# Donald Trump Doesn't Like Being Criticized (and Here's What He Can Do about That) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 19, 2025, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142 "2025-01-19T23:11:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/81 "2025-02-21T23:20:22Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Oh? So, what “small period of time” do you now think “it does look as though it may be”, then? You thought that being able to post criticism “would end this week” — do you now think it will end _next_ week, or next _month?_ If it’s still just as easy to do a year from now, will “some small period of time” still not yet have elapsed? > When will we know whether you’ve read the situation wrong? It’s clearly very, very important to you to sell the (false) idea that I made a hard prediction that we’d all be in a gulag by February 19. The question is: why? Why is it so important to you to sell this idea? (You and your couple of supporters in the thread, too.) Why? My guess is that you are operating on the magical thinking that: - a poster (you claim) predicted we’d all be jailed by such-and-such a date - that date arrives and we aren’t all jailed - THEREFORE t **here is and can never be any danger of any kind of censorship or suppression of dissent** under the Trump regime!!!1!!! That truly _would_ require magic. (I mean, I wish you all the luck. I hope your magical thinking _does_ shape reality.) Meanwhile in the real world, I notice you and your co-magical-thinking-clingees are studiously pretending to ignore the recent news about the Trump/Musk regime working to suppress criticism (because Donald doesn’t like it—nor does Elon!): > [@Sherrerd](#): > > By the way, how do you explain away today’s news of the DOJ letters threatening members of Congress? You want to claim that they’re all lying? Or what? Here’s another non-paywalled source on the story: > **[DOJ sends letter to Democratic lawmaker over Elon Musk criticism](https://www.newsweek.com/doj-sends-robert-garcia-letter-elon-musk-criticisms-2034123)** > > The DOJ raised concerns about Rep. Robert Garcia saying Americans want Democrats to "bring actual weapons to this bar fight." More: [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/20/robert-garcia-elon-musk-martin-letter-threats-00205354](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/20/robert-garcia-elon-musk-martin-letter-threats-00205354) ??? Nothing to see here? No attempt by the Trump regime to silence critics?? All just made up by a poster at the SDMB, who MUST be wrong so that “Trump got elected” CANNOT have any negative consequences…right? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/82 "2025-02-21T23:46:36Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/waj2mAas9Bc/maxresdefault.jpg "Two rats rotate while free bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd plays in the background") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waj2mAas9Bc) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/83 "2025-02-21T23:47:13Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The question is: why? Why is it so important to you to sell this idea? (You and your couple of supporters in the thread, too.) > > Why? > > My guess is that you are operating on the magical thinking that: > > - a poster (you claim) predicted we’d all be jailed by such-and-such a date > - that date arrives and we aren’t all jailed > - THEREFORE t **here is and can never be any danger of any kind of censorship or suppression of dissent** under the Trump regime!!!1!!! No, that’s not the ‘therefore’. There is, as far as I can tell, no “therefore’. You stated that anyone betting that we’d still be able to post our true opinions of Trump — here or anywhere else — is quite the optimist; I figured that, well, no; anyone betting that way can just be quite the _realist._ I’m not extrapolating to some other ‘therefore’: I’m not figuring that “there can never be any danger of any kind of censorship or suppression of dissent”. I’m merely (a) noting that, as far as I can tell, we’re still able to post our true opinions of Trump; and, when you added that you thought that ‘would end this week, but it does look as though it may be some small period of time later than this week’ — well, I felt like (b) asking: what do you think constitutes “some small period of time”, there? > [@](#): > > ??? Nothing to see here? No attempt by the Trump regime to silence critics?? All just made up by a poster at the SDMB, who MUST be wrong so that “Trump got elected” CANNOT have any negative consequences…right? No; if you’d said, a month ago, that one would have to be quite the optimist to bet against the Trump regime making any effort to silence any critics, _this would be relevant to that._ I don’t know why you didn’t; I sure do wish you _had._ But, for some reason, you instead — focused on whether it was optimism rather than realism to figure we’d be able to now do what we can now do? Maybe you’re not getting this. Try something different: imagine a poster decides — for some reason — to now declare that one would sure have to be quite the optimist to bet that the next Supreme Court Justice will have a law degree. My response would be to shrug and point out the obvious if the unremarkable realistically comes to pass as expected: not because I’m saying it’s impossible for a president to ever make a bad choice, and not because I’m out to extrapolate some other point entirely, but because it’s the point that’s, y’know, right there, is all. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/84 "2025-02-22T14:41:43Z")
What. The. Fuck. Is. That? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/85 "2025-02-22T15:49:57Z")
Art. I guess? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/86 "2025-02-22T20:11:27Z")
A demonstration of what the OP is doing. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/87 "2025-02-23T22:42:02Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > A demonstration of what the OP is doing. I feel kind of annoyed that I’m continuing to pay for my housing in the real world when I clearly have a home inside your head. Seems wasteful. **On the topic of Donald not liking criticism–and being willing to have his minions do something about that:** this is so unremarkably self-evident a theory, that it’s mentioned purely in passing during a discussion between former GOP-Rep Adam Kinzinger and Tim Miller. Kinzinger is speaking here (my bolding inside): > [@](#): > > … A couple of interesting wrinkles though about the **free speech** White House. The first was I interviewed Robert Garcia last night, congressman from Long Beach. He was on CNN and he said basically Elon is a dick and the Democrats need to bring weapons to the bar fight. Kind of just like, I think I kind of mangled the phrase of, you know, > we shouldn’t be bringing a knife to a gunfight, et cetera. Like that very common figure of speech. > > He receives a letter from Eagle Ed Martin, the US attorney, a letter of inquiry saying that he wants to look into whether this was an illegal, physical threat on Elon Musk’s life. Obviously, it is ridiculous, like Dan Goldman, another congressman wrote, there’s no such thing as letter of inquiry. > > **You’re literally making things up to use your letterhead to chill free speech.** Why don’t you stop weaponizing the DOJ against Democrats while you still have your bar license? This is Robert Garcia’s not being quiet, But this is they’re trying to intimidate people into stopping criticizing Elon and Trump and [Kash]. **Like they want regular people to feel like they might have to get a lawyer if they do it.** And it’s scary. Yeah. And it’s intimidating. I mean, it is, right? You get something from the US attorney and you’re like, gosh, I just, I went on CNN, they don’t pay me or if they pay me, they don’t pay me a ton, **it’s just not worth it**. That’s exactly what they’re doing. It’s not controversial, that Trump is having his goons do stuff to stop criticism. In the Garcia case it was about Musk, but “Operation Whirlwind” is about intimidating people into refraining from criticizing Trump as well (or primarily). Gift link to a WaPo article about this–it reproduces several of the STOP SAYING MEAN STUFF ABOUT ME threat-letters: [https://wapo.st/41rFHRT](https://wapo.st/41rFHRT) Regular link: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/02/19/ed-martin-dc-letters-schumer-garcia/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/02/19/ed-martin-dc-letters-schumer-garcia/) Whatever you two-or-three are going through emotionally, I hope it works out for you. In the meantime, the actual issue continues to unfold in the real world. Donald doesn’t like being criticized, and he’s doing something about that. PODCAST transcript: [The Bulwark Podcast - Adam Kinzinger: It's Starting to Happen Transcript and Discussion](https://podscripts.co/podcasts/the-bulwark-podcast/adam-kinzinger-its-starting-to-happen#google_vignette) The podcast video is paywalled after the first 16 minutes or so, but for those with subscriptions: [Adam Kinzinger: It's Starting to Happen](https://www.thebulwark.com/p/adam-kinzinger-its-starting-to-happen) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/88 "2025-02-23T22:52:42Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I feel kind of annoyed that I’m continuing to pay for my housing in the real world when I clearly have a home inside your head. I mean, if you’d prefer that people NOT respond to your OPs, you could always try standing on a street corner and shouting at pedestrians while ringing a bell and wearing a sandwich board that reads “THE END IS NEAR”. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/89 "2025-02-23T23:17:55Z")
If Trump wants to stop being criticized, he could always admit that he is Secret Agent Krasnov and has been a Russian Asset being run by Putin for the last 30 years. > **[Magic Disappearing DB Story About Spy Chief Allegations Trump Recruited as a...](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/21/2305351/-Magic-Disappearing-DB-Story-About-Allegations-Trump-Was-Recruited-as-a-Russian-Asset)** > > So earlier today, the Daily Beast’s Isabel van Brugen published a bombshell story about allegations by Kazakh Spy Chief Alnur Mussayev that the KGB had recruited Donald Trump as a Soviet Asset way back in 1987 under the code name “Krasnov.” I... Then he could surrender himself to the rule of law in the US… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/90 "2025-02-24T04:31:47Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Whatever you two-or-three are going through emotionally, I hope it works out for you. In the meantime, the actual issue continues to unfold in the real world. Donald doesn’t like being criticized, and he’s doing something about that. Of course he’s doing _something_ about it. If, right now, a brand-new poster were to say that Trump is going to do _something_ about it over the course of the next month — and that anyone betting otherwise would have to be quite the optimist — then that’d be unremarkable, and no eyebrows would be raised. But imagine if, today, some brand-new poster made a bizarrely specific claim: about how anyone betting that a month from now we will be able to post our true opinions of Trump — here or anywhere else — is, well, quite the optimist. What do you figure _would_ be an appropriate reaction, a month from today, when we’re of course still able to post our true opinions of Trump right here? Would it be appropriate to note that, while _other_ things happened, the one in question _didn’t?_ Or to quickly mention that it was a matter not of wacky optimism, but of mere realism? Or do you think the appropriate response to such a poster would be to shrug and figure, _well, something in general happened, so, hey, what difference does it make that the particular thing didn’t?_ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/91 "2025-02-24T06:44:27Z")
Trancmo! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/92 "2025-02-24T22:54:14Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > If Trump wants to stop being criticized, he could always admit that he is Secret Agent Krasnov and has been a Russian Asset being run by Putin for the last 30 years. This is being talked about all over the internet; whether it’s well-researched or not, I don’t think has yet been determined. But there’s nothing about it that’s hard to believe. On the “Trump versus criticism” front: MSNBC got rid of two non-white critics of Himself, though it’s possible that the changes had something to do with their ratings (rather than being attempts to please Dear Leader). In any case, Donald is CROWING about it: > **[Joyce White Vance (@joycewhitevance.bsky.social)](https://bsky.app/profile/joycewhitevance.bsky.social/post/3lix72or4es2b)** > > The President of the United States expressing his views on the 1st Amendment Here’s the Troot or whatever Donald is calling them these days: [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:q3glmp5enr5gkuu2uaosjker/bafkreidvghjyalv55splvuqx5flmilhxf4ynxzpxekbnn2gfu5763nde6u@jpeg) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:q3glmp5enr5gkuu2uaosjker/bafkreidvghjyalv55splvuqx5flmilhxf4ynxzpxekbnn2gfu5763nde6u@jpeg) What with the ALL CAPS etc., it seems a safe bet that Donald tapped out this one himself (rather than having aide Dan Scavino or other flunky do it). ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142/93 "2025-02-24T23:36:32Z")
No matter what you thought of his policies, Obama was truly a role model, a husband, a father, a gentleman, and a statesman. No matter what you think of _his_ policies, Trump is truly just an awful human being. Also, “fake news” may _be_ an “unpardonable sin,” but at last count, it cost one RW network roughly $787,500,000.00. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-doesnt-like-being-criticized-and-heres-what-he-can-do-about-that/1013142.md?page=4)