#Donald Trump criticism

[rickladd]

The Crisis of Leadership: Toxic Masculinity, Bullying, and the Betrayal of Accountability

The meeting on February 28, 2025, at the White House, bringing together Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, serves as a stark illustration of the political, economic, and social chaos that toxic leadership has wrought on the United States. On one side of the table sat Trump and Vance, embodying the very traits that have plunged America deeper into division and dysfunction—traits of…

[percypaints]

Trump survived. Here's what will happen.

Every media, news outlet will be showing this photo. Not of a convicted felon who was impeached, who summoned violent terrorists to the white house, who sexually assaulted many women, but of a survivor, a hero.

And Trump will win 2024. The Alt Right and his MAGA supporters will see this and be more motivated than ever to vote Trump. Centrists will see this and think "the left is so much more extreme than the right" and vote Trump. Fuck, even liberals, after seeing Bidens disastrous debate performance might vote trump. In their eyes, he's a survivor now, he's strong now, he's worthy now. If you don't believe me, wait and see the top comments of news articles, the Reddit posts, the twitter quote tweets.

It isn't if Trump wins, it's when Trump wins, Ukraine is Fucked. Palestine is extra Fucked. And of course, America is absolutely Fucked.

I don't like Biden, but Americans have to remember: you live in a two-party system.

It is Biden or Trump.

And I'd much much rather an old husk of a man that has done so much good for trans rights, social policies, and human rights in general, than Trump. Yes, Biden has sent aids to Israel. Do you think Trump won't do the same? Do you think Trump won't do worse?

"Vote for a third party, they're both awful" you might say. Come on, be realistic. This is about holding the line against fascism. It is going to be way WAY easier to change the system when you're up against milk toast Joe than an actual dictator. So,

For the love of god, vote Biden in Novermber.

[chaoticace22]

do you know that thing when you open up tumblr and feel deep confusion?

ps. it's just a meme pls don't come after me

[ravenkings]

[contemplatingoutlander]

All the Americans who died in WWII fighting fascism would be appalled by JD Vance's speech in Munich and his later meeting with the a neofascist AfD leader.

Vice President JD Vance urged European leaders on Friday to end the isolation of far-right parties across the continent, an extraordinary embrace of a once-fringe political movement with which the Trump administration shares a common approach on migration, identity and internet speech. [...] The vice president singled out his German hosts, telling them to drop their objections to working with a party that has often reveled in banned Nazi slogans and has been shunned from government as a result. He did not mention the party, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, by name, but directly referred to the longstanding agreement by mainstream German politicians to freeze out the group, parts of which have been formally classified as extremist by German intelligence. “There is no room for firewalls,” Mr. Vance said, bringing some gasps in the hall. He punctuated the message by meeting on Friday with Alice Weidel, the AfD’s candidate for chancellor in this month’s election, as well as other German leaders. [...] Mr. Vance aggressively challenged the diplomats in the hall in Munich, telling them that their biggest security threat was not from China or Russia, but ��the enemy within” — what he called their suppression of abortion protests and other forms of free speech.

It was breathtakingly hypocritical for Vance to scold Europe for not being true to its democratic ideals--much less to do so in a speech delivered in Germany, which in the mid-20th century had lost its democratic institutions because some Germans allowed Nazis to get a foothold in their government.

If you give fascists an inch, they will take a mile.

In his speech, Vance was indignant that Europe has erected "firewalls" against far-right political parties. Ignoring the fact that fascism took over Germany through a democratic, legal process. Specifically, once he became prime minister, it only took Hitler and his Nazi cronies 53 days to destroy the Weimar Republic through legal, constitutional means.

Germany in particular KNOWS if they give fascists an inch, they will take a mile.

It doesn't help Vance's case that in less than a month's time, Trump, Musk, and MAGA Republicans have taken a sledgehammer in the U.S. to the law and the Constitution, and appear to be trying to establish an autocratic if not downright neofascist state.

No politician has a "mandate" if they were elected because of disinformation and lies.

Vance clutched his pearls that the Romanian government just nullified an election because it was proven that there was a deep Russian disinformation campaign to propel a far-right party into power.

Besides the fact that Vance hypocritically works for Trump who attempted "coup" to overturn a fair election, Vance wants the world to ignore the fact that any political candidate who is elected into power based on lies and disinformation is in fact NOT a representative of the will of the people because they were elected fraudulently (i.e., if they had told the truth, they might not have been elected).

Consider Trump. If he had not lied and distanced himself from the deeply unpopular Project 2025, but had instead said he planned on using it as a blueprint for his second term, how many of those swing state voters would have actually voted for him?

Therefore, Trump has NO mandate that reflects the "will of the people" not only because he was NOT elected by a majority of the voters (just a plurality) but because he lied about his true intentions for a second administration during his campaign.

[See more about how Vance hypocritically turns "free speech" on its head below the cut.]

Vance turns "free speech" on its head.

Vance took hypocrisy to a new level in his Munich remarks, when he talked about "free speech":

Just as the Biden administration seemed desperate to silence people for speaking their minds, so the Trump administration will do precisely the opposite, and I hope that we can work together on that. [...] You cannot win a democratic mandate by censoring your opponents or putting them in jail, whether that’s the leader of the opposition, a humble Christian praying in her own home, or a journalist trying to report the news. [emphasis added]

Well, what Vance said is laughable given that Trump, Musk & their cronies have been fully behind censorship of not only speech, but of ideas, which they have demonstrated by:

Purging federal departments of anything related to DEI, including any "words" such as "gender" or "diversity," and any personnel who have promoted those ideas, or who have even attended one diversity training years ago.

Threatening to prosecute private businesses that promote DEI or provide diversity training to their employees.

Purging the study of or mention of "climate change" from government websites.

Withholding government funds for public schools and even universities that teach subjects related to racism, sexism, and gender studies and (in the case of K-12 schools) who choose NOT to teach a whitewashed "patriotic history."

Threatening to go after the mainstream press if they criticize Trump or his policies too much. (Already he has cut access to the White House for the AP's refusal to call the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America, and has kicked important news media like The New York Times from their offices in the Pentagon, replacing them instead with right-wing media outlets.

Threatening to use the DOJ to go after the "enemy within" (i.e., politicians who do not support what Trump is doing, regardless of political party).

And lets not forget Trump's purge of civil servants who have different political views, and who will not pledge loyalty to Trump over the Constitution.

Through all of the above, Trump, Vance, and other MAGA GOP have shown us that they have no problems stepping all over the freedom of speech/of the press protections of the First Amendment over and over again.

I could go on and on about the hypocrisy of that speech, but the bottom line is that JD Vance embarrassed our nation by what he said in Munich. He also presented the Trump administration as being firmly on the side of the far-right/neofascist political parties in Europe.

At this point, many europeans must see very little difference between the US under Trump and Russia under Putin.

How far we have fallen as a nation in less than one month.

_______________ Image sources (before edits/captions): WWII meme photo source; "Inch" gif video source; "No mandate" photo source; "Freedom of speech" image source.

[huffy-the-bicycle-slayer]

US Americans, watch out for what is being refereed to as "New Media"

In her first appearance as White House Press Secretary today (1/28/2025) Karoline Leavitt announced Trumps intention to "speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media" by opening the white house press room to "New Media voices who produce news related content and whose outlet is not already represented"

The White house press pass application is available to anyone producing "legitimate news content", and can be found at WhiteHouse.gov/NewMedia. Leavitt specified that "My team will review the applications and give credentials to New Media applicants who meet our criteria"

The first round of questions at the conference were then given to the New Media members. First was Michael Allen, a co-founder of Axios and former chief political writer for Politico. Allen has previously been accused of giving favorable coverage in exchange for advertising dollars.

Breitbart's Matt Boyle was given the second question. Boyle has long been a journalistic thorn in the side of both democrats and moderate republicans.

This just feels like another step toward an American "Ministry of Truth" (see 1984 or Helldivers). Expect to see a lot more propaganda online coming straight from established right wing influencers and content creators.

[biceratops7]

For fucks sake don’t vote 3rd party.

I would LOVE to not have a 2 party system. It’s a cancer on our country and we need to take action to dismantle it, but just pretending like the bad thing already doesn’t exist anymore and making decisions based on that is a TERRIBLE idea. It won’t change shit and it’ll just prevent us from making actual headway. Trump will win if Kamala doesn’t, that’s the system we live in, the notion that that 200 year old monster of a problem is gonna change in 100 days is absolutely absurd. So let’s just establish that before going any further.

I see people all the time saying to vote 3rd party because “Kamala is just as bad as Trump, democrats just wanna LOOK progressive.” (And before that it was Biden but you get my gist.) because of Biden’s deplorable refusal to stop arming Israel. Respectfully, no tf she’s not, even by just a hair. Kamala isn’t the one with a laundry list of straight up legal atrocities she’s publicly planning to commit if she wins. Being genuinely scared of project 2025 and worrying about ourselves because of that isn’t proof that someone calling for a free Palestine is performative. Genuinely, GENUINELY, what the hell do you think is gonna happen to Palestine if Trump wins? Letting our own country possibly be set back several steps and many of our own citizens’ lives be destroyed to “take a stand” for Palestine when it won’t do shit to help them is just as performative. Actually it’s infinitely MORE performative.

[formulanni]

I’m genuinely getting so angry and upset at the comments and dms I’m receiving on Instagram being like “oh so when musicians and actors endorse Kamala it’s fine but when the president of the Fia endorses Trump it’s a problem?”

Like wow. It’s almost as if all art is a reflection of current events and culture as well as the feeling regarding them and can in fact be used as an act of protest. It’s crazy that any artist would express opinions about a current world shifting political event!

Like the thing you have to consider here is that Muhammad Ben Sulayem has consistently made a point to highlight that “politics have no place in this sport.” He has gone far enough to threaten to punish Lewis Hamilton for speaking out about BLM and also threatened Seb for speaking out about Pride. It’s also worth noting that the artists who endorsed Kamala are separate from the corporate entities and are speaking as individuals. MBS is speaking while he is the acting president of the FIA, an organization that represents ever y race creed and religion of the drivers. By endorsing Donald Trump, a rapist fascist and war criminal, and by posting a photo of them shaking hands in front of the McLaren Logo he has isolated his drivers! He has acted out in representation of the fia! He cannot separate himself from his role as FIA president because as long as he is on track or in the paddock he must be that.

Obviously this is a deeply complicated issue but acting as if MBS suddenly bring politics into the sport he has time and time again insisted “has no place in politics” isn’t deeply selfish, irresponsible and as if it hasn’t spit on everything some of the drivers, namely Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have taken stands for. It’s very clear that politics are only allowed when it benefits his agenda but it’s very, very disappointing.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Alex Cooper at The Advocate:

President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Wednesday, banning schools that receive federal funding from allowing students to identify with the name and pronouns that best match their gender identity. It also bars the use of bathrooms and lockers by trans kids that best fit their gender identity and bans them from playing on the most appropriate sports team. Advocates say the order forces schools to deny the existence of transgender people. The order specifically calls out social transitioning of transgender students in public schools. Social transitioning may include things like coming out as trans or nonbinary, going by a different name, dressing in a way that aligns better with a person's gender identity, using a different type of voice, and using pronouns that better reflect a person's identity. Trump's latest attack on transgender youth also targets the schools, teachers, counselors, and staff who support them. It requires parents of students to be notified if students request to use a different name or pronoun, potentially outing the student. Trans rights activists note this could put these students at risk of harm.

On Wednesday, anti-trans bully Tyrant 47 signs a hateful executive order attacking LGBTQ+ (esp. trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming) students, teachers, and staff, and LGBTQ+/trans-inclusive school policies by threatening to pull funding from schools that protect LGBTQ+ students.

The EO mandates student safety-harming forced outing policies, bars trans students from playing on sports teams and using bathrooms and locker rooms congruent with their gender identity, mandating nationwide don’t say gay or trans policies, and disallows social transition (by mandating arrests of trans-friendly teachers and school staff).

Getting less attention, but equally concerning, is the reinstation of the 1776 Commission that seeks to end racial equity programs on the false basis of "promoting ‘critical race theory’” as “anti-White.”

See Also:

HuffPost: Trump Signs Sweeping Executive Order Targeting ‘Gender Ideology’ In Schools

LGBTQ Nation: Donald Trump bans trans-inclusive school policies in executive order

Mother Jones: Trump Tells DOJ to Prosecute Teachers Who “Unlawfully” Support Trans or Nonbinary Students

Axios: Trump threatens funding for schools that accommodate transgender children

[spacenoirdetective]

I'm unimpressed

Whenever any leftist interacts with me, it's always the same. They posture and laugh at me for being a conservative. They look down on me. They cite false statistics or allegations fed to them by propaganda networks. They exhibit arrogance, smug superiority and overwhelming condescension without any knowledge, understanding or moral fortitude to back it up. When everything else fails, they resort to the New Communist slogan of "racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic".

To which I respond: My best friends include a black man from Trinidad, a Latina woman who immigrated to the US at the age of five, a man with Aspergers and severe anxiety disorder, a black lesbian, an Indian South African, a Chinese American woman, an octogenarian gay man, a Cameroonian man and a Saudi Arabian man who describes himself as pansexual. And a whole bunch of really awesome white people who are not racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic.

I'm gay. I voted for Trump because i don't believe the Democrats love me. I don't need them to love me. I don't want their love. They love sin and the embrace of dark triad behavior as their paragon for leadership skills, totalitarian thought control, the destruction of society, and they seek to make atheism the norm. They love the denigration of any individual that defies them, disagrees with their tactics, calls out their lies...they hate truthtellers. They hate anyone that places God as an imperative and sacred texts as crucial to their ethical conduct. They hate anyone that threatens their power and they believe in encouraging public vitriol to meet their needs. They believe in the destruction of the nuclear family. They encourage the worship of and dependence on the state to replace the family. They believe in a direct pipeline between the White House and newly established propaganda networks that cater only to the Democrat Party and the CIA. They believe in reputation destruction using those propaganda networks. They believe they have the right to assassinate Trump and anyone else who they deem a threat to their power. They have initiated the single worst attack on children in the history of our country via human trafficking and institutionalized rape ordered by the CIA. They normalized embezzlement, money laundering and inflationary tax on an unheard of scale to further demoralize the populace and inflate their own bank accounts. They conduct constant psychological war against their own people, which extends to perverting the minds of their children without their knowledge via the trans cult, the gender theory cult, and the DEI/Critical Race Theory cult.

On the issue of transphobia, I certainly don't endorse violence. But it is not violence to state that all trans people are mentally ill and they must be stopped from mutilation of children and sterilizing minors with puberty blockers, from demanding forced speech regarding their delusions, from using public funds to procure trans surgeries and from public attaining positions of power such as the Secretary of Health where they may spread their perverse cult directives causing psychological and physiological arm to adults and children alike.

They believe in these things because they want to secure a future for an elite minority that takes everything for itself, enslaves the rest of the populace, and convinces the populace that their astronomical greed is justifiable and that their destructive policies that result in totalitarian hell should be embraced as godly, necessary, and protective measures. They mockingly wear a mask of sympathy, compassion and the moniker of "social justice" which is nothing more than a code for "thought police" whose sole purpose is to implant hatred for political opponents and self hatred amongst whites, any minorities with religious sensibilities, and the intelligentia at large.

The future that they desire is a constant hell of pervasive misery and support of a one party state, supported by thoughtless government worship, slogan repetition, dehumanization of political opposition, desensitization to violence to meet the ends of the party's plans, mentacide, hatred of the past and all the accomplishments of Western Civilization, physical degradation and obesity from technological addiction and slow chemical poisoning from tainted food and lastly lowering testosterone via pbthalates.

I'm a gay white male and that doesn't play into my vote. It shouldn't. The body you're born with shouldn't determine your vote. Your party has done absolutely nothing for me. You have never done anything to help me. I am happy to fight you to the bitter end in any way I can to stop you from the communist genocide you so lovingly long for.

[buttacake80]

📣 And this muthafucka 📣

That is what Kamala wanted to say, but she's a Black woman, and the expectations of decorum and professionalism are much higher for her than Trump.

Numerous instances during the debate, Trump spoke over the muted microphone 🎤. And the moderators allowed him multiple times to address the question he PREFERRED to address rather than the question posed him.

They did not extend that same privilege to Kamala.

Women are expected to concede space to men. To center their grievances over our own. And, for Black women, there is an even bigger expectation that we are subservient to everyone else.

Any Black professional woman of a certain age knew and felt that moment when Kamala adjusted her strategy.

📣 She couldn't cut up in front of the white folk. 📣

She quieted & allowed the moderators to do their job because if she had broken character, like Trump was permitted to, she would have become the Angry Black Woman.

I know that feeling so very well.

Plenty of times, I have been the smartest and most competent person in the room, yet all the white folk deferred to the loud, boisterous white man with the Ivy League degrees. They'd blame "facial expressions" or "defensiveness" as reasons why I couldn't lead. No substantial criticism of my work; just that I was "difficult" to work with because I made them uncomfortable with my competency.

A white man can be assertive. A white man can look you in the eye. A white man can grasp your hand firmly in a handshake. A white man can command a room. A white man can claim the seat at the head of the table.

But, a Black woman who exhibits such behavior is difficult to work with because she refuses to play into white gender roles.

Did anyone else catch when Trump even said, "quiet woman" or something like that?

I love that moment when white men reveal their fear. Their vulnerability and insecurity.

The reason white men hate Black women so much is that they know the stereotype they created for us is actually the archetype of the *men* they aspire to be.

Not only could Kamala meet his energy, she would have done it in a far more entertaining way, but she chose not to. And that was purposeful.

I think it’s something unique to Black Gen X women.

Our parents were the kids of the Jim Crow Era. Our parents attended segregated schools. Our parents sat at the back of the bus.

Our grandparents survived race riots. They survived lynchings and ethnic cleansing of entire Black communities.

So, we carry their scars. Like they were fresh to us.

But, we were going to school in the 70s/80s/90s when schools are desegregated, but there were still policies and laws that discriminated against women & girls.

So, we grew up punching little boys just so we could play on the tetherball, too.

And as a little Black girl, I punched a whole helluva lot of white boys who got in my way of the tetherball.

[chaoticace22]

don’t worry guys i have eurovision covered in here

[davidaugust]

“Right now, already, in many institutions and communities, there’s pressure to shut up and toe the Trump line. Every person who doesn’t do so makes it easier and safer and more encouraging for others to likewise dissent. That is, the more we stand up, the more others will stand up too; by standing up you’re inviting others to join you, making it safer to be a dissenter, and those not ready to join you will maybe question their facts or fear or allegiance to the Trump agenda.“

“The more we stand up, the harder it is for this authoritarian agenda to succeed and the more uncomfortable we make it for those going along with the lies and the cruelty.”

- @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social in @theguardian.com

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/02/resistance-trump-administration

[contemplatingoutlander]

This is a must read article full of quotes from 91 prominent people, who know Trump well, including many Republicans who worked with him. This is a gift🎁link, so you can read the entire article. Below are some excerpts and quotes.

In any election, it’s hard to know whose word to trust. And in a polarized country, many Americans distrust any information that comes from the other side of the political divide. That’s why the criticism of Donald Trump by those who served with him in the White House and by members of his own party is so striking. Dozens of people who know him well, including the 91 listed here, have raised alarms about his character and fitness for office — his family and friends, world leaders and business associates, his fellow conservatives and his political appointees — even though they had nothing to gain from doing so. Some have even spoken out at the expense of their own careers or political interests. The New York Times editorial board has made its case that Mr. Trump is unfit to lead. But the strongest case against him may come from his own people. For those Americans who are still tempted to return him to the presidency or to not vote in November, it is worth considering the assessment of Mr. Trump by those who have seen him up close. [emphasis added]

These are just 15 of the 91 quotes. You can use the gift link above to see the other 76 quotes, and to see expanded versions of each quote.

[edited]

[breaking-everything]

Trump really said America Last to the brainwashed MAGA that voted for him.

Lovely grocery prices, huh?

[in4newz]