Donald Trump’s rhetoric is growing more and more extreme.
From describing his political opponents as “vermin” to arguing that immigration is “poisoning the blood of our country” to favorably quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin, the former president is increasingly embracing the rhetoric of authoritarians.
Given that, I think it’s of increasing importance to document what, exactly, he is saying. Which is where these posts come in.
What I am trying to do here is two-fold: 1) Make sure people see what Trump is actually saying on the campaign trail (because I think what he says really matters) and 2) bring a little levity to all of this because, in the words of Q-Tip: “I really can't say, I guess I laugh to keep from crying.”
These posts are paywalled. Why? Because they take a considerable amount of time to do — Trump generally speaks for a looooong time — and I feel that expenditure of effort is best spent on the folks who have taken the step of investing in me.
Become one of those people today! Right here:
Trump was in Reno over the weekend — ahead of that state’s caucus, which he is running away with. The lines you need to see from his speech are below. You can read the full speech here.
“And let me begin by wishing you all a very, very Merry Christmas. Very merry.
Remember we had to defend that term about seven years ago. We had to defend the words, Merry Christmas. We don’t have to defend it anymore.”
Of all the strange fights Trump takes on (and makes up), this one is the weirdest to me. I was alive seven years ago. I said “Merry Christmas” back then. I don’t remember it being terribly revolutionary. (I will have more to say on Trump’s made-up war on “Merry Christmas” soon this space.) And, oh yeah, away we go!
“We are going to make America great again, even greater than we had it.”
You thought things were great before?! Oh man, just wait. Also this reminds me of one of my favorite things in all Trumpanalia: When they renamed a super PAC supportive of him “Make America Great Again Again.” Yes, real story.
“While the stock market is making rich people richer. Thank you very much. Thank you. It is making rich people richer.”
Is Trump somehow taking credit for the performance of the stock market under the Biden administration? I think he is!
“Criminals are running wild in our Democrat run cities.”
Crime dropped in 2023 — including in big cities.
“Jimmy Carter is very happy because he looks like a brilliant… That was a brilliant administration by comparison to what you have right now. Very, very brilliant indeed.”
Nothing like maligning the intelligence of a 99 year old former president who is currently in hospice.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to So What to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.