# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070 "2016-12-07T00:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2170
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43387 "2020-05-12T16:46:37Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > You should ask Phil Rucker of the _Washington Post_. When he asked Trump more or less the same thing yesterday, twice, all Donnie said was, “You know what I’m talking about”. > > Clearly, the answer is “Covfefe”. I think the follow-up question should have been “Do _ **you** _ know what you’re talking about?” ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43388 "2020-05-12T17:03:44Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > [That’s the fun, nobody knows!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=896038) Nah, I think _his people_ know - they got the secret decoder pen. It’s the rest of us who have to decode what Obamagate is supposed to mean, but I guess it’s a signal that he’s floating the idea of opening up criminal investigations on Obama’s people, and maybe Obama himself. That doesn’t mean he would actually succeed in taking it anywhere, but he’ll use it as a way to polarize people. That’s been his ‘strategy’ since day one, and it’ll be what he resorts to until the election is over. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43389 "2020-05-12T17:14:58Z")
Trump is a colossal POS but I don’t think his “Ask China” remark had anything to do with the reporter’s genetics. His critics will look like fools if they pursue that angle. There is SO much more to be critical of. Stay focused, people. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43390 "2020-05-12T17:18:00Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Trump is a colossal POS but I don’t think his “Ask China” remark had anything to do with the reporter’s genetics. His critics will look like fools if they pursue that angle. There is SO much more to be critical of. Stay focused, people. Probably true, I think it’s questionable whether he asked her that question specifically because she’s Asian. However, there is a point to be made that most thinking people would have the cognitive wherewithal to preview that sentence in their head, consider the person being addressed, and slam the brain-\>mouth portcullis down. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43391 "2020-05-12T17:20:34Z")
504 dupe ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43392 "2020-05-12T17:23:15Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Probably true, I think it’s questionable whether he asked her that question specifically because she’s Asian. > > However, there is a point to be made that most thinking people would have the cognitive wherewithal to preview that sentence in their head, consider the person being addressed, and slam the brain-\>mouth portcullis down. If you eliminate the race of the reporter as a rationale, then the exchange: Reporter: Why do you see testing as a competition? Trump: Ask China. just becomes bizarre and stupid. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43393 "2020-05-12T17:29:06Z")
A succinct assessment: > [@](#): > > A couple of years ago, BuzzFeed asked a former White House official to explain the logic behind some bizarre Trump action. The official responded with one of the master quotes of the Trump era. > > President Trump, the official said, is not playing “the sort of three-dimensional chess people ascribe to decisions like this. More often than not he’s just eating the pieces.” > > Over Mother’s Day and then through Monday—and who knows, perhaps continuing today—Trump has fired off hundreds of rounds of weapons-grade lunacy on Twitter. When Trump does this kind of thing, many are ready with an explanation: _He’s rallying his base; he’s distracting his critics; he’s challenging the existence of reality itself._ > … > > Trump’s psychology is defined by his terror of rejection. The most stinging insult in his vast vocabulary of disdain is _loser_. > … > > Trump is all about Trump. That’s always been true. For three years, though, Trump was protected from himself by the prosperity he inherited from others. Trump has squandered that prosperity, as he previously squandered the fortune bequeathed by his father. The consequences are here. The fairy tales Trump tells on Twitter will not conceal those consequences from the voters Trump needs. > > They weren’t listening before. Now they are. And what they hear is not: _Obama was mean to me_. What they hear is: _I cannot do this job._ > > [Source](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/trump-has-lost-plot/611548/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+TheAtlantic+%2528The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%2529) Italics in original. 🙂 New fave term “weapons-grade lunacy.” ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43394 "2020-05-12T17:29:53Z")
[quote=“TonySinclair, post:43361, topic:774070”] I’ve never trusted the WHO. If they have their way, we’ll be fighting in the streets, with our children at our feet, and the morals that they worship will be gone. [/QUOTE] Well done. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43395 "2020-05-12T17:58:20Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > If you eliminate the race of the reporter as a rationale, then the exchange: > > Reporter: Why do you see testing as a competition? > Trump: Ask China. > > just becomes bizarre and stupid. And you find that to be unlikely? Occam’s Razor at it’s sharpest. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43396 "2020-05-12T18:00:39Z")
Not unlikely in the least. As a matter of fact, the answer to the question “Is Trump racist or just unhinged?” is “why not both?” ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43397 "2020-05-12T18:01:44Z")
dup ---
**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:** [May 12, 2020, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43398 "2020-05-12T18:17:35Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Probably true, I think it’s questionable whether he asked her that question specifically because she’s Asian. There is no question at all that a person’s race or gender plays into what that damn dirty lying sack of dung says to or about a person. > [@](#): > > However, there is a point to be made that most thinking people would have the cognitive wherewithal to preview that sentence in their head, consider the person being addressed, and slam the brain-\>mouth portcullis down. Well, that would, of course, require a person to have a brain with which to think. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43399 "2020-05-12T18:19:56Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > … it does make a person run for the eye-bleach. If you injec— uh, nevermind ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43400 "2020-05-12T18:23:29Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Trump is a colossal POS but I don’t think his “Ask China” remark had anything to do with the reporter’s genetics. His critics will look like fools if they pursue that angle. There is SO much more to be critical of. Stay focused, people. Personally, I think it was one of his attempts to distract by way of racism. This approach has worked so well for him many times before. However, I agree with you that there are much more disturbing aspects to the “press conference” than just the typical racism. In what world are we tolerant and accepting of a “president” who simply wanders away from the microphones and ducks into the White House when the questions become too harrrrrrrrrd? ETA: The fun had in the Twitterverse with the 1984-style signage has been pretty funny, though. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43401 "2020-05-12T18:29:13Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > In what world are we tolerant and accepting of a “president” who simply wanders away from the microphones and ducks into the White House when the questions become too harrrrrrrrrd? For President Snowflake, he found that this was a haaarrrrd question: “So, what do you say Americans who are scared, I guess? Nearly 200 dead and 14,000 who are sick and millions as you witness who are scared right now, what do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?” I mean, this was a softball question. This was painfully easy to answer. This is where a human with one iota of intelligence simply says comforting words - assurances that the government has things under control, that we know what we’re doing, that everything is going to be OK… Easy. But no. Not for the thin-skinned buffoon. No. He had to go off and insult the reporter. President Baby Spittle could not even understand that he’d been just given a golden opportunity to look like a leader. Instead, he chose to look like a pathetic man-baby who just wanted to piss himself and throw shit at others. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43402 "2020-05-12T18:36:46Z")
The way he pronounces the word China, (sort of like Chi-NAH) like he’s saying it sarcastically, is one of the least petty of his mannerisms. But it bugs me every time he does it. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43403 "2020-05-12T18:42:21Z")
Don’t forget, this is the same journalist that reported White House staff referring to COVID-19 as the Kung Flu to her face. I’m still surprised that in 2020 people (including much of this board) excuse the sort of lazy, passive racism that gets tossed around just because it’s not explicit. As for benefit of the doubt, any that survived the 2016 Presidential campaign into the oval office dried up years ago. And that doesn’t just go for the lazy, passive racism, it also goes for the lazy, passive misogyny, the lazy, passive religious bigotry, and the lazy, passive homophobia, as well as the explicit forms of those. They get zero benefit of the doubt at this point, because they’ve proven time and time again they don’t deserve any. There are so many Charlie Browns around here just begging Trump and ilk to Lucy the heck out of that football just one more time. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43404 "2020-05-12T18:47:52Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Trump is a colossal POS but I don’t think his “Ask China” remark had anything to do with the reporter’s genetics. His critics will look like fools if they pursue that angle. There is SO much more to be critical of. Stay focused, people. Well, this is the same guy who, after asking several times where she was _really_ from, said an Intelligence Analyst of Asian decent should be negotiating with North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43405 "2020-05-12T18:48:26Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I mean, this was a softball question. This was painfully easy to answer. This is where a human with one iota of intelligence simply says comforting words - assurances that the government has things under control, that we know what we’re doing, that everything is going to be OK… Easy. Well, a full answer to a question like that would also include showing empathy, uniting people and alluding, even in a superficial way, to the actual science. So basically kryptonite for him. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43406 "2020-05-12T18:49:43Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The way he pronounces the word China, (sort of like Chi-NAH) like he’s saying it sarcastically, is one of the least petty of his mannerisms. But it bugs me every time he does it. Kind of like the way George H.W. Bush used to pronounce Saddam Hussein _suh- **DAMM** _ (rhymes with _sha- **ZAM** _) instead of the way the rest of the world pronounced it. :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2169) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2171)