[Image: Screenshot from NBC News of Donald Trump speaking in Iowa, with the caption “What did Donald Trump think of the third night of the DNC?” and the headline, “Trump on DNC: ‘I Wanted to Hit Those Speakers So Hard'”]
Note/reminder: I am affiliated with no political party and endorse no presidential candidate at this time.
While watching Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech last night, I was browsing social media and came across a clip of Donald Trump saying what he thought of the speakers at the DNC. He said that he wished he could hit them. In particular, he wanted to hit a “very little guy… so hard that his head would spin and he wouldn’t know what the hell happened.”
These were Trump’s actual, exact words. Watch the clip for yourself.
As bombastic as Trump has been throughout his career and campaign, I was incredulous that he would speak these words as a serious presidential candidate. Though the clip appeared to be genuine, I actually contacted the fact-checking site Snopes, whose “What’s New” page I’ve had opened in a tab in my browser for months now. They replied that NBC News is a reliable source, so it was legit.
This is toxic masculinity at its baldest, echoed throughout social media from bullies who cry that “social justice warriors” are trying to take away their “free speech“. Trump is expressing, unfiltered, the desires of the “silent majority” he claims as his supporters.
And sadly, this is why I agree with Michael Moore that Trump will likely win. This is a nation of bullies. Little guys like me don’t stand a chance.
ETA: I’ve published an open letter on Medium in response to Donald Trump’s statements.
A recent issue of the New Yorker magazine contained a lengthy article (by Jane Mayer) about the ghostwriter of Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal”. That ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz, appears to have great regrets over his writing of that book since it seemed to have contributed greatly to the “legend” of Donald Trump.
The article is a worthwhile read…and a scary one. Here’s a quote attributed to Mr. Schwartz from the article: “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.”
I suspect “bully” is a description for Mr. Trump that way underestimates his potential for bizarre destructiveness.
The article can be read here: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all
Thanks for the link. Truly frightening. And yet- perhaps this man, and his potential future as head of state, is the inevitable end-product of capitalism.