Really, I just knew this had to be the case!
In the past, I have written about how amazed I was that the Trump base even seems to shrug off disparaging remarks and opinions of Trump even by allies of Trump. The man that he handpicked to be Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson literally referred to Trump as “a fucking moron." Mick Mulvaney, the man that Trump recently picked as the acting White House Chief of Staff, suggested during the 2016 presidential election that Trump was a "terrible human being." NBC also reported that Mulvaney also stated during the 2016 campaign that Trump was "not a very good person."
These are not flaming liberals, or pinkos, or socialists. Hell, these are not even Republican opponents of Trump. These are the guys who Trump picked to be part of his cabinet. Prominent members of his White House team. Presumably, they know the guy enough to know what they are talking about.
I mean, let's face it: many of us have known for a long time that this man is completely unhinged. Admittedly, if you heard me saying these kinds of things about Trump, you could chalk it up to me totally disagreeing with him and finding all that he represents abhorrent and offensive down to every fiber of my being. Truly, the biggest and most defining quote that I know of which accurately describes the essence of Trump came from a journalist from New Zealand, who effectively trashed Trump in very accurate description in a 2015 article (Paul Thomas of the New Zealand Herald, "The greatest threat to America? Republicans" published on July 17, 2015):
“Trump personifies everything the rest of the world despises about America: casual racism, crass materialism, relentless self-aggrandizement, vulgarity on an epic scale. He is the Ugly American in excelsis.”
I mean, let's face it: many of us have known for a long time that this man is completely unhinged. Admittedly, if you heard me saying these kinds of things about Trump, you could chalk it up to me totally disagreeing with him and finding all that he represents abhorrent and offensive down to every fiber of my being. Truly, the biggest and most defining quote that I know of which accurately describes the essence of Trump came from a journalist from New Zealand, who effectively trashed Trump in very accurate description in a 2015 article (Paul Thomas of the New Zealand Herald, "The greatest threat to America? Republicans" published on July 17, 2015):
“Trump personifies everything the rest of the world despises about America: casual racism, crass materialism, relentless self-aggrandizement, vulgarity on an epic scale. He is the Ugly American in excelsis.”
But when you have some members of his own administration, whom Trump himself picked, calling him out as being an idiot and a terrible person, then maybe it is time to listen. And when you have members of Trump's own party also basically trashing the guy, maybe it is time to listen.
Many Republicans have long had misgivings about Trump. Quite a few Republicans showed clear reservations about this man, who was known to be a con artist and a fraud long before he ever ran for the White House.
Many Republicans have long had misgivings about Trump. Quite a few Republicans showed clear reservations about this man, who was known to be a con artist and a fraud long before he ever ran for the White House.
While many Republicans in Washington and radio and television personalities, especially on FOX News, may express no doubts about Trump, and show nothing but solid support for the man and praise his policies and presidency, the truth behind the scenes often seems to be something else entirely. Many of Trump's strongest supporters since his rise to the White House were, in fact, quite critical of the man and his character - or complete lack thereof - before the election. In some cases, they gave very serious warnings that Trump becoming president would be very, very bad for the country, and bad for the Republican party.
Somehow, this is something that you do not see reported on FOX News, though. Yet, many of these solid Trump supporters had or have the same reservations about the man that the rest of us have always had, and which seems clear enough to us. Makes sense.
I mean, let's face it: many of us have known for a long time that this man is completely unhinged. Admittedly, if you heard me saying these kinds of things about Trump, you could chalk it up to me totally disagreeing with him and finding all that he represents abhorrent and offensive down to every fiber of my being. Truly, the biggest and most defining quote that I know of which accurately describes the essence of Trump came from a journalist from New Zealand, who effectively trashed Trump in very accurate description in a 2015 article (Paul Thomas of the New Zealand Herald, "The greatest threat to America? Republicans" published on July 17, 2015):
“Trump personifies everything the rest of the world despises about America: casual racism, crass materialism, relentless self-aggrandizement, vulgarity on an epic scale. He is the Ugly American in excelsis.”
“Trump personifies everything the rest of the world despises about America: casual racism, crass materialism, relentless self-aggrandizement, vulgarity on an epic scale. He is the Ugly American in excelsis.”
Since first encountering it some time in 2015, that was, without a doubt, the best description that I had heard about Donald Trump.
But that changed this not deep into the Trump White House years, when I read something that a British writer said about Trump. Yes, Nate White had a most hilarious response to the question, "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?"
It goes on, and is fairly lengthy. It is not a quick two or three line read, like that quote from Thomas. But here are some short quotes of White's description of Trump (my personal favorite, that Trump is a "Jabba the Hut of privilege," was something that I already used in the title of this particular blog entry):
"He is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit."
Yup. And here's White describing how the British cannot appreciate what passes as Trump's humour (had to use the British spelling):
"We like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever."
White goes on:
"He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty."
Pretty much right on target, eh?
Since then, I have found a few other things that further define the essence of Donald Trump, and what he is all about and represents.
This one was very good, and was one of the best and most memorable descriptions encompassing all that Trump really amounts to when you strip away his support:
Cheri Jacobus Verified account @CheriJacobus Follow Follow @CheriJacobus More Trump a poor person's idea of what a rich person is, dumb person's idea of what smart person is, weak person's idea of what strong person is 4:11 PM - 29 Jun 2017
Daniel Dale Verified account @ddale8 Follow Follow @ddale8 More Things the president called people and entities before 8 AM today:
- Joe Scarborough "Psycho" and "Angry, Dumb and Sick"
- Democrats "totally insane"
- New York Times "Fake News" and "Enemy of the People"
- Paul Krugman "stupid" - Twitter "very discriminatory"
5:07 AM - 23 Apr 2019
This was one of the responses, and it made some headlines:
Juliet Wentworth @julietwentworth
Replying to @ddale8
Psychological projection is a defence mechanism in which the human ego defends itself against unconscious impulses or qualities (both positive and negative) by denying their existence in themselves while attributing them to others.
Well, all of that is fine, and I certainly feel that the criticisms of Trump are relevant, of course. But when you have some political allies, his fellow Republicans, blast this man with equal venom, that is really saying something! Even some members of his own administration, whom Trump himself picked, calling him out as being an idiot and a terrible person, then maybe it is time to listen. And when you have members of Trump's own party also basically trashing the guy, maybe it is time to listen.
Many Republicans have long had misgivings about Trump. Quite a few Republicans showed clear reservations about this man, who was known to be a con artist and a fraud long before he ever ran for the White House. Here is a list (only a partial list, to boot) of some prominent Republicans (even members of Trump's White House) who had some nasty things to say about Trump at some point, according to a Washington Post from December of 2018 (see link below):
White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney once called Trump a ‘terrible human being.’ That was back in 2016, before Trump was elected to the White House, and well before Trump eventually recruited Mulvaney to be part of his administration.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz once called Trump a "sniveling coward." Nor was that it. At one point, Cruz suggested hat Trump as “a narcissist at a level I don’t think this country’s ever seen.” For once, I actually agree with Cruz about something. Doesn't happen often, let me tell you!
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham once went on television in 2016 and described Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot.” There was more. He also said of Trump once: “I think he’s a kook. I think he’s crazy. I think he’s unfit for office.”
Graham extended his numerous criticisms of Trump via Twitter, as well. Here are just some examples:
Lindsey Graham ✔ @LindseyGrahamSC If there was ever any doubt that @realDonaldTrump should not be our commander in chief, this stupid statement should end all doubt. 459 1:19 PM - Jul 18, 2015
Lindsey Graham ✔ @LindseyGrahamSC Donald Trump gets his foreign policy from watching television - the Cartoon Network. #CNNDebate #ReadyToLead 193 8:34 PM - Sep 16, 2015
Lindsey Graham ✔ @LindseyGrahamSC Donald Trump is not a conservative Republican. He's an opportunist. He's not fit to be President of the United States. 17.5K 10:25 AM - Feb 17, 2016
One more thing that Graham said once resonates with me:
"If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it."
Lindsey Graham Tweet on May 3, 2016
Lindsey Graham Tweet on May 3, 2016
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, who became Energy Secretary under Trump, once attacked the character of his future boss with serious ferocity:
“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.” Trump, for his part, tweeted that Perry “should be forced to take an IQ test before being allowed to enter the GOP debate.”
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who is perhaps best known for serving Trump as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, speaking of Trump, once said that “during anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices.” She followed that up by making it clear who, precisely, she was referring to, saying that Trump represented “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president."
Eventual Trump Deputy press secretary Raj Shah also blasted Trump on numerous occasions before the 2016 election. He seemed to enjoy when others were heaping criticism on Trump, saying said that he was “kinda enjoying this, some justice. I honestly don’t think it’s the worst thing he’s done but he somehow got passes for the other acts.” He also called Trump “deplorable.”
There are other examples, too. Plenty of them.
Trump's White House Chief of Staff John Kelly actually repeatedly referred to his boss, President Donald Trump, as an "idiot." And Trump's former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a "fucking moron."
During an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria about Trump, the late Colin Powell criticized Trump's various attacks on the news media, traditional American allies and even fellow American citizens:
Powell lamented that his three favorite words in the U.S. Constitution had long been "We the people," but Trump's short time in office has morphed the famous founding fathers' line into "me the president."
Powell had more unflattering things to say of Trump. Much more:
“You see things that should not be happening,” Powell told Zakaria. “How can a president of the United States get up and say that the media is the enemy of Americans? Hasn’t he read the First Amendment? You are not supposed to like everything the press says, or what anyone says…that’s why we have a First Amendment, to protect that kind of speech.”
“I hope the president can come to the realization that he should really stop insulting people,” Powell continued. “I used this two years ago when I said I could not vote for him in the 2016 election. Why? He insulted everybody. He insulted African-Americans, he insulted women, he insulted immigrants. He insulted our best friends around the world—all of his fellow candidates up on the stage during the debates. I don’t think that’s what should be coming out of a president of the United States. But I don’t see anything that’s changed in the last two years.”
Powell asked Americans and Congress to "take a hard look at yourself" to realize what "you're doing to keep these forces in check." He ridiculed not just what the Trump administration was doing but also what others "are not doing as the United States of America. What are we doing? We’re walking away from agreements, we’re walking away from alliances.”
“The world is watching,” Powell added. “They cannot believe we’re doing things like separating mothers and children who are trying to get across the border from south of our border. They can’t believe we’re making such an effort to cease immigration coming into the country. It’s what’s kept us alive!”
Here are yet more examples of very prominent politicians - who in some cases have been de facto political allies of Trump - caught having serious misgivings about Trump and his character or, rather, his complete lack thereof. Most of these are from just after the departure of Mattis from the Trump White House:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement that he was “distressed that [Mattis] is resigning due to sharp differences with the president on ... key aspects of America’s global leadership.”
David Frum claimed that it was "time to panic." George Conway, after reading the letter by Mattis, stated: "Not a word of praise for Trump. Speaks volumes."
Republican Congreessman Mike Coffman took a swipe at Trump's infamous immaturity in his response:
"Mattis has been the adult in the room when it comes to national security policy and I find his impending departure alarming. For the last two years he has been a buffer between the chaos of the White House and our military."
Neocon Bill Kristol went even further:
"Never been more alarmed for the nation since coming to D.C. over three decades ago."
Here's how Marco Rubio responded to the news:
Just read Gen. Mattis resignation letter. It makes it abundantly clear that we are headed towards a series of grave policy errors which will endanger our nation,damage our alliances & empower our adversaries. 1/2
Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes went so far as to suggest that now, Republicans themselves might challenge Trump in 2020:
GOP primary challenge to Trump became a lot more plausible today.
And here was the former Secretary of State, the late Colin Powell chiming in, and not exactly showing much confidence at all in Trump or his leadership style:
Speaking with CNN's Fareed Zakaria on October 7, Powell criticized Trump's various attacks on the news media, close U.S. allies and even the country's own citizens. Powell lamented that his three favorite words in the U.S. Constitution had long been "We the people," but Trump's short time in office has morphed the famous founding fathers' line into "me the president."
“You see things that should not be happening,” Powell told Zakaria. “How can a president of the United States get up and say that the media is the enemy of Americans? Hasn’t he read the First Amendment? You are not supposed to like everything the press says, or what anyone says…that’s why we have a First Amendment, to protect that kind of speech.”
And:
“I hope the president can come to the realization that he should really stop insulting people,” Powell continued. “I used this two years ago when I said I could not vote for him in the 2016 election. Why? He insulted everybody. He insulted African-Americans, he insulted women, he insulted immigrants. He insulted our best friends around the world—all of his fellow candidates up on the stage during the debates. I don’t think that’s what should be coming out of a president of the United States. But I don’t see anything that’s changed in the last two years.”
Powell asked Americans and Congress to "take a hard look at yourself" to realize what "you're doing to keep these forces in check." He ridiculed not just what the Trump administration was doing but also what others "are not doing as the United States of America. What are we doing? We’re walking away from agreements, we’re walking away from alliances.”
“The world is watching,” Powell added. “They cannot believe we’re doing things like separating mothers and children who are trying to get across the border from south of our border. They can’t believe we’re making such an effort to cease immigration coming into the country. It’s what’s kept us alive!”
Nor is it merely Republicans in government positions in Washington who are criticizing Trump. Here are some tweets from Ann Coulter disparaging Trump:
3 years ago, a complete moron of a president told NBC's Lester Holt, "I was going to fire Comey. … [W]hen I decided to just do it I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.'" BAM! SPECIAL PROSECUTOR! https://t.co/fIzHtmbOfR
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 24, 2020
The most disloyal actual retard that has ever set foot in the Oval Office is trying to lose AND take the Senate with him. Another Roy Moore fiasco so he can blame someone else for his own mess. https://t.co/fIzHtmbOfR
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 24, 2020
Trump didn't build the wall and never had any intention of doing so. The ONE PERSON in the Trump administration who did anything about immigration was Jeff Session. And this lout attacks him. https://t.co/fIzHtmbOfR
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 24, 2020
COVID gave Trump a chance to be a decent, compassionate human being (or pretending to be). But he couldn't even do that. https://t.co/fIzHtmbOfR
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 24, 2020
The media is salivating over the former football coach, Tommy Tuberville (choice of the most disloyal human God ever created, DJT). https://t.co/fIzHtmbOfR
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 24, 2020
GREAT WORK IN THE LAST ALABAMA SENATE RACE, MR. PRESIDENT! Keep it up and we'll have zero Republican senators. The next Republican president will be elected in the year 4820. https://t.co/fIzHtmbOfR
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 24, 2020
Sessions HAD to recuse himself, you complete blithering idiot. YOU did not have to go on Lester Holt's show and announce you fired Comey over the Russian investigation. That's what got you a Special Prosecutor. https://t.co/fIzHtmbOfR
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 24, 2020
I can't wait to see what the media have in store for the former football coach, Tuberville. This is going to be another Roy Moore catastrophe – also engineered by Trump. #SaveTheSenate https://t.co/fIzHtmbOfR
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) May 24, 2020
Alex Jones has been yet another loyal supporter. At least, that is, if you restrict yourself to his official broadcasts of InfoWars. Privately? Well, that's another matter entirely. Here is one of the most revealing glimpses of the private thoughts about Trump behind the scenes of one prominent, albeit controversial, public defender of all things Trump:
“It’s the truth and I’m just going to say it. That I wish I never would have fucking met Trump,” Jones said on camera in January 2019, while shooting a documentary in Austin, Texas. “I wish it never would have happened. And it’s not the attacks I’ve been through. I’m so sick of fucking Donald Trump, man. God, I’m fucking sick of him. And I’m not doing this because, like, I’m kissing his fucking ass, you know. It’s, like, I’m sick of it.”
Not exactly the unqualified ringing endorsements that many of these same people gave to Trump at other times in their careers, when it was politically or professionally profitable to do so. And now, we are hearing that Rupert Murdoch has revealed that, privately, Sean Hannity was "disgusted" by Trump. You might never know it by tuning into Hannity's show, and hearing his very public support, almost love, of Trump, naturally. But privately? That was a different matter, although the American public was not privy to such doubts about the man they were pushing on us as a great leader:
In one stunning revelation, Rupert Murdoch, the CEO and chairman of Fox Corporation, replied in an email to former House Speaker and Fox Corp. board member Paul Ryan that veteran host Sean Hannity “has been privately disgusted by Trump for weeks.” The exchange regarded Trump’s spreading of election lies following his November 2020 defeat to Joe Biden.
Then there are the recent revelations of how Tucker Carlson - officially a strong supporter of Trump and the "Big Lie" of massive voter fraud, actually feels about Trump in private:
Tucker Carlson on Trump's business record:
Alex Pfeiffer: Trump has a pretty low rate at success in his business ventures.
Carlson: That’s for sure. All of them fail. What he’s good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that.
Carlson on Trump's selfish, petty, and egotistical refusal to attend the Biden inauguration:
Carlson: I’d heard that about the inauguration. Hard to believe. So destructive.
Carlson: It’s disgusting. I’m trying to look away.
Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham on the Trump White House refusal to disavow discredit lawyers, and Trump's indifference to Republicans losing the Senate:
Carlson: I had to try to make the WH disavow her, which they obviously should have done long before.
Laura Ingraham: No serious lawyer could believe what they were saying.
Carlson: But they said nothing in public. Pretty disgusting. And now Trump, I learned this morning, is sitting back and letting them lose the senate. He doesn’t care. I care.
Carlson on what is likely the most revealing, and the most damning, evidence that, in fact, he privately could not stand Trump (although you'd never know it by watching him on his nightly show):
Carlson: We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.
Carlson: I hate him passionately.
If privately hating Trump was not the most damning thing, then what Carlson says here, in likening him to a demon in (private) comments below, surely qualifies:
Carlson: Trump has two weeks left. Once he’s out, he becomes incalculably less powerful, even in the minds of his supporters.
Carlson: He’s a demonic force, a destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us. I’ve been thinking about this every day for four years.
Pfeiffer: You’re right. I don’t want to let him destroy me either. [REDACTED]. The Trump anger spiral is vicious.
Carlson: That’s for sure. Deadly. It almost consumed me in November when Sidney Powell attacked us. It was very difficult to regain emotional control, but I knew I had to. We’ve got two weeks left. We can do this.
Again, the evidence could not be clearer. These are criticisms that go well beyond policy differences or political strategy. These things go right to the core of who Donald Trump really is. We heard numerous members of his own administration blast him in ways that presidents are not normally criticized. And we hear his most vocal supporters in the media showing, to put it mildly, strong misgivings about him and his total absence of character and class and ethics.
So why do I get the not so funny feeling that all of this will, if anything, get his most loyal supporters to feel even more devoted to this pathetic excuse for a man, and even sorrier excuse for a supposed "leader?"
Some bumper stickers reflecting the statesman-like, responsible mindset of Trump supporters:
I added this because none of what is mentioned in the sticker was actually invented in America, yet in some respects, you can make the argument that all of them have played a prominent role in defining the country's history, although not necessarily in the flattering way that this redneck believes.
Below are the many sources which I used in preparing this blog entry. Frankly, I suspect that there is plenty more evidence that Republicans and self-identified conservatives privately reveal that they know full well that Trump is, in fact, a horrible person and a divided, and that he has been very, very bad for the country and it's worldwide image. But these are the specific sources which I used for this particular blog entry:
COLIN POWELL SAYS DONALD TRUMP HAS TURNED AMERICA FROM 'WE THE PEOPLE' TO 'ME THE PRESIDENT' BY BENJAMIN FEARNOW ON 10/7/18:
Jim Mattis' Resignation Has Conservatives Admitting It's 'Time To Panic' About Trump HuffPost David Moye ,HuffPost•December 20, 2018:
Lindsey Graham forgot to hide these virulently anti-Trump tweets by Aldous J Pennyfarthing (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.) Friday May 03, 2019:
John Kelly Has Repeatedly Referred To Trump As An ‘Idiot,’ NBC Reports HuffPost Dominique Mosbergen ,HuffPost•April 30, 2018:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/john-kelly-repeatedly-referred-trump-223929428.html?.tsrc=fauxdal
Mick Mulvaney once called Trump a ‘terrible human being.’ Others close to the president have said much worse. Analysis by Colby Itkowitz Staff writer December 17, 2018:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/12/17/mick-mulvaney-once-called-trump-terrible-human-being-others-close-president-have-said-much-worse/
Ann Coulter Turns on ‘Disloyal Actual Retard’ Trump in Twitter Rant by Rosemary Rossi, May 24, 2020:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ann-coulter-turns-disloyal-actual-172315065.html
ALEX JONES ON LEAKED VIDEO: 'I WISH I NEVER MET TRUMP' by Michael Edison Hayden, March 02, 2021:
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/03/02/alex-jones-leaked-video-i-wish-i-never-met-trump
BREAKING: Murdoch Said Hannity Was ‘Privately Disgusted’ By Trump — But ‘Scared to Lose Viewers’, According to New Court Filing Story by Alex Griffing • February 27, 2023:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/breaking-murdoch-said-hannity-was-privately-disgusted-by-trump-but-scared-to-lose-viewers-according-to-new-court-filing/ar-AA180H7D?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=75a957f8c71a4965afd0d56e9e4cf9cf&ei=14
5 Times Tucker Carlson Privately Reviled Trump: ‘I Hate Him’ by Katie Robertson March 8, 2023:
The Fox host’s private comments, revealed recently in court documents, contrast sharply with his support of conservatives on his show. Give this article 1.3K
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/business/media/tucker-carlson-trump.html
This video below is about Jenna Ellis getting censured after being pressured into finally admitting that all of those lies about massive voter fraud, and how Trump really won the election ("by a landslide" she added at one point) were in fact...lies. Also, there is a bit here about the weasel-like Tucker Carlson, who evidently was not in love with Trump, as he seems to be during his nightly FOX News broadcasts. In fact, he apparently hated Trump with a passion.
Say what you will, but far from being an outsider to politics as many of his fans claim, to me, Trump actually represents the very worst that politics has to offer, only he does so on steroids, almost. Everything about him is fake, including his apparent support. So much freaking deception! Unbelievable!
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