Nobody has ever accused Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump of delicacy. No one who has ever met the man has claimed that he is too nuanced and gentle.
We know that he interrupts, that he is rude, and that he has no problem calling people childish names.
Last night’s presidential debate did nothing to diminish Trump’s reputation as a bully.
The Daily Beast captured some of the most outrageous and least honest statements made by the candidate. As he paced back and forth like a caged animal and frequently loomed over the shoulder of his opponent, Trump couldn’t contain his natural tendency to snarl, growl and snap his teeth.
If you couldn’t get yourself to sit through the live debate for fear of losing your dinner at the sound of Trump’s voice, you can read the lowlights here.
1. Captain Khan
In reference to the young Muslim soldier who died defending this country, Trump said:
“Captain Khan is an American hero, and if I was President at that time, he would be alive today.”
2. On interrupting his opponent.
Debate moderator Anderson Cooper cautioned Trump not to interrupt Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, saying that she hadn’t been talking over him. The Secretary agreed that she hadn’t in fact interrupted him.
Naturally, he immediately interrupted her. He grabbed his mic and barked:
“That’s because you have nothing to say.”
3. Abe Lincoln
Secretary Clinton was asked about a speech in which she had referenced having a public position and a private one when trying to get things through Congress. She said that she had been talking about the Spielberg film “Lincoln” and how the President had gotten the 13th Amendment passed. Trump used the moment to attack, pointing a finger at Clinton.
“Honest Abe never lied. That’s the good thing. That’s the difference between Abraham Lincoln and you.”
4. On Iran
As if we need further proof that Trump has absolutely no understanding of foreign affairs, he accused Secretary Clinton of making Iran “so powerful” with the “dumbest deal I’ve ever seen in the history of deal making.”
There are no words.
5. His tax evasion
When Anderson Cooper asked him if he used his $916 loss to avoid paying federal taxes, Trump jumped right in quickly with:
“Of course I do! Of course I do!”
6. Bragging about sexual assault
Cooper sounded exactly like an elementary school teacher trying to get one of the kids to understand why he would be missing recess. He said:
“You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?”
Without a second of hesitation, Trump claimed that he had never said that. He accused Cooper of misunderstanding what he’d said.
Seriously? No one in the world has missed hearing those exact words coming out of Trump’s own tiny mouth!
7. Threats to Clinton
The aggressive Republican publicly promised that he would assign a special prosecutor and would put Hillary Clinton in jail. Of course, the President of the United States doesn’t have the power to put people in jail, but that kind of factual thinking is beyond Trump. He just repeated, “You’d be in jail.”
Well.
There you have it. In all its horrific glory. Donald Trump continues to be a nasty, ignorant bully.
Why are we not surprised?
Donald Trump said some pretty outrageous things at tonight's debate pic.twitter.com/NPQfxeO6ei
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) October 10, 2016
Featured image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. Available through Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike Generic license 2.0
