Why the British Don't Like Trump

[Ulysses]

Why the British Don't Like Trump

Someone on Quora asked “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following 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....

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.

[O Really]

All good reasons why Americans don't like him, either. Or Canadians, French, Germans, Spanish, Mexicans, South Africans, New Zealanders, Australians, Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Turks, Greeks, Bulgarians, Berzerkistaners ...yada

[Ulysses]

All good reasons why Americans don't like him, either. Or Canadians, French, Germans, Spanish, Mexicans, South Africans, New Zealanders, Australians, Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Turks, Greeks, Bulgarians, Berzerkistaners ...yada

We just can't win with Trump at the helm.

I was looking forward this year to doing some newly retired travel, perhaps international. That's off the schedule for the foreseeable future, thanks to Trump. First, due to his botched response to the Covid pandemic, and second due to how he has turned international opinion against the USA.

Perhaps after we get a competent president by the name of Joe Biden, things in both respects will improve and Americans can travel without undue disdain from furriners.