# Is Donald Trump really THAT bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 6, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135 "2017-02-06T00:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/141 "2017-02-21T01:25:19Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Even so, you would think some people would remember him as being “something to talk about”, if he was as amazingly awesome as he claims. I was only average but at least SOME people remember me. :dubious: From your link above: > [@](#): > > Sachs, retired from a finance and consulting career and now residing in Lake Forest, Ill., sat next to Trump in a finance class. Sachs would get lunch occasionally with Trump, but after their class together ended, he heard less from him… > > “I was lost — I didn’t get it,” Sachs said of Trump’s public persona. “I thought he kept two sides to his life, as some people are capable of doing.” ---
**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:** [February 21, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/142 "2017-02-21T01:29:31Z")
This guy is like a dog with a bone. He just can’t let go of a thing. Weird. “Trump Pursues His Attack on Sweden, With Scant Evidence” [https://nyti.ms/2m14olP](https://nyti.ms/2m14olP) > [@](#): > > LONDON — President Trump escalated his attack on Sweden’s migration policies on Monday, doubling down on his suggestion — based on a Fox News report — that refugees in the Scandinavian country were behind a surge in crime and terrorism… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/143 "2017-02-21T01:33:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What my assumption is, is that Fred was talking up his son Donald, and boasted that he graduated first in his class, the reporter never looked into it, and it’s since been reported as fact. The New York Times, the home of Jayson Blair? Yes, that sounds about right. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/144 "2017-02-21T01:51:36Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > The New York Times, the home of Jayson Blair? Yes, that sounds about right. Yes, that New York Times. What infallible news source do you have? At least reporters like him get crucified and exposed by their own paper for pulling that sort of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/145 "2017-02-21T03:16:53Z")
If, say, a small religious minority in the US were to see a significant uptick in harassment, in an apparently coordinated campaign of intimidation, what would we expect the President to do? Cuz it looks like Jewish community centers across the country have been getting lots of bomb threats lately, including one in Chicago today. And here in the St. Louis area, about 100 headstones were damaged at a Jewish cemetery today. I don’t, of course, hold Trump personally responsible for every antisemitic incident. But, he’s certainly not going out of his way to condemn the antisemitism, is he? And since he somehow managed to release a statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day that didn’t even mention the Jews, I’m not holding my breath waiting for him to issue a robust defense of Jews being targeted here in the US. > **[South Side Jewish Community Center Receives Bomb Threat](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/south-side-jewish-community-center-receives-bomb-threat/)** > > Addie Goodman, the executive vice president of Jewish Community Center Chicago, said it was the Hyde Park JCC - locally - that received this latest threat on Monday. > **[Vandals target historic Jewish cemetery in University City](https://fox2now.com/news/vandals-target-historic-jewish-cemetery-in-university-city/)** > > UNIVERSITY CITY, MO (KTVI) – Investigators with the University City Police Department are working to determine who knocked over or damaged dozens of headstones at a local Jewish cemetery over the w… ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/146 "2017-02-21T03:31:59Z")
> [@lbrevolution](#): > > The only ones left that are not a threat or dange or terrorist to trump r are White Extremist groups and the Saudis Welcome to the SDMB,\*\* lbrevolution\*\*! > [@Quartz](#): > > The New York Times, the home of Jayson Blair? Yes, that sounds about right. The New York Times, pretty much\* the \*newspaper of the nation? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/147 "2017-02-21T07:29:11Z")
Does the world really have no recourse, and have to standby letting this idiot run the country into the ground? Are we really that helpless? I suspect there will be a thorough revamp to the rules of the democratic election process after this. Qualifications, or experience, or some other limitation on who can actually be allowed in the running. Careful not to restrict to too much elitism, fair and reasonable limits seem a prudent and inevitable development in the aftermath of this insanity. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2017, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/148 "2017-02-21T09:29:24Z")
Nah, I’m no longer worried about that, **GuanoLad**. Anyone, literally anyone else who will run in the future is bound to be far above the bar set with Agent Orange. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/149 "2017-02-21T11:48:59Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > It’s a dominance display, pure and simple. I want to see what happens the day he tries that and the other guy doesn’t move an inch. [Here you go](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/feb/14/donald-trumps-strange-handshake-style-and-how-justin-trudeau-beat-it-video-explainer). (There are a surprisingly large number of articles about the Trudeau handshake from left and right news sources, so I went with the first one with a video.) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/150 "2017-02-21T14:14:30Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yes, that New York Times. What infallible news source do you have? At least reporters like him get crucified and exposed by their own paper for pulling that sort of shit. And there’s the rub: the NYT covered up for him for a long while. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/151 "2017-02-21T14:30:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yes, that New York Times. What infallible news source do you have? At least reporters like him get crucified and exposed by their own paper for pulling that sort of shit. Fourteen years ago the dude stole quotes and faked interviews. Twice in the last week I’ve seen some Doper citing Blair as reason to distrust the Times. At least pick a reporter whose failures had some consequences, like Judith Miller. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/152 "2017-02-21T14:34:45Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > And there’s the rub: the NYT covered up for him for a long while. Got a cite for that? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/153 "2017-02-21T18:12:16Z")
Trump has, at least, finally spoken out against antisemitic violence and intimidation. By his standards, it was a fairly coherent statement, free of self aggrandizement. He also said, “I certainly hope they catch the people.” Yes, I hope “they” do. If only the President had resources at his disposal to help local authorities investigate crimes. Alas, it looks like the local police are on their own. Well, I hope they find those awful people. > **[Trump calls rising violence aimed at Jews ‘horrible and painful’](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/02/21/trump-calls-rising-violence-aimed-at-jews-horrible-and-painful/?utm_term=.6d8412124848)** > > The president has been under growing pressure to forcefully condemn the violence. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/154 "2017-02-21T20:07:22Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Got a cite for that? I don’t know if there’s anything more damning, but there are some mentions in the Times’s mea culpa of previous issues with Blair: > [@](#): > > The Times inquiry also establishes that various editors and reporters expressed misgivings about Mr. Blair’s reporting skills, maturity and behavior during his five-year journey from raw intern to reporter on national news events. Their warnings centered mostly on the errors in his articles. > > His mistakes became so routine, his behavior so unprofessional, that by April 2002, Jonathan Landman, the metropolitan editor, dashed off a two-sentence e-mail message to newsroom administrators that read: ‘‘We have to stop Jayson from writing for the Times. Right now.’’ > After taking a leave for personal problems and being sternly warned, both orally and in writing, that his job was in peril, Mr. Blair improved his performance. By last October, the newspaper’s top two editors – who said they believed that Mr. Blair had turned his life and work around – had guided him to the understaffed national desk, where he was assigned to help cover the Washington sniper case. > > By the end of that month, public officials and colleagues were beginning to challenge his reporting. By November, the investigation has found, he was fabricating quotations and scenes, undetected. By March, he was lying in his articles and to his editors about being at a court hearing in Virginia, in a police chief’s home in Maryland and in front of a soldier’s home in West Virginia. By the end of April another newspaper was raising questions about plagiarism. And by the first of May, his career at The Times was over. You can read the whole thing here: [https://mobile.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/us/correcting-the-record-times-reporter-who-resigned-leaves-long-trail-of-deception.html](https://mobile.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/us/correcting-the-record-times-reporter-who-resigned-leaves-long-trail-of-deception.html) I don’t think this is fairly described as “cover[ing] up,” as Quartz called it. (In fairness to Q, it was a long time ago - I’d forgotten the details myself.\*) I also think the post-mortem report speaks well of the Times’s overall professionalism, even though they made a bad call in giving this guy a second chance without adequate supervision. - which makes it less relevant to judging the Times’s credibility, of course ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2017, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/155 "2017-02-26T07:55:18Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Bill Maher had a stand-up bit where he’d quip that the US had “fuckup fatigue” - that is to say, at that point news of gaffes and blunders would be immediately accepted with a shrug and a “well, what do you expect ? He’s a fuck up” instead of generating outrage or mockery. > > I’ve got lunatic fatigue already, and I’m not even American. [Oh Dear](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcy8uLjRHPM) ---
**Author:** ![Fruitbat2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Fruitbat2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fruitbat2)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2017, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/156 "2017-02-26T08:34:11Z")
As to the thread title, yes, I think Donald Trump is really that bad and worse. He is rather terrifying. I hope we can get rid of him soon. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/157 "2017-02-28T23:25:08Z")
[Trump calls for millions to rally-- dozens show up!](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-rallies-fizzle_us_58b4e665e4b0780bac2cb5e2) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135/158 "2017-03-02T05:55:39Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [Trump calls for millions to rally-- dozens show up!](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-rallies-fizzle_us_58b4e665e4b0780bac2cb5e2) Bah! That’s just trick photography. Ordered by Obama! Everyone knows gazillions showed up! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-donald-trump-really-that-bad/779135.md?page=7)