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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to be watching with my jaw dropped as Trump goes into full meltdown at his press briefing?

456 replies

sadpapercourtesan · 13/04/2020 23:58

Is anyone else watching this?! He is literally ranting like a man possessed, I've never seen anything like it. He's declared war on the media (I know we're used to him lashing out at journalists but this is on another level)

I'm watching it on CNN and they have breaking news straplines like "Trump uses task force briefing to rewrite history on coronavirus response", "Angry Trump turns briefing into propaganda session" and "Angry Trump uses propaganda video, produced by government employees at taxpayers' expense"

He has just said, verbatim: "When somebody is President of the United States, that authority is total"

I thought our daily briefings were bullshit Shock

OP posts:
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Roussette · 17/04/2020 08:17

I'm sure Yes but the alternative of another 4 years of Trump? He's decimating the country. The US's standing in the world is rock bottom. Surely it can only be better (if not ideal) with Biden?

HelloToMyKitty · 17/04/2020 08:34

Much as I hate Trump, I'd find it pretty hard to vote for Biden either

Pretty much. I didn’t vote last time and I don’t plan on voting this time. I’m overseas but I could still register if there was someone worth voting for

Roussette · 17/04/2020 08:41

Would a VP choice by Biden make a difference Hello?
If so, who?

I'm just curious having never been a non-voter myself. That is not a criticism of you, that's just me Smile
I just can't imagine another 4 years with Trump because I think the country would be on its knees after that.

YesThatIsMyRealName · 17/04/2020 08:53

@rousette He has several allegations of sexual assault and there are countless videos of him feeling up young women. I could not vote for such a person and be ok with myself.

Roussette · 17/04/2020 09:02

Although Trump's assaults against women, in all shapes and forms, are far far worse of course.

I was just curious about this,

HelloToMyKitty · 17/04/2020 09:06

I hadn’t thought so but it’s possible. He has a high chance of not completing his term due to illness I think. It will be interesting to see who is picked, could be a game changer

KrakowDawn · 17/04/2020 10:22

I have been surprised at how Biden has managed to secure nomination despite those accusations. They seem very credible.

eddiemairswife · 17/04/2020 15:19

Do all rich American male politicians make a habit of groping women?

BlackKite · 17/04/2020 16:26

I have been surprised at how Biden has managed to secure nomination despite those accusations. They seem very credible.

There was a good article in the NYT on this the other day. This is a difficult one as the recent claims from Tara Reade aren't very credible for a whole lot of reasons.

Some of the other claims of him being a bit touchy-feely are more credible, but they're of a different scale than the accusations against Trump.

KrakowDawn · 17/04/2020 17:04

I saw the headline on NYT, but hadn't read the article. Will read later, thanks blackkite.

JudyCoolibar · 17/04/2020 17:09

I would really hate Trump to win again just because the Democrats can't put up a credible candidate against him. We desperately need another Obama.

HelloToMyKitty · 17/04/2020 17:26

I believe her.

Jaichangecentfoisdenom · 17/04/2020 19:27

@HelloToMyKitty - and do you also believe those whose pussies Trump grabbed, or don't they count?

HelloToMyKitty · 17/04/2020 19:56

Why would you think I wouldn’t?

Jaichangecentfoisdenom · 17/04/2020 20:40

Your attitude, I suppose.

HelloToMyKitty · 17/04/2020 20:54

Your attitude, I suppose

?

I just don’t think false accusations are all that common. Hasn’t this been already proven with stats?

YesThatIsMyRealName · 18/04/2020 00:08

"Some of the other claims of him being a bit touchy-feely are more credible, but they're of a different scale than the accusations against Trump."

There are years of videos of him kissing, touching and fondling women.

It's all the same thing, whether it's the aggressive "grab them by the pussy" Trump style or the skeezy "give your uncle Joe a kiss" style.

It's a blatant disregard for women's right to bodily autonomy.

Jaichangecentfoisdenom · 18/04/2020 08:15

I'll be honest, I don't want to believe this of Biden whereas I can well believe it of Trump. You're right, though, @YesThatIsMyRealName - to be consistent, I have to believe it of and condemn both of them. Angry

Parker231 · 18/04/2020 09:09

Stole this from another thread. I think it sums up Trump perfectly.

Someone on Quora asked “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind.

Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.

For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.

So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.

But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.

And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.

Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.

In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?'

If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

RosesandIris · 18/04/2020 09:12

That is an absolutely brilliant summary. Someone should cut and paste and post on Trumps twitter account

Blubelle7 · 18/04/2020 11:03

@Parker231

That is so incredibly accurate and well put.

TSSDNCOP · 18/04/2020 15:47

I have a hunch that the approach to exit lockdown that the Florida governor seems to be taking might go under the heading How Not to Exit Lockdown Confused

TheSparklyPussycat · 18/04/2020 16:20

What's the governor saying?

Porcupineinwaiting · 18/04/2020 17:58

Florida's coming out of lockdown. The state is full of retired folk so I can see that going well.

PigletJohn · 18/04/2020 22:01

Trumpists demand the right to catch and spread a fatal and incurable disease.

time.com/5823670/coronavirus-lockdown-protests-photo/

sigh.