I have read the biographies of many of our presidents. Their backgrounds provide insight into their behaviors. Many overcame incredible obstacles in their early lives.
Many sacrificed for their country in war or simply through personal hardship, over several years in some cases.
No, they were not perfect, they made mistakes, bad decisions on occasion, but they mostly focused on doing the right thing for our nation under the circumstances they faced.
There was a time in my memory when Republicans and Democrats worked together to build consensus, to mutually act in our collective interests.
Now we are tearing ourselves apart, promoting divisiveness, name calling, belittling, lying.
Our president, who should be the model for a united America, is instead the most prolific perpetrator of hate, division, lies racism, bigotry and fear.
I used to believe that no matter who is president we should respect the office. Mr. Trump has done nothing but disrespect the office and what it stands for.
There is no dignity left, no decorum or decency…no true leadership of our nation, just a malignant narcissist manipulating for more power and control.
Your dignified leader in action over the years. What is equally disturbing to me is that many of his MAGA supporters apparently see nothing wrong with this behavior.
Donald Trump’s political career has been uniquely defined by aggressive personal rhetoric, often using nicknames, physical insults, and severe questioning of his targets’ character, patriotism, or mental fitness. His targets have included political rivals, journalists, judges, public health officials, and former members of his own administration.
Below are some of the most prominent examples of his personal attacks.
During a summit in Iowa, Trump famously attacked Senator John McCain’s record as a Vietnam War veteran and prisoner of war, stating:
“He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
Trump tagged Clinton with the label “Crooked Hillary” and frequently suggested she belonged in prison, encouraging “Lock her up!” chants at rallies. During a 2016 debate, he remarked that if he were president, “you’d be in jail.”
During the 2016 Republican primaries, Trump targeted Senator Ted Cruz (“Lyin’ Ted”), re-tweeting an unflattering picture comparing Cruz’s wife Heidi to Melania Trump, and falsely linking Cruz’s father to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Beyond branding him “Sleepy Joe,” Trump repeatedly questioned Biden’s mental capacity, calling him “cognitively impaired” and alleging that Biden was the head of a “crime family.”
At a rally in South Carolina, Trump mocked New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis (a physical condition that affects joint movement). Trump imitated Kovaleski’s movements by flailing his arms on stage.
In a series of tweets directed at the Morning Joe co-host (“Crazy Mika”), Trump claimed she had been severely bleeding from a cosmetic procedure:
“I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me… how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!”
After Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, Trump publicly humiliated him for months on Twitter, calling him “disgraceful,” “weak,” and a “total disaster.”
After firing his Secretary of State, Trump tweeted that Tillerson was “dumb as a rock” and “lazy as hell.”
After his Defense Secretary opposed using active-duty troops during civil unrest, Trump referred to him as “Yesper” and described him as a “lightweight” and “ineffective.”
Following Attorney General Bill Barr’s statement that there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, Trump labeled Barr a “gutless pig,” “sluggish,” and a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only).
Trump repeatedly criticized the federal judge presiding over the Trump University lawsuit, claiming Curiel had an inherent conflict of interest because of his Mexican heritage (“He’s a Mexican. We’re building a wall between here and Mexico”), despite Curiel being born in Indiana.
After writer E. Jean Carroll accused him of sexual assault, Trump repeatedly attacked her character, calling her a “whack job,” claiming “she’s not my type,” and asserting the allegations were a total hoax—statements that subsequently led to multi-million dollar defamation judgments against him.
Trump has repeatedly called Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg a “Soros-backed animal” and a “psychopath,” while frequently referring to New York AG Letitia James as “Peekaboo” (a play on a racial slur) and “racist”.
Trump’s rhetoric often employs dehumanizing language toward specific political or social groups: Referring to political opponents on the left as “vermin” and the “enemy from within.”
Describing undocumented immigrants as “not human… they’re animals” or asserting that they are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
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