# How can we take this latest Trump nastiness \["Quiet, Piggy" remark, and responses to said remark\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 18, 2025, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971 "2025-11-18T23:50:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/121 "2025-11-20T20:05:19Z")
About that phrase. I’m afraid that much overused quote is about as effective as “Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there!”. It doesn’t mean jack to Republicans, and I have never seen a groundswell of support from the Left whenever anyone said it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/122 "2025-11-20T20:20:54Z")
It’s not so much _What_ he said. Well, it is. But really it the fact that this group of _people_, you know human beings stood there and let’s this _man_ get away with it, yet again. We know he’s nasty and a spoiled child. The alarm is we accept it. No one stands up to him. Of course you wouldn’t threaten or curse but you could say “that’s wrong, Mr.President, you don’t call names” he broke the wall of decorum. It’s the same thing as these dem lawmakers making the video. For military people to stand against illegal orders. His underwear is in a right twist over this. Because he’s seeing the curtain coming down. If reporters, who are these human beings first, quit hanging on his every word, call him out if it’s a blantant falsehood or an ugly comment. He’ll eventually quit. It’s how you train kids and dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/123 "2025-11-20T20:24:24Z")
Nevertheless, “every accusation is a confession” is the truest thing said about the right and requires repeating after every accusation. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/124 "2025-11-20T20:33:16Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > there would have been a whole bunch of comeuppance The depressing part is I’m not sure that’s true. It’s not like Trump’s immune from criticism. He’s immune from _consequences_. Obama would have been criticized widely for this. But that only matters because he and the Democrats actually cared about the office of the president and the unwritten conventions that hold the whole political system together Trump has shown as long as your partisan base is behind you (or too scared of you to do anything meaningful to oppose you) can freely ignore all the criticism and ride roughshod over all those conventions, and there will be no comeuppance. That’s a genie that can’t be put back in the bottle. Whatever happens to Trump (and that is far more likely to be decided by the hand of the grim reaper than any check or balance in the US constitution), the lesson will be there for any up coming politician to see. That depresses me and this is just a symptom of that ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/125 "2025-11-20T21:18:25Z")
One of the headlines on CNN (if you click on the “live updates about Trump”) now reads: “White House defends Trump after he calls reporter “piggy,” says president was being “frank and honest”” ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/126 "2025-11-20T21:19:10Z")
His comment is extra maddening because in the world we all live in, such a thing would earn you, at minimum, a slap in the face. But as the nation’s most weak weakling, Trump knows the secret service is there to protect him. This amplifies what a shitty thing it was to say by bringing the coward aspect to the situation. He’s a dumb, weak coward, and Republicans admire him for it. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/127 "2025-11-20T21:39:49Z")
**Moderating:** After speaking with our OP, @Beckdawrek, I’ve updated the title to reflect what the original “nastiness” was referring too. The OP did specify, but the conversation has evolved. To keep it within the reasonable boundary of P&E, the specific remark, and a more general discussion about why this and similar remarks are accepted/tolerated or overlooked is also fair game. Otherwise, let’s not have another thread evolve accidently into an Omnibus rant-thread in P&E like what happened to Wolfpup’s: > [@The current second Trump administration: a compendium of horrors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774): > > Apologies for an extremely depressing post, but this is where we are, and by way of venting I tried to channel my frustration into a list of some of the worst things we can expect over the next four years. I’m sure it’s very incomplete, but it’s a start. Any thoughts about why any of this is wrong, or what can be done about it, are welcome. At least some of the fascist proposals in Project 2025 will likely get enacted, further facilitated by Republican control of both the House and Senate. T… No warnings or notes for any individual posts so far in the thread, but let’s now have a more specific and debatable discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/128 "2025-11-20T22:04:59Z")
I take a bit of hope in the fact that we have yet to see a single other U.S. politician who has been able to get away with this schtick the way Trump has, so it may not really represent a model others can use to seize power and abuse it the same way. No Democrat could do it, and even when Republicans like DeSantis or Greg Abbott try it, it falls flat because they just haven’t got that magic charisma or whatever. Trump may indeed be a once-in-history outlier. In ten years, we still haven’t seen any imitators do it successfully. If someone like JD Vance were to say “Quiet, piggy,” even MAGA would snicker because of how fake it would seem coming from him. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/129 "2025-11-20T22:06:26Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > If someone like JD Vance were to say “Quiet, piggy,” even MAGA would snicker because of how fake it would seem coming from him. Yes, Trump is an authentic asshole, not a pretend one. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/130 "2025-11-20T22:13:41Z")
I, too, wonder what Democrat could do this and it doesn’t just cause a firestorm? Maybe Gavin Newsom. He has a handle on snark, it seems. I don’t think he’d say that to a woman, what do I know tho’? He certainly knows how to insult with a certain flourish. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/131 "2025-11-20T22:18:01Z")
That is one jaw-dropping “apology”. 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/132 "2025-11-20T22:24:22Z")
It was not meant to be an apology, just a retracted statement. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/133 "2025-11-20T22:24:24Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I, too, wonder what Democrat could do this and it doesn’t just cause a firestorm? There isn’t a single Democrat who could do “this” (use a demeaning personal insult to avoid answering a valid question from a reporter). Because the Democratic base doesn’t want to see that, so they’re not going to tolerate it, much less celebrate it. Even if the reporter was asking a clearly bad faith question, Democrats might want a candidate who sharply and critically shuts that shit down, but not with a demeaning personal insult like “quiet, piggy”. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Maybe Gavin Newsom. He has a handle on snark, it seems. > > I don’t think he’d say that to a woman, what do I know tho’? He certainly knows how to insult with a certain flourish. The only person I think Newsom would say “Quiet, Piggy” to is Trump. And he should, it would be hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/134 "2025-11-20T22:27:18Z")
I think he’s had his Trump jokes on the “Quiet Piggy” remark on his social media pretty heavily. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/135 "2025-11-20T22:35:11Z")
You people are all wet. W.H. Press Secretary says Donnie was just being frank and open and we should appreciate him for it, goddammit! > # Trump Calling Reporter ‘Piggy’ Was ‘Frankness,’ White House Says > > _Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, addressed for the first time a schoolyard insult that President Trump lobbed at a Bloomberg News reporter last week._ > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/business/media/trump-leavitt-reporter-piggy.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.2k8.I35T.T0E42wpg5MuU&smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/business/media/trump-leavitt-reporter-piggy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2k8.I35T.T0E42wpg5MuU&smid=url-share) > … > On Thursday, Mr. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, put a different spin on the remark. > > “I think everyone in this room should appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get from President Trump on a near-daily basis,” Ms. Leavitt told reporters during a briefing in the West Wing. > > Ms. Leavitt, who was asked by a journalist to explain what Mr. Trump had meant when he used the term “piggy,” presented the following logic: > > “The president is very frank and honest with everyone in this room. You’ve seen it yourself. You’ve all experienced it yourselves. And I think it’s one of the many reasons that the American people re-elected this president, because of his frankness. And he calls out fake news when he sees it. He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him, when you spread fake news about him and his administration.” > > She added: “The president being frank and open and honest to your faces, rather than hiding behind your backs, is, frankly, a lot more respectful than what you saw in the last administration.” > … Let’s check back in with her when (inevitably) Donnie calls her a “blond bimbo.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/136 "2025-11-20T22:38:58Z")
No no no. Low intelligence Blond Bimbo. 😊 ---
**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:** [November 20, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/137 "2025-11-20T23:13:32Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > “He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him” Remark by Karoline Leavitt, as quoted in ThelmaLou’s post. The remark is a lie. The reporter to whom Donald replied with “quiet, piggy” had not lied about him. She’d said “Sir, if there’s nothing incriminating in the files…”—which cannot be classified as “a lie.” It’s unsurprising that Leavitt’s defense of Donald is utterly lame and unrelated to facts, of course. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > But really it the fact that this group of _people_, you know human beings stood there and let’s this _man_ get away with it, yet again. > > We know he’s nasty and a spoiled child. The alarm is we accept it. No one stands up to him. I think this is the best explanation of why this incident is getting so much attention. The dictator shoved in our faces the fact that _he never faces any consequences for the gross violations he commits_. He shoved in our face the fact that we just have to take it. That’s appalling. (How I would love it if when Donald next invites himself to some major sporting event, the entire stadium erupts in “QUIET, PIGGY” when he tries to address the crowd. (That is not a mature or ethically-advanced wish, of course. (But I still wish it…) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/138 "2025-11-20T23:43:50Z")
Dan Rather writes in his newsletter today: > It is important to note that none of Lucey and Bruce’s fellow journalists came to their defense. “Because access beats out solidarity, every day of the week,” Bill Grueskin, a former editor at _The Wall Street Journal_ and currently a professor at Columbia Journalism School, posted on social media. > > It is doubtful that either Lucey or Bruce expected other White House correspondents to say anything. Journalism is, after all, a competitive business. Also, fears about job security are real. [Bruce being Mary Bruce, who was also insulted by Trump when she asked him: > Is it appropriate, Mr. President, for your family to be doing business in Saudi Arabia while you’re president? Is that a conflict of interest?” She then turned to the prince and said, “Your Royal Highness, the U.S. Intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist — 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you? And the same to you, Mr President.” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/139 "2025-11-21T02:33:04Z")
Is true. I apologize for not realizing that Trump was playing Calvinball. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2025, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971/140 "2025-11-21T03:56:14Z")
Get a Dem ventriloquist to yell it at the SOTU address 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-we-take-this-latest-trump-nastiness-quiet-piggy-remark-and-responses-to-said-remark/1024971.md?page=8)