The trouble with Trump’s tweets and what the GOP should do about them

Social media can create amazing connections, particularly between everyday people and their government representatives. But what happens when the head of the country uses his platform to tear down, mock, and bully people and organizations? While the country may be used to Donald Trump’s Twitter rants — ones that truly paint him as anything but presidential — that doesn’t mean we should normalize them or brush them off. And while his latest round of sexist tweeted attacks against Mika Brzezinski have caused some of his GOP (Republican) peers to chastise him, nothing substantial has actually been done in response.

Because the pattern of bullying tweets has gone on long enough and has become an embarrassment to our country, we reached out to some of our favorite folks to ask them:

What WILL it take for the GOP to get a handle on Trump? And what should they be doing about?  

Sarah Buttenwieser: “I don’t think the GOP will stop him. They hem and haw a bit and nothing happens. For whatever reason(s) they seem unwilling to unhitch their wagons from this horse. The reasons might be summed up as ‘tax cut for the wealthy.’ Or crass indifference. Or maybe those are the same dang thing.“

Shaindel Beers: “At this point, I don’t think the GOP CAN get a handle on Trump. I think they’ve created their Frankenstein’s monster by pandering to him so much, allowing him not to release his tax returns, letting him spend millions for his family’s security detail because Melania refused to live in the White House, etc. What they should be doing is taking part in his conflict of interest investigations, calling him out for his obstruction of justice, his violent language. But we’re all going down in flames… I’d like to take this moment to remind all Canadians that I’m single. Thanks!”

Alex Blank Millard: “Threatening those tasked with truth-telling makes those in power look weak, scared, and dishonest. Freedom of the press to perform duties without fear of violent threats is so important to our democracy: is it our very first amendment. Not only does Trump feel comfortable threatening the press, he does so in writing, openly, as if this is normal behavior to expect from a president. It is not. We deserve better. We deserve a president who is not afraid of mere reporting of their activities. There are many challenges being president. Being more mature than a middle school bully should not be one of them.”

Jen Selk: “I personally think these are the end-days. The fact that this evil buffoon even has access to such a wide platform is unspeakable. It was certainly impossible to imagine, even a year ago, that such a person could ever become president, let alone behave in this way once they had. In my opinion, the office will never recover. The whole system is a terrifying, terrible joke at this point.”

Mayim Bialik: “I have been stunned into silence by our president posting a video of him wrestling the CNN logo. Who is still proud of him? Who stands behind this? Are we really ok with him stooping this low? I literally can’t even figure out how to talk about this. If you say it in a sentence, it sounds like something out of a Fellini film. Absurd. Immature. Stupid. Just really really bizarre. And as so many Republicans have said, not befitting of a president. At all. Ever. It’s again like a bad reality show. But it’s not a show; it’s our reality.“

Jennifer Pozner: “As I asked in a few tweets (I know, meta, but what can you do?): Why is the GOP shocked by POTUS Pussygrabber’s tweets about Mika’s supposedly bleeding face? This is a man who has been notoriously misogynistic his whole public life, including throughout his presidential campaign and in the months since his election. This is a man who literally bragged about assault. I call bullshit on the various conservatives who were shocked-just-shocked at his latest display, because they know full well that this isn’t worse —  it’s consistent.

To pierce any disingenuous surprise at 45’s gross comments about yet another female news anchor, here’s a small, very incomplete sample of women Handsy McGrabsalot has trolled with hostile misogyny:

• Megyn Kelly: Our first glimpse at the narcissist’s obsession with women’s blood came when he lashed out at the Fox News anchor’s debate questions by saying she “had blood coming out of her wherever…“
• Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face!” “Why would anyone vote for that?”
• Women who have accused him of sexual harassment or assault: Sample she’s-too-ugly-to-grope denial: “Believe me, she would not be my first choice.”
• Ivanka: He once told Howard Stern it was cool to call his daughter a “piece of ass,” and on The View in 2004 he sunk to a new creepy low: “She does have a very nice figure… I’ve said if she wasn’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
• Omarosa – Thirteen years before he gave her an official position with his administration — remind me her title? President’s Official Black Friend, right? — he called her “vicious” and “repulsive” on the reality show that launched his political platform.)
• Rosie O’Donnell: Ten years ago I documented 2,911 local, national, and cable news stories quoting Trump calling her “disgusting,” “crude,” “arrogant,” “pushy,” “self-destructive,” “a degenerate,” “a stone-cold loser” and so hideous that her wife must be grossed out “having to kiss that every night.” He carried his vitriol all the way to a live debate stage in 2016.
• And a certain former Secretary of State and popular-vote winner: “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband, what makes her think she can satisfy America?”

All of this is not to mention [things he has said about] female contestants on The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice, young participants in his Miss USA pageant, and all his wives.

So, Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, Ben Sasse and everyone else saying this hateful toddler’s latest unhinged rage-stroke was a bridge too far: You’re right, it was disgusting. But WHERE. HAVE. YOU. BEEN?“