Today in Terrible Trumpery

[Content Note: Bigotry; torture; assault.]

Another day, another round of terrible stories about Donald Trump.

There are, as always, a number of terrible conservative responses to the terrorist attack in Belgium, but Donald Trump's is almost certainly the worst.

Yesterday, Trump gave a hot mess of an interview to the editorial board of Washington Post, who have published the complete transcript. If you think he sounds ridiculous while listening to him argle-bargle his way through an interview, it's even more apparent in written text. Here, as but one example, is part of his reply when they asked him about his promise to "open up the libel laws," if elected:

RYAN: My question is not so much why you feel they should be open but how. What presidential powers and executive actions would you take to open up the libel laws?

TRUMP: Okay, look, I've had stories written about me – by your newspaper and by others – that are so false, that are written with such hatred – I'm not a bad person. I'm just doing my thing – I'm, you know, running, I want to do something that's good. It's not an easy thing to do. I had a nice life until I did this, you know. This is a very difficult thing to do. In fact I've always heard that if you're a very successful person you can't run for office. And I can understand that. You'll do a hundred deals, and you'll do one bad one or two bad ones — that's all they read about are the bad ones. They don't read about the one hundred and fifty great ones that you had. And even some of the ones they write that are good, they make them sound bad. You know, so I've always heard that. I've heard that if you're successful – very successful – you just can't run for—

RYAN: But how would you fix that? You've said that you would open up the libel laws.

TRUMP: What I would do, what I would do is I'd – well right now the libel laws, I mean I must tell you that the Hulk Hogan thing was a tremendous shock to me because – not only the amount and the fact that he had the victory — because for the most part I think libel laws almost don't exist in this country, you know, based on, based on everything I've seen and watched and everything else, and I just think that if a paper writes something wrong — media, when I say paper I'm talking about media. I think that they can do a retraction if they're wrong. They should at least try to get it right. And if they don't do a retraction, they should, they should you know have a form of a trial. I don't want to impede free press, by the way. The last thing I would want to do is that. But I mean I can only speak for – I probably get more – do I, I mean, you would know, do I get more publicity than any human being on the earth? Okay? I mean, [Editor's note: Trump points at Ruth Marcus] she kills me, this one – that's okay, nice woman.

I MEAN.

In case you were wondering if he again launched into a defense of the size of his hands during the interview, why yes he did!

Also yesterday, Trump referred to Senator Elizabeth Warren as "the Indian," after she called him a loser. I have a piece about that at Blue Nation Review: "The Indian. With two words, Trump hit the trifecta—racism, misogyny, and dehumanization. Throughout the entirety of his campaign, he has relied on precisely those bigotries to attempt to discredit any individual or group with whom he has disagreements. ...When he refers to Warren as 'the Indian,' he's not merely being insulting—although that, too—but he is seeking to to discredit her critique on the basis that she isn't fit to criticize him; isn't his peer; is less than; isn't even deserving of recognition of her complex humanity."

Here are some more cool stories:

TPM: "Trump Made up a Spokesman for Times When He Didn't Want to Give Interviews." Of course he did.

BuzzFeed: "Trump Campaign Manager Faces New Allegations of Pushing, Sexually Suggestive Comments."

Raw Story: "RNC Chair Blames CNN for Trump Rally Clashes: 'We're not a party that believes in violence'." OH REALLY? Because I'm pretty sure you actually are a party that believes in violence. In war, in forcible pregnancy, in police brutality, in violence against inmates and immigrants, and I could go on.

And finally! And at the New York Times: "Most Republicans Feel Embarrassed by Campaign, Poll Says." Huh!

This fucking guy and his entire fucking campaign.