At one point in his campaign, Donal Trump boasted that he could go out and shoot someone in the street and people would still vote for him. Yesterday, a taped conversation from eleven years ago showed him shooting himself in a vulnerable area. Will people still vote for him?
It’s fair to say that reaction has been negative. On the tape, Trump is heard telling of how he grabs women and there’s no resistance because he’s a star. That not surprisingly provoked a hailstorm of criticism, not least from leading Republicans. Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Washington, said he was sickened, and ducked out of appearing alongside Trump in his home state of Wisconsin. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, said the remarks were “unacceptable in any circumstances.” (This related to attempted defence of the remarks by Trump allies, who talked about “locker-room banter”.) Trump defended himself by claiming he’d heard far worse on the golf-course with Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton ignored the obvious red herring and said what most of the world would agree with : “We cannot allow this man to become President”.
Where to start? Maybe with the interviewer, Billy Bush, a cousin of Jeb and George Bush. He can be heard chortling hysterically with every fresh (or should that be stinking?) sentence from Trump’s lips. It’s hard to think of something less tasteful than Trump’s words, but Billy’s approving giggles come near.
Were Trump to become President, he’d join a long line of Presidents – among them JFK and Bill Clinton – who used their office to ensure a string of women were readily available to them. So you could say “Nothing new here” in the case of Trump. You could also say that a man might be the least faithful of husbands and the most effective of Presidents, and you’d be right. Jimmy Carter was and is a genuinely good man but few would describe him as an outstanding President.
I think two things are particularly repulsive in Trump’s case. The first is that he is seeking to impress/amuse his listener: he’s boasting about the ease with which he can get beautiful women. The second is that his approach to them is abusive and brutish: “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything”. That smells less of seduction and more of the pig-sty. The American public forgive sexual away-days in their Presidents to a remarkable degree. Everyone knows Bill Clinton lied when he eyeballed the TV camera and said “I did not have sexual relations with that young woman”. Everyone knows that JFK had a thing with Marilyn Monroe and dozens of others. But what the American public hasn’t been asked to do so far is to elect as President someone who sees women as easy meat and expects to be admired for it. Somebody with notions of right and wrong so totally skewed they verge on deranged. What if he were elected? What if he thought pressing the button would be the ultimate expression of his alpha male stature?
Trump is an American bully with the moral compass of a sewer rat. I have enough confidence in the American public that they’ll maintain the White House as a vermin-free zone
What is it that gives you that confidence in the American public?
They’ve put him forward as the Republican nominee out of the many options presented to them.
Yes he trails Clinton but even after everything he’s said and done he’s not that far behind.
This is a guy who is a proven compulsive liar, who will even stick to the lie when shown that he’s lied.
Has several bankruptcies, several failed businesses, several failed marriages, openly misogynistic, openly racist and yet he still only slightly trails Clinton.
I wish I had your confidence Jude.
“You can call me a cock-eyed optimist/Immature and incurably green” – South Pacific
Perhaps the most telling blow, Esteemed Blogmeister, in the first of the Presidential Debates was the one landed early on by former Republican, Hillary Rodham:
-You started off by inheriting 14 million dollars from your father, Donald.
After that it was all doon hill for the orange-haired son of a Sheprechaun-speaking mother from Stornaway.
Confucius say: mere man no match for mighty woman when it come to two thing – handbag and chinwag.
THE SMIRK IS MIGHTIER THAN THE DIRK
Go on,The D, hit me with this smile on my dial
This wonder of Botox wider than a metric mile
The D is built
Right for a kilt
To reach doon for the dirk is a waste of while.
It would be, probably will be but the US sabre rattling with Russia is scaring some away from Clinton.
Trump for president reminds me of democracy:
It is the worst system of government – until you try all the rest!
The alternative to Trump being Hillary – how could any sensible person vote for her?
Of all the millions of people in the US, how could such a supposedly great country come up with two such dumbos – and that’s putting it politely?
” I have enough confidence in the American public that they’ll maintain the White House as a vermin-free zone”
Jude, I agreed with your article until we came to this sentence. The White House is riddled with vermin. I’m not necessarily referring to US Presidents themselves or their families, many US Presidents were decent people, some were clearly not though. There is many Israeli born staff in the White House, they are the ones who make the big decisions and its them who make American taxpayers pay billions to fund the Israeli military, the same military that have massacred Palestinians going back decades. That’s mainly who I’m referring to when I refer to vermin.
“The second is that his approach to them is abusive and brutish: “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything”
Unfortunately, and I’m only being honest, this is the way most men talk about women. I have 4 brothers, a brother in law and many male cousins, friends, etc and when we’re sitting around watching the GAA/soccer/rugby we sometimes talk/joke about women, not in the same crude way Trump did though, I want to make that clear but we have a laugh and joke amongst ourselves. Will that ever change? No. Your taking life far too seriously if you DO want it to change. But I agree the way Trump and many other men speak about women, the language used, is going too far. It comes across as very sleazy. Its not the same way most men would joke about women in Ireland or the UK, or in Europe in general, in my opinion. Trump and Billy were displaying American humour and that is pretty common amongst men in the USA. There seems to be zero respect for women. Yes, we all like to joke about many things but there’s always a line you shouldn’t cross.
But this crude behaviour isn’t just unique to men, women can be crude as well. I’ve been in groups where women have spoke very crudely of men, referring to men’s private parts and referring to their boyfriends and what they have got up to and laughing about it. Go to any night club at the weekend where women gather and you’ll see what I mean. I’m sure most people know what I’m talking about and have experienced what I’m talking about. Some women have the nickname “Cougar”, its used for a woman who is older but who sexually chases after much younger men. All this can come across very sleazy and crude too.
So what Trump has said is basically what millions upon millions of other American men say on a daily basis. True, he’s running for US President but there’s no point pretending that this behaviour is unique only to Trump, its very common.
When it comes to Hillary Clinton, you can be sure she has said a few things in her time which was just as bad or worse than what Trump has said. I don’t remember the book/article but apparently someone who worked with the Clintons wrote that Hillary has got violent with Bill on many occasions, domestic violence in other words. This person said Hillary called Bill a “f*cking loser” when he suggested she stand down from the Presidential race due to her health.
The way I look at it, everyone has said/did stuff they now regret. Trump is no different. I really do think Trump is going to win the Presidential race. Honestly, I don’t really like Trump or Hillary, one way or another its bad news for the USA and the World when one of them gets elected.
“There is many Israeli born staff in the White House, they are the ones who make the big decisions
That’s mainly who I’m referring to when I refer to vermin.”
Are we ok with this sort of language?
The Irish born miiltarists of physical force republicanism massacred their fellow Irish men and women and children. Clearly they were vermin.
I’ve long held the belief that this election race was a stitch up to get Hilary elected. Trump was probably egged on by his ‘friends’ and colleagues to run for office but unbeknownst to him he was simply there to make Hilary look good. Let’s be honest, any other half decent republican candidate wouldve been a serious threat to Clintons White House ambitions. But just like the brexit result when ‘buffoons’ like boris Johnston were placed in the ‘bad’ side, it could backfire big time. One things for sure the masses are stirring. Will the revolting peasants hold their noses and vote for the revolting trump anyway?
I will happily vote for Hillary and I am not a stupid person. I have watched Republicans put up accusation after accusation against her and most don’t stick. She has a long record of working for health care reform, and for children. She has experience in the Senate and in dealing with foreign leaders. ( Benghazi was not her fault. Congress refused to fund extra security) She’s intelligent, measured in expressing her thoughts and I don’t need a cuddly person for president. I need a president who is not a bigoted, racist, anti-“others” anti-immigrant leader. If all of that makes me stupid so be it. I don’t agree with her on everything, but that’s almost too much to ask for. Trump would not only be a disaster for our country but for the world and a third party vote is a wasted vote.
So Delores, can you give me your take on Hilary when she gleefully welcomed the rape and murder of Col. Gadaffi? “We came, we saw, he died!”
Is that the words and actions of one who should be commander in chief of the most potent nation in the world?
Btw, Libya was nothing to do with ‘protecting Libyans from a brutal dictator’ but rather a pure over throwing of a govt that just basically didn’t bow to the US bidding.
God help America whichever of them two are elected but God help Asia and the Middle East if Hilary is the chosen one. Stupid is as stupid does.