I understand the left and the right not liking each other; that’s just business-as-usual for a two-party system.
But when he was president it seemed as if I heard “Trump is literally Hitler!” every day of his presidency.
Can someone explain - calmly and without exaggeration - exactly/specifically/precisely what Trump has done to drive his haters into such a frenzy?
Trump has a long history of mean spirited and petty activity. Ripping off contractors, snake-oil like scams. Generally being one of the biggest jerks on the planet. This was long before 2016.
He is cruelly insulting to others. The weird feud with Rosie O’Donnell being a good easy example.
He’s an asshole. Then came the disgrace of his presidency. His horrific mishandling of the pandemic.
Though I will say, I always called him a would-be Mussolini and not a literal Hitler. He isn’t a literal Hitler at least.
There was that time he tried to overthrow Congress and have the vice president killed so he could throw out the results of an election and become a dictator.
That was a bit problematic.
As a former Republican voter, my hatred of Trump has nothing to do with left/right politics. I hate him because he’s a liar, a crummy leader, a bully, has disdain for POWs and military members injured in the line of duty, and who possesses nothing in the way of character or integrity. If Trump told me the sky was blue I’d have to verify for myself.
I won’t comp to a “frenzy,” but I hate Trump for many reasons. He brings out the worst in our nation and appeals to our lowest traits. He’s completely unworthy to hold a high office of trust and respect, as he’s incompetent, corrupt, immoral, and utterly without any concern for the welfare of our nation or its people. He appointed incompetent and corrupt people to high office, he lied about everything, he had no coherent policies, and he encouraged violence, gave comfort to racists, and fought against the peaceful transition of power.
The guy whose entire 2016 platform was based on locking up a political opponent now complains that his prosecutions are politically motivated.
He made up shit about Obama’s birthplace and ran with it, even in the face of overwhelming evidence.
He attacked John McCain, who certainly was not without fault, but his time as a POW should be beyond reproach. He cozied up to Putin, and tried to hurt Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russia for his own political goals.
I could go on and on, but I wanted to post this before the thread is closed.
ETA: I wouldn’t say he was worse than Hitler. But that faint praise.
If you were a woman perhaps you could understand the feelings of hearing a man who wanted to be president talking about how cool it was to be able to grab a woman’s pussy whenever he wanted with no repercussions (I doubt he used that big word tho). I never heard anyone call him Hitler though, nor did I, but yes, my feelings about him were pretty intense.
Just a taste:
With not a shred of evidence, Trump lied for many years about Obama’s citizenship. That was the thing that made me first despise Trump. That wasn’t about politics - Trump had some sort of deep, personal hatred of Obama, and purposefully lied about him for years.
After that, he said multiple racist and misogynistic things and never apologized. He put into place a policy that deliberately separated migrant children from their parents, which no president has ever done before (at least in recent history). Some of those kids are still separated from their parents and may never be reunited, thanks to Trump. He disrespected American security professionals in favor of Putin. He tried to use his presidency to influence the Ukrainian president for Trump’s personal political benefit. And worst of all, he spread lies about the 2020 election and inspired deadly violence at the capitol. He continues to spread those lies.
Oh man, his insults of McCain had me so livid. I’m an ex-Republican and a Vet. Trump is a seriously awful asshole in every way possible.
Here’s what I said in answer to Trump’s tweet awhile back, “Why are people so mean”:
Because you were given the greatest opportunity that can be granted to any American: the chance to lead the nation into a better place. Only 44 other people in history have ever had this opportunity. And you used it to sow hatred, weaken our democracy, feed your pathetic ego and enrich your personal wealth.
He lost me when he mocked the reporter with palsy symptoms early in his campaign.
Exactly
Trump is only concerned with one thing – what benefits Donald J Trump? Everything else, up to and including our national security and electoral process, takes a back seat.
Why don’t you understand? Have you not paid attention to anything he’s said or done? And if you have why do you find it acceptable?
Please don’t make this about the OP. It isn’t really appropriate to the P&E forum.
I’d loathe and despise Trump if he never held any political office whatsoever. US presidents have been both bright and dim, ethically challenged and upright, and they’ve often been wrongheaded. But none of them is in the slightest like Trump, who is a repulsive person in every way you can think of – a pathological liar, narcissist, without a shred of anything you could call a moral value of any kind at all. He makes the presidents I despised before him, like Reagan, and Shrub, look like fucking saints. Nothing I can say can describe what a stain upon humanity he is. He has no redeeming qualities.
The way he behaved as a president was reminiscent of Hitler, and other fascist dictators. That he didn’t do as much damage as Hitler was a product of his sloppy laziness, and lack of any vision beyond being worshipped as a god, not because he was morally superior in any way.
^^^ what Ulfreida said.
I never said trump was Hitler. But, I’d point out, Hitler wasn’t Hitler, until he was and, by then, it was too late to do anything about it.
My first thing that made me knew Trump was evil, instead of just political differences was how he treated foreign children, separating them from their parents and then deporting their parents back and holding their children in deplorable conditions. There was simply no recovery from this one for me, we as a nation made it a policy to kidnap and confine children of other nations. And it’s not like Trump didn’t know as it made the news profoundly and there were many court cases trying to help those children. There is no excuse for Trump doing this in the first place, and there is no way in hell that Trump didn’t know about it as it was so widely publicized. (and if you dare to say that someone else did that too… well even ‘if’ that were true that does not in any way excuse or diminish what Trump did).
And trying to overthrow our democracy and get himself installed as president against free and fair elections effectively nullifying the constitution, which would have given Trump even more power, is another issue that totally qualifies.
Having grown up in NY, I didn’t like Trump before he was president and expected his administration to be a shitshow. I was really surprised at how much worse it was than I expected.
I’m American and I am proud of this country, and he made us worse in material ways, embarrassed us on the international stage, and used the presidency corruptly, and for the most banal of reasons – just to get more money. After that, he literally attempted to overthrow our democracy.
How an American, a patriot, someone who loves the country, could ever like this vile human is beyond me.
The part I don’t understand is so many only seem to judge him from 2016 onwards, when the guy has been a grifter, con man, a criminal, for the past 30-40 years. His day(s) in court should have been decades ago. How anyone in 2016 could have found him fit for any political office is astounding.
During his presidency he turned US into a laughing stock of the planet. His economics were a disaster. He lowered taxes for the ultra wealthy at the expense of the poor. His covid non-performance is a whole other chapter. It just goes on & on . . .