From psychoanalyzing Donald Trump as an “unhinged” “sociopath” to blaming Fox News and the GOP agenda for “re-animating” the Nazis, liberal reporters, writers and hosts have spent the last few weeks of summer using heated rhetoric to denounce conservative Republicans and Trump as a bunch of haters advancing a “white supremacy agenda.”
Trump’s DACA decision was deemed “one of the most cruel acts we’ve seen in the presidency” by CNN’s David Gergen. Former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw called it a continuation of the GOP’s long “war on Hispanics,” while MSNBC guest political analyst Karine Jean-Pierre claimed it was all part of Trump’s advancing of “a white supremacy agenda.” And the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin condemned that the “The party of Lincoln” was “driven by irrational anger” and that it deserved “extinction.”
The airwaves were also full of armchair psychotherapists as the likes of CNN’s Don Lemon and MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch observed that the “unhinged” Trump had displayed “many of the traits of a sociopath.”
Hollywood celebrities took their shots as well. HBO host Bill Maher claimed the “perfect storm” of Trump and Fox News had collected the “the DNA of the Nazis and re-animated it.” And it was all too much for Netflix host Chelsea Handler who demanded that the “generals surrounding our idiot-in-chief” remove the President from office.
The following is a collection of worst media and celebrity outbursts from the past month:
[LANGUAGE WARNING]
Trump’s “Cruel” DACA Decision = “White Supremacy Agenda”
“This is one of the most cruel acts we’ve seen in the presidency in a long time....I’m afraid since Charlottesville and the talk about the white supremacists and putting them on the same level as protesters....[The pardon of Sheriff Joe] Arpaio and now this....Increasingly there is a sign out there that’s been hung up in the White House or outside the White House saying, if you’re not white, you’re not especially welcome.”
— CNN’s Senior Political Analyst David Gergen on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, September 5.
“We’re hearing tomorrow that he might – he [Donald Trump] might do away with DACA, which is another moral line that he would be crossing, which is something that would be enforcing – advancing a white supremacy agenda, and also against what the majority of Americans want.”
— MSNBC guest political analyst and Bustle.com contributing editor Karine Jean-Pierre on MSNBC Live, September 4.
DACA Just Latest Attack in GOP’s “War on Hispanics”
“I think what happened is a continuation of the Republican determination to cut out Hispanic votes on their side, for as long as we can see....For a long, long time, the Republican Party has been declaring war on Hispanics in this country.”
— Former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, September 6.
Racist GOP Deserves “Extinction”
“Of all the actions Trump has taken, none has been as cruel, thoughtless or divisive as deporting hundreds of thousands of young people who’ve done nothing but go to school, work hard and present themselves to the government. The party of Lincoln has become the party of Charlottesville, Arpaio, DACA repeal and the Muslim ban. Embodying the very worst sentiments and driven by irrational anger, it deserves not defense but extinction.”
— Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin in September 4 online blog post “Ending DACA would be Trump’s most evil act.”
Trump Voters Deserve to Get Flooded?
“My story was focused on climate change and on the idea that middle class and poor people would be some of the first people hurt by climate change and there’s this idea that these storms, these hurricanes are getting worse and worse, scientists say, and that working class and poor people, poor people that voted for President Trump, that are excited about this presidency, that thought his presidency would improve his lives, that these are the same people who can’t afford to get into their car and drive four or five hours, or can’t afford a hotel room to try to escape these floods.”
— New York Times reporter Yamiche Alcindor on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House,
August 28.
MSNBC Then and Now
“[Donald Trump is] going to Texas tomorrow and there’s real concern that his going there is going to have to divert, at least a little bit, some resources away from the rescue effort and toward him.”
— Host Katy Tur on MSNBC’s Meet the Press Daily, August 28.
Vs.
“New Orleans. For him [George W. Bush], it is a shame, in all senses of the word. A few changes of pronouns in there and he might not have looked so much like a 21st century Marie Antoinette.”
— Host Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s Countdown, September 5, 2005.
Psychoanalyzing “Crazy” “Sociopath” “Basket Case” Trump
“[Republican] members publicly, privately are acknowledging that guy is a basket case, that he cannot serve, he cannot lead the party. My regret is they’ve all been so cowardly for so long and did nothing to stop him and it took this long to whisper on background that he was unfit. Where were the folks seven months ago, ten months ago, two years ago?”
— Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, August 22.
“I did some homework and there’s nothing glib about this....‘How to Determine if Someone is a Sociopath.’ A person – a sociopath is a condition that prohibits people from adopting to ethical and behavioral standards of a community....They believe their own beliefs and opinions are the absolute authority and disregard others....They have trouble suppressing emotional responses like anger, impatience or annoyance. They do bizarre, risky, and outrageous things without assessing repercussions. They’re professional liars. They fabricate stories and make outlandish, untruthful statements and they get comfort with their lying....They’re manipulative....And it’s interesting so many of the traits of a sociopath that this man [Donald Trump] is displaying.”
— MSNBC analyst Donny Deutsch on Deadline: White House, August 23.
“It’s usually after the microphones are off, of after the stories been filed, after the paper has been put to bed, people’s concerns and fears and questions come out. Questions that often feel out of bounds, off limits, too hot for TV. Questions like these: Is the President of the United States a racist? Is he suffering from some kind of illness? Is he fit for office?...My impression has been since President Trump’s inauguration, there’s been a lot of tiptoeing going on. His actions have been described as un-presidential, as unhinged, and sometimes even crazy.”
— Host Brian Stelter on CNN’s Reliable Sources, August 20.
“Now we’re getting the ramifications as a nation of what having a sick man in the White House means. He’s not mentally stable...I think we’re at that state now when the five generals of the joint chiefs of staff have to go out and enter politics and say we want nothing to do with what the president is saying. It is a crisis going on in the White House, and it is about Trump’s fitness for command.”
— CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley on Reliable Sources, August 20.
“Unhinged” Trump Delivers Speech Devoid of “Reason” “Facts” and “Sanity”
“He’s unhinged, it’s embarrassing and I don’t mean for us, the media because he went after us, but for the country. This is who we elected President of the United States....There was no gravitas. There was no sanity....If you watch that speech as an American, you had to be thinking what in the world is going on? This is the person we elected as President of the United States? This petty, this small, a person who who’s supposed to pull the country together?”
— Host Don Lemon reacting to Trump speech in Arizona, on CNN Tonight, August 22.
Russia Is Bad But Trump’s Disregard for Environment Will Kill Us
“The Russia investigation has the potential to be the biggest scandal in American political history. But even if it ends up bringing down a presidency in spectacular fashion (and I think we are still a long, long, way from that happening), historians may look back at it as a blip compared to a scandal that has the ability to damage our planet irrevocably — a process that is already well underway. Make no mistake, the inability of many of our nation’s elected officials to take climate change seriously is a scandal of epic proportions. It is the equivalent of seeing hostile troops massing at our borders and saying ‘Nevermind. No need for alarm. That’s just fake news.’”
— August 8 Facebook post by disgraced former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather.
Maybe Ask that Question to Bill Clinton, Anthony Weiner, Etc.
“Eric Bolling suspended from #Fox News for sexting. Serious question: Does political orientation predict harassment?”
— August 5 tweet from MSNBC political analyst and Huffington Post Editorial Director Howard Fineman.
“Should It?”
“If North Korea sent missiles toward Guam or the US, could the US missile defense system shoot them down? Should it?”
— August 10 tweet from The Associated Press’s official Twitter account.
America Founded by “Theocratic Cult of Religious Nuts”
Author/public radio host Kurt Andersen: “America is exceptionally religious, has always been exceptionally religious compared to the rest – ”
Host Charlie Rose: “Founded by people who were seeking religious freedom.”
Andersen: “Well that’s one – that’s a charitable way of putting it. Founded also by a theocratic cult of religious nuts.”
Rose: “Okay. Right, right.”
— PBS’s Charlie Rose show, August 7.
Keith’s Twitter Tirades
“Gorka resigns. So the Day isn’t a total loss. Now leave the country, @SebGorka, you Nazi fuck.”
— August 25 Tweet by former MSNBC host and current GQ commentator Keith Olbermann.
“You and @Potus can go fuck yourselves, you racist Nazi fucks.”
— August 25 Tweet directed at Sheriff Joe Arpaio by former MSNBC host and current GQ commentator Keith Olbermann.
“The hurricane is going to do less damage to schools than you are, Motherfucker”
— August 26 Tweet by former MSNBC host and current GQ commentator Keith Olbermann in response to tweet from Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos: “Our prayers are with all those in the path of #HurricaneHarvey. @usedgov stands ready to assist impacted schools.”
Hideous Headlines
“How Trump is enabling famine”
— Headline for August 20 column by Washington Post Deputy Editorial Page Editor Jackson Diehl.
“Let’s Blow Up Mount Rushmore”
— Headline for August 17 Vice.com post by Wilbert Cooper about removing Confederate statues. The headline was later changed to “Let’s Get Rid of Mt. Rushmore.”
“Why Women Had Better Sex Under Socialism”
— New York Times headline for August 12 article by University of Pennsylvania Professor Kristin Ghodsee.
“Unmasking the leftist Antifa movement: Activists seek peace through violence”
— Headline to August 18 CNN.com article by reporters Sara Ganim and Chris Welch. The headline was later changed to “Unmasking the leftist Antifa movement.”
Fox News and Trump “Re-animated” the Nazis
“I truly believe Fox News, as much as we blame them all the time, it’s not enough. They are the Jurassic Park that took the DNA of the Nazis and re-animated it. I absolutely believe that. I believe that without Fox News for years giving the kind of poison they give over their airwaves, putting it into people’s heads, and then the Internet I think, which, people say they’re radicalized on the Internet....Before if you were a neo-Nazi, unless you found somebody in town at the coffee shop, now you can find them on the Internet. And then the President gave permission to them. So, Fox News, the Internet, Donald Trump that’s the perfect storm.”
— Host Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time, August 18.
Trump Responsible for Protestor’s Death
“Metaphorically speaking, yesterday the President stood in the middle of 5th Ave and shot somebody. Her name was Heather Heyer.”
— August 13 tweet by actor Michael Ian Black about Charlottesville protest victim.
Time to Overthrow Trump!
“To all the generals surrounding our idiot-in-chief...the longer U wait to remove him, the longer UR name will appear negatively in history.”
— August 11 tweet by Netflix host and comedian Chelsea Handler.
All Americans Should Kneel In Protest With Kaepernick
“Considering how black people have been treated in this country, the whole stadium should get on their knee for the national anthem.”
— Host Bill Maher discussing NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protests on HBO’s Real Time, August 25.
