Trump called his niece ‘unstable’ saying she was ‘rightfully shunned, scorned and mocked’ her whole life in a tweet. Are these the words of a bully or the words of a wonderful man?

The answer to that ought to be self-evident. To the extent that there’s any question, it’s a sign of how much trouble we’re in.

Nothing he says will come as any shock to Mary, though. She’s taken his measure.

Exactly. I just don’t get it.
The country is falling apart on his watch and he’s fiddling with his phone.

It seems all people have to do is criticize him and he’ll waste time starting a twitter war.
Why on earth is the POTUS responding to a random rap singer’s criticism? Why is he even addressing her book? If he said nothing the book would die on the shelf. But no… he has to open his mouth – sorry – diddle his thumbs and criticize her back. He just handed her more publicity than she could ever buy.
He is too easy to manipulate. Putin can make him do anything.

Also, unless they’ve been living under a rock, everyone, even his supporters, know that nothing he says can be trusted. He will out and out lie and never admit it even if there are recordings, photos and videos. He will never admit to a mistake either. That is exactly out of the playbook from his handler. Covfefe, $135,000 to Stormy D. The list is long.
Failed businesses: Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, Trump Spring Water, Trump Casinos, Trump Magazines, Trump University, Trump Mortgage….
Each time, he took money from investors and ended up folding the company. The investors received pennies on the dollar while he took a big cut, 25%-50%, of the funds up front. He played the game well.

He is exactly the kind of person his supporters deserve.

Neither? Who knows with family. But making secret recordings of your family is pretty odd. Her side of the family contested the will when Fred died (she was 16), and since then it seems likely there’s been bad blood ever since.

Obama’s brother voted for Trump and was his best man at his wedding, remember?
That didn’t mean much, just a different political view and neither does this, in my opinion.

@KNOWITALL, you don’t distinguish between having different political views (as any family members might) and using the podium of the most powerful office in the world for a brutal personal attack on a relative?

Your comparison might make sense if Obama while president had, on a public platform and in front of global media, called out his half-brother with gross insults and accusations. Did he do that?

Obama’s half-brother was not the best man at any of Trump’s weddings.

Really, @KNOWITALL, you can’t be defending his tweet as either reasonable or justified, no matter what she did. The fact that she wrote and published the book is old news, now. Maybe a little bit of dignity should have been displayed by the president, and nothing tweeted at all on the subject. You hold an elected office, would you feel it was appropriate behavior to publicly tweet such a thing if someone was smack talking you?
What he said was not a defense of his position or actions, it was just a slap.

@Jeruba Obama’s brother was the best man at Obama’s wedding, not Trumps. haha!

@canidmajor I’m not defending anything, I’m saying it seems like tit for tat.

And I’ve been in a position before where something similar has happened to me with a family member, that had nothing to do with any politics. I’m still not speaking to that family member, so I have a different perspective.

My point, which you seem to have missed, is that it was totally inappropriate for him to use the power of his office for that. There is no tit for tat.
And too bad about your family member, I know about that stuff, but I would never say something like that publicly.

@canidmajor, and if you did, it would touch a very small circle. You don’t have 80 million Twitter followers. The world press is not going to cover it. I can’t comprehend anyone’s making such a comparison. Weak labels like “false equivalence” don’t come close to the reality. Who in the world thinks Trump is an ordinary guy? That’s just baffling.

I don’t see tit for tat here. That girl lived with an alcoholic father her entire life and he died when she was 16. Trump thinks it’s ok that she was shunned, mocked and scorned her entire life? Why didn’t it occur to him to step in and be her father figure instead of shunning a 16 year old? So shameful.

@KNOWITALL, I don’t believe you would speak like that in public about a member of your family (or anyone). I feel sure that on some level you know why this is wrong.

@Jeruba No, I probably wouldn’t, actually, but they wouldn’t disrespect me publicly either. She wrote the book and made her money off the name, story, etc….and she’s a big girl. Going up against your uncle the President isn’t a scenario most of us will encounter.

Well “lying TRUMP” and the “most stable genius” ! Can’t spin doctor himself out a clinical Psychologist assessment. Maybe Mary has 30,000 emails on a private server that show how DJT is what she calls him.

Let’s try to be as fair as possible to Trump. Imagine you are president and a relative of yours publicly accuses you of doing some awful things. Let’s ignore whether the statements are accurate. You have to say something, but why does he have to be so nasty about it? Can’t he play the adult for once in his life? He could have said that his niece had a hard time growing up and that he was sorry that she felt compelled to take things out on him. It is the same message, but without the nastiness and vindictiveness.

@KNOWITALL, if you were President KnowItAll, wouldn’t you face a different set of expectations for your behavior? Everything you said or did would be magnified.

Even in a small organization, the leaders generally have outsize influence and command disproportionate attention. Their words and actions carry more weight than other people’s. Instead of a leader of a little club of 300, Trump is the leader of a nation of 300 million. Shouldn’t that fact temper his behavior a little? Shouldn’t he be aware of the effect of his actions and mind his words at least as much as you would expect a nine-year-old to do on the playground?

Shouldn’t he observe the rules of courtesy, responsibility, and respect that we expect little kids to learn and follow?

If not, why not?

For what it’s worth, therapists sometimes recommend making secret recordings in cases of abuse where the victim is unlikely to be believed or the abuser is in a position of power. But of course, she might have just wanted to be able to prove that people were saying things behind Trump’s back. Without tapes, we’d get a whole wave of things like “it’s just he said/she said” and “where’s the proof?” and “well, she says she never said it.”

@Jeruba Listen both Dems and Reps have done things I wouldn’t do.

If they both want to show their asses in public, I’ll watch and have popcorn.

@LostInParadise
The nastiness is the whole point. Anyone opposed to drumpf is an enemy, and must be slandered and insulted as much as possible.
Almost everyone of note, that has slighted drumpf even in the most minor way, has received that treatment.

@KNOWITALL Saying that both sides do bad things, so this isn’t such a big deal is a logical fallacy. You are resorting to it, because you recognize you’re losing the debate.

@Hawaii It’s not a debate, it’s opinion.

I wouldnt use a cigar like Bill or tweet like Trump but what can you do.

@KNOWITALL, it was you who introduced yourself as a parallel.

So you’re saying that this is just entertainment and you’re just a spectator? Sorry, I mistook you for someone who seriously gave a damn.

@KNOWITALL There is no comparison in a cigar and being a bully.
I agree with @Jeruba that if you think this is all entertainment, this country has really gone to hell.

What I see on the news, media, social media and here is not amusing. This tweet pales in comparison.

But you seem to be amused !