally get Deeboed by Vladimir Putin — two men who, for all of their faults, would definitely whoop Trump's ass. We've had racist presidents before. We've had malignant misogynists in office before. But never has our president been such a fucking wimp. Damon Young, Just Remember That Your Punk-Ass President Would Never, Ever, Ever Call LeBron James Dumb to His Face, in The Root (magazine) The Root, published August 4, 2018. We cast around the word ‘authoritarian’. I don’t, in this context, treat that in a pejorative sense, and I use it carefully, but it’s fairly clear that this president believes, as an authoritarian, that when he speaks, everyone, everyone in Article II is going to toe the line absolutely...I’ve asked myself why — how did this happen? How could our own government, the highest officials in our government, seek to infringe the rights of people lawfully here in the United States? And I’ve come to believe that there’s a concept of freedom here that I don’t understand. The record in this case convinces me that these high officials, and I include the president of the United States, have a fearful view of freedom. US District Court Judge William Young regarding his order that seeks to prevent the Trump administration from changing the immigration status of any academics in the case he is handling who are themselves noncitizens Judge to protect noncitizen academics involved in case from ‘authoritarian’ Trump The Guardian (16 January 2026) Z Donald Trump would be an awesome GOP nominee if he was remotely conservative, suited to beat Hillary, or had the temperament of a good POTUS. John Ziegler, Twitter post (February 2016) His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect — and likely their intent — would be to provoke further violence. We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Facebook, quoted in "Mark Zuckerberg announces Trump banned from facebook and instagram for 'at least the next two weeks'" (January 7 2021) Tech Crunch Could Donald Trump be a secret double-agent, sent by Democrats to destroy their party from within? Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who has borne the brunt of more than a few Trump barbs, seems to think there's a possibility... He's belittling his Republican colleagues. He's pulling the party to the nativist right in direct conflict with the goal set by strategists in 2013 to appeal to a more ethnically diverse nation. And he's generally sucking up all the political oxygen, making it harder for other candidates to get their message out. All in all, many experts say he's making it much more difficult for a Republican to win the general election next fall. Maybe he's doing it on purpose... But as the saying goes, even paranoids have enemies. And, at least for the moment, there are some Republicans who see Donald Trump much more of an enemy than a friend. Anthony Zurcher, "Is Donald Trump a Democratic secret agent?" (11 December 2015), BBC News'', United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation Trump has forged a coalition between the workers and the patriotic elite. I strongly believe in the coalition that has brought Trump together. Just like Boris Johnson. That, I think, is the political axis of the future. How the 'French Trump' Éric Zemmour is turning politics upside down. Category:Donald Trump