Someone asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?"
Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent response:
"A few things spring to mind.
Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.
For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace - all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.
So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing - not once, ever.
I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility - for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.
But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is - his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults - he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.
Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.
Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.
And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.
Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.
He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.
He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.
There are unspoken rules to this stuff - the Queensberry rules of basic decency - and he breaks them all. He punches downwards - which a gentleman should, would, could never do - and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless - and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority - perhaps a third - of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
* Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
* You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.
He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.
In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws - he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clump-fuls of hair and scream in anguish:
'My God… what… have… I… created?
If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set."
I think it would be fair to describe Trump as a good candidate for the post of "Antichrist"
@Paulos_the_fog Because in Trumps DNA dominates every existing malfunction and bad code of his German Origin. He inherited obviously nothing valuable. The good German Stuff remained elsewhere. A Horror to realize, that this guy probably also could become President of Germany.
@Paulos_the_fog Brilliant.
And as a Brit I often struggle with humourless colleagues. When I asked for my opinion about a humourless colleague it's an involuntary reaction to comment on their absence of sense of humour. This doesn't go down well when the interlocutor also has no sense of humour. Awkward.
@Paulos_the_fog
That and that he’s clearly a c*nt
@Paulos_the_fog
Shakespeare of shit.
Perfect.
@Paulos_the_fog we have no grounds for complacency, we elected exactly the same personality in Johnson.
@Thebratdragon @Paulos_the_fog I'd say not the same - Johnson is an incompetent clown, where Trump is an incompetent parody "alpha male". But both capture anti-establishment voters while fronting the very worst aspects of that establishment, so the effect is the same.
The British exceptionalism in the OP's quote is utterly barf-inducing though.
@GlasWolf @Thebratdragon @Paulos_the_fog it!s English exceptionalism
@Paulos_the_fog Without valorizing the British, this is the consummate description of Tr*mp in all his glory.
@Paulos_the_fog I am American and this is the best description of t ever. It has baffled me from the beginning as to how anyone couldn’t see what he is. But t’s saying it like it is….“Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.”; hits the nail on the head. T. is a master of illusion and delusion and as is now known; metal illness can be catching. The damage he has done to my family and friends, I will never forget or forgive.
@Paulos_the_fog Unless you travel to their environs, the only Americans you meet are ones that travel.
And something like only 56% of Americans have a passport.
I expect a vast majority of Trump supporters are in the no passport camp, and have never left the US.
@Paulos_the_fog If I could get one wish it would be this article be published on the front page of every newspaper in the United States.
@shansterable
Epic. Nailed it
@Paulos_the_fog That's it..he is embarrassing as fuck. His is so thick and ignorant, rude and plain ugly. I hope the sky falls on his head so we don't have to see the gormless idiot ever again.
@Paulos_the_fog as an American, a significant number of us are equally confused why anyone would not see him for the con man piece of crap that he is. He cares for nothing but himself and his money. His is the definition of a narcissistic sociopath.
@Paulos_the_fog I like this but giving the existence and election of Rishi Sunak I hope Mr. White can explain him to us as well.
@Paulos_the_fog If the British stopped voting Tory altogether I'd be more inclined to believe the David vs Goliath underdog rhetoric.
@Paulos_the_fog @LilPecan This is wonderfully reasoned. Godfuckingdammit.
@Paulos_the_fog People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
This is something the British have failed to learn many times. That and not learning to let the upper class continually to fail upwards.
@Paulos_the_fog Great post - nailing the reality - but sadly the idea of this basic standard decent human Brit is sadly BS. Recent history shows we Brits are a bunch of ignorant, conspiracy believing, fascist-inclined, racist, bigoted delusionists... I mean - the Daily Mail is the newspaper of choice for our middle class.
Huge numbers of Brits have no issue whatsoever with punching down. See treatment of desparate refugees for evidence.
Generalisation is a poor alternative to thought. The original question was "Why do the British...", the answer was couched in those terms but it also has the self aware ribbon of irony running through it, it is delicious.
Not sure who you answer was aimed at but if me, then apologies, but I am not clear what your point was there?
You praise the piece and then show you haven't understood it, generalizing a whole population's attitudes and behaviours. You may feel that, but that doesn't make it either analysis or the production of thought.
@Paulos_the_fog @simon_lucy I wondered if it was just a snide insult…
@Paulos_the_fog you're absolutely right. But if you Britains think like that I wonder how you could follow a similar man called Boris Johnson out of Europe?
In Germany we currently have a similar problem but I still hope that we will defeat this trend.
@Paulos_the_fog Fantastic writeup. Except, maybe, one thing that made me rise an eyebrow - "[…] most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully".
While I get the intent behind that sentence (and it's certainly true pertaining Trump), considering the decades of British worldwide colonization, this seems to look at history through some very rosecoloured glasses.
But maybe that's just me being nitpicky while on the outside looking in. Overall, again, a very well written piece. 🙈
@Paulos_the_fog This is the perfect description of him. Perfect. To a tee. I’m American. I agree 100% & it’s completely unfathomable that so many idolize him. People I’ve known 40 years are enamored, literally to death. My best friend of 35 years turned Trumper & died of Covid for him. I can put myself in just about anyone’s shoes & see perspectives. Not this one. It is massive cult behavior. People who think the govmnt is corrupt are fully on board with a blatant corrupt govmnt. 🤦♀️🤷♀️😵💫