# How has the disgraced, CONVICTED FELON, former but once again President Trump pissed you off today? (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 15, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178 "2021-05-15T18:35:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 268
**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:** [December 30, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5341 "2023-12-30T18:40:00Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Once again, I’m baffled that anyone would think that this thin-skinned crybaby sad-sack is suitable for anything other than mocking. > > I’m told that MAGAts really like a strong man leader. Why the hell do they put up with this sorry little excuse for a man? A man who whines and crys at the drop of a hat? A whimpering man-baby of an entity? > > Trump shows no strength. He simps and fawns over dictators like a child meeting an NBA star. He eats toddler food. He cries and throws things when he’s having a tantrum. > > Strong man leader? He’s quite the opposite. It’s puzzling. Trump’s appeal to the MAGAts stems from his neediness. Ron DeSantis, like Donald Trump, is a racist bully. Do MAGAts adore Ron? No, because he clearly doesn’t care two cents about whether or not they adore him. (He wants their votes to get the power–that’s all he wants from them.) But Trump, while doing the racism they love and the bullying they love, actually–and quite desperately–_ **needs** _ their adoration. He _ **has to** _ have their applause and their cheers in order to get through his days. He feeds on the adoration and more crucially, _cannot do without it_. He needs them. And this makes them love him in a way that they could never love DeSantis or Chris Christie or any other GOP bully-boy. They love his viciousness, his spitefulness, and his cruelty. But what really hooks them is that **they are important to him** in a way they could never be important to any other Republican on the scene. Trump is theirs and they are Trump’s. It’s an interdependency. It is Trump’s black-hole-of-need psychological dysfunction that has led to his success. And it means that no one currently on the scene has any chance of replacing him. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5342 "2023-12-30T19:06:46Z")
So… The MAGAts love a pathetic, whiney man-baby because he _needs_ them. They say they want a strong leader, but really they want a needy soft crybaby. This makes sense. I think he makes them feel better about their own sad little lives. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5343 "2023-12-30T19:15:07Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > … I think he makes them feel better about their own sad little lives. I agree. They get that warm ‘he’s on my side’ feeling—completely unearned because of course he despises them at the same time that he needs them. But they can easily delude themselves that he respects them, and that He is Theirs. Also, they don’t have to admit any of this (even to themselves) because Trump has always come complete with Plausible Deniability. ‘I don’t vote for Trump because I love his vicious racism, I vote for him because he’s such a great businessman!’ (It’s astonishing that millions of Trump fans will still make that claim with a straight face. But it’s a fact that they do and will go on doing so. To a great extent this is due to Mark Burnett’s epic redefinition of Trump in _The Apprentice_. If the human species remains viable on the globe in five hundred years, I predict that Burnett will figure in their history as the man who did the most harm to humanity in all of the 21st century.) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5344 "2023-12-30T19:31:14Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > To a great extent this is due to Mark Burnett’s epic redefinition of Trump in _The Apprentice_. If the human species remains viable on the globe in five hundred years, I predict that Burnett will figure in their history as the man who did the most harm to humanity in all of the 21st century. When reality television started gaining popularity in the late 1990s, I jokingly declared this was the downfall of civilization. I was just joking! It wasn’t supposed to come true. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5345 "2023-12-30T19:40:13Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > When reality television started gaining popularity in the late 1990s, I jokingly declared this was the downfall of civilization. I was just joking! It wasn’t supposed to come true. Heh. Yeah, feeding people faked storylines populated by people pretending to be something they’re not does no harm when it’s clearly labeled “fiction.” But the same, labeled as “reality,” seems to scramble brains in an alarming way. Many who call Trump “a great businessman” may actually know that he’s not anything akin to a competent (let alone great) entrepreneur. But having that plausible excuse for supporting him is too valuable for them to ever give it up. Plenty of people just as fond of bullying and just as racist as Trump have presented themselves to the electorate over the decades. But a vote for David Duke or George Wallace or Richard Spencer could never be disguised as anything other than a vote for a racist. You’ve got to have that sweet plausible deniability, the way they have with Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5346 "2023-12-30T20:00:21Z")
That is a really insightful take. I do think you’re on to something. Well done, well written. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5347 "2023-12-30T20:13:00Z")
I never thought about it before, but now I wonder how many people got into MAGA solely because they were fans of _The Apprentice_. That’s goddamn fucking _ **terrifying** _. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5348 "2023-12-30T21:16:08Z")
When I heard about ‘The Apprentice’ I just thought that it was an absurd idea. When I discovered that DJT was the ‘star’ that sealed the deal. Never watched it. I saw somewhere that his star might be removed on the sidewalk in Hollywood. Could not agree more. To consider this fool a star is a disgrace to those that deserve that. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5349 "2023-12-30T21:17:20Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I saw somewhere that his star might be removed on the sidewalk in Hollywood. Could not agree more. To consider this fool a star is a disgrace to those that deserve that. Two words: Public. Urinal. I’m sure I’m not the first to suggest this. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5350 "2023-12-30T21:21:58Z")
“That’s GOLD Jerry GOLD!” Well it’s sort of clear yellow, but Trump certainly likes gold. I want the Bud Light concession stand. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5351 "2023-12-30T21:39:22Z")
I have always assumed that the only reason 90% of the population knew about him before he started running was _The Apprentice_, which I never watched, either. I understand that most of New York has hated him since at least the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5352 "2023-12-30T22:08:52Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I have always assumed that the only reason 90% of the population knew about him before he started running was _The Apprentice_, which I never watched, either. I haven’t seen an episode. I’ve seen clips over the years which looked awful so I never had interest. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5353 "2023-12-30T22:11:21Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I’ve seen clips over the years which looked awful so I never had interest. If I wanted to watch a clueless bully, I’d go monitor a grade-school playground. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5354 "2023-12-30T22:49:52Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I haven’t seen an episode. > > I’ve seen clips over the years which looked awful so I never had interest. Me, too. Plus I’ve had an aversion to him since the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5355 "2023-12-30T23:04:40Z")
I will confess to having watched _The Apprentice_ quite a bit. I found it entertaining without ever falling under his spell. I never, for even a nanosecond, thought he would - or should - become President. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5356 "2023-12-30T23:09:21Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I never, for even a nanosecond, thought he would - or should - become President. None of did. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5357 "2023-12-30T23:11:54Z")
My introduction to Trump was coverage of the mutual hissy-fit between him and [Leona Helmsley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leona_Helmsley) (a competition to see who could be the more loathsome). Killed whatever minuscule interest I might ever have had in _The Apprentice_. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5358 "2023-12-30T23:20:50Z")
My introduction to Trump was visiting the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, in about late 1990. My first impression was “too gaudy and wayyy over the top.” Although I’m pretty sure that Trump had little to do with the fine details, I’m sure that he had some input. And we saw that gaudiness later, with how he decked out his apartment in Trump Tower, and later, Mar-a-Lago. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5359 "2023-12-30T23:38:51Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Trump is theirs and they are Trump’s. It’s an interdependency. Mutual parasitism. > [@enipla](#): > > I saw somewhere that his star might be removed on the sidewalk in Hollywood. But there were [people protecting the star](https://www.mediaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Screen-Shot-2018-07-29-at-6.32.50-PM-470x470.jpg)! > [@commasense](#): > > I understand that most of New York has hated him since at least the 1980s. I graduated from high school in Arlington, Virginia in 1977. Hatred of him was already present at that time and in that area. I think it’s safe to say since before the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178/5360 "2023-12-30T23:50:19Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I saw somewhere that his star might be removed on the sidewalk in Hollywood. Could not agree more. To consider this fool a star is a disgrace to those that deserve that. But that just plays into his fans’ idea that the Hollywood elite liberal lunatics are against Trump not for political reasons but because he _is_ a star and they are just jealous. Leave it alone and let more enlightened people spit on it. > [@](#): > > A star has never been removed from the Walk of Fame, which honors more than 2,700 celebrities in motion pictures, television, radio, recording and other forms of media. It’s a pretty good bet he is not the only deplorable there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178.md?page=267) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-has-the-disgraced-convicted-felon-former-but-once-again-president-trump-pissed-you-off-today-part-1/942178.md?page=269)