Donald Trump: from Those Who Know Him Best

As requested by a few posters - including the OP of todays thread; Kamala Harris From Those Who Know Her Best - a counter thread.

I thought it would be an enlightening exercise to compare and contrast those who have worked closest to Harris and Trump.

Here are just a few thoughts from of the people who worked closest with Trump during his administration. I pulled the quotes from various sources including the Washington Post, Reuters, The Hill, CNN, Fox, Politico and others.


Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis
"Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us."

“Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, an effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump,” Mattis wrote. “His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice.”


Former Chief of Staff John Kelly
“What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.

“A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.

“There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.”


Former Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer
“This was a shocking and unprecedented intervention in a low-level review. It was also a reminder that the president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices.”


Former National Security Advisor John Bolton
Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton excoriated former President Donald Trump as an utterly self-interested man who would punish personal enemies and appease adversaries Russia and China in a new edition of his memoir released on Tuesday.

Bolton, who served in Trump's White House in 2018 and 2019, accused the Republican presidential frontrunner of having no political philosophy or coherent policy outlook. If re-elected, Trump could leave the NATO security alliance, curb support to Ukraine despite Russia's 2022 invasion, embolden China to blockade Taiwan and generally pursue isolationism, Bolton warned.

"Trump is unfit to be president," Bolton wrote in the new foreword to "The Room Where it Happened," his account of the 17 months he spent as Trump's national security adviser. "If his first four years were bad, a second four will be worse."


Former White House Lawyer Ty Cobb
“I think you have to take Trump seriously, because he poses the gravest threat to democracy that we’ve ever seen,” Cobb said on “Erin Burnett OutFront.”

“I think the, you know, lack of accountability that he desires — which Putin has, the ayatollah has, Xi has — as you as you alluded to, you know, I think that he may want an America that is like that,” Cobb said.

Cobb also noted that the founders of the U.S. wanted to ensure “this was not going to be a country where we had a king. This was going to be a country where we had an accountable executive.”


Former White House Aide Cassidy Hutchinson
“I think that Donald Trump is the most grave threat we will face to our democracy in our lifetime, and potentially in American history,” Hutchinson told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview Tuesday.


Former Attorney General Bill Barr
Former Attorney General Bill Barr on Wednesday undermined a key pillar of his old boss’ defense telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Donald Trump “knew well he lost the election.”

The former attorney general also described Trump’s alleged actions as “nauseating” and “despicable,” saying on “The Source,” “someone who engaged in that kind of bullying about a process that is fundamental to our system and to our self-government shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.”


Former VP Mike Pence
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday said he “cannot in good conscience” endorse presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, a stunning repudiation of his former running mate and the president he served with.

“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. That’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign,” Pence said on Fox News.


Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson painted a scathing picture of his old boss President Donald Trump as someone who made uninformed decisions that were not based in reality – a stark contrast to Trump’s top diplomat Mike Pompeo, who is heaping praise on the outgoing President in his final days in office.

“His understanding of global events, his understanding of global history, his understanding of U.S. history was really limited. It’s really hard to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t even understand the concept for why we’re talking about this,” Tillerson said
Tillerson, who was ousted in March 2018, told the magazine, “I used to go into meetings with a list of four to five things I needed to talk to him about, and I quickly learned that if I got to three, it was a home run, and I realized getting two that were meaningful was probably the best objective.”

He added that he “started taking charts and pictures with (him) because I found that those seemed to hold his attention better.”

Former US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper
“And yes, I do regard him as a threat to democracy, democracy as we know it, our institutions, our political culture, all those things that make America great and have defined us as, you know, the oldest democracy on this planet.”

 

I appreciate your response. Don't agree with much of it.

You're right about one thing, Barr and Haley and the rest of them fell in line when they saw it would be bad for their brand not to (see Mike Pence) but that doesn't mean they didn't say what they felt at the time. Only when it became bad for business did they change their tune. That said, I give you props for you defending your argument. Also, here's the Ty Cobb link:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campai...dent-trump-poses-gravest-threat-to-democracy/

 

She absolutely has to be vetted. No disagreement there. People need to know who they're voting for, or not voting for.

Trump has been vetted - and exposed. There are dozens of people who worked directly with Trump that have some extremely negative things to say - even warn Americans about - based off their personal experiences. And then there's his history of fraud with his charity work and Trump U, his lecherous behavior and sexual assault conviction, his adoration of autocrat strongmen, his con-man antics of selling sneakers and bibles (BIBLES LMAO), oh, and Jan 6th which is 100% on him.

Vet Harris. And if there is evidence of her breaking laws, cheating cancer patients, having the patience, the mentality and the discipline of a 5 year old - and laws be damned to do whatever the hell she wants without accountability, I will be gladly weigh that into my decision on whom to vote for.