Editor’s Note: The following is written by a British author named Nate White. His essay is published here with his kind permission. Initially, I received this piece from my ex in NY, who got it from her brother in Tucson, who got it from his other brother in Europe, and now I pass it along to all of you at the Mountain News.
Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?
By Nate White
“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. There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.
“Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.
“He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.
“There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.
“So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
* Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
* You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
“This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too: his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
“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. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?
“If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”
The Mountain News - WA 
Apparently it originated here:
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-many-British-people-not-like-Donald-Trump
Why do many British people not like Donald Trump?
45 Answers [since July 2018]
Nate White, Drinks coffee. Writes copy.
Updated Feb 13, 2019
Yes. Here is an email I got from Nathaniel today, giving his approval to publish.
Hi Bruce,
I saw you’d very kindly posted my piece on: Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?
This is really just to let you know that I’m very happy – and very grateful – for you to have posted it on your blog.
Thank you!
– NW
PS – For what it’s worth, the original post was on Quora – link here:
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-many-British-people-not-like-Donald-Trump/answer/Nate-White-44
Trump is trump…
There is nothing new to add to the picture…
Can ‘we’ move on and create what ‘we’ want…please and thank you!
Thanks Bruce!
Nate White is absolutely “spot on” … wish in all my anguished complaints about his erroneous ways I could have been so accurate, so comprehensive.
Why is Trump even an issue for Brits? We Americans could car less who your PM is. That is a rational action for Americans to take. Why don’t you reciprocate by getting on with your lives as well? It might be better for your mental health, even.
If any of you want to counter that POTUS is of interest to Brits because of America finally ditching the Cold War trade & security system, that was already going on before Trump and will continue to go on afterwards. Trump has just accelerated the process and could care less about being diplomatic about it, is all.
The Cold War ended in ’92. Russia is no Soviet Union. So what is amazing is not that America is ditching the old Cold War world order, but that it took this long to finally get serious about doing so.
And now with Brexit, UK truly is on its own.
But..Orange Man Bad! <– that seems to be what is important to Brits.
Wow!
This post is a good example of a couple that I’ve received in response to this essay. I believe it is from a bot. The email sounds quite bogus, and the theme is to shift focus away from Trump’s behavior and cast dispersion on the British PM and the British people.
Uh, no. Not a Bot. Nor I did not ‘cast dispersion on the British PM and people’. I just openly questioned the irrationality of Brits suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Americans not caring less who the Brit PM is is not ‘casting dispersion’ on the PM. It’s just a statement of fact as the British PM has no real bearing on Americans or their lives. Ditto with the German Chanceller or the Canadian PM or the PM of Japan. We only pay attention to the Russian and Chinese leadership because they have nukes pointed at us.
Again: What RATIONAL reason do Brits have to obsess over Trump’s behavior? At all? Other than TDS ‘Orange Man Bad!’, that is? Oh wait! I asked for a RATIONAL reason….
Still think I am a bot? And why does the email ‘sound bogus’ (especially since it isn’t even displayed)? Does a bot respond in this manner?
AmericanCounterPoint what you call TDS, the majority of the human race calls common sense.
brucesmith49 ACP’s comment is also similar to the responses to celebrities who have an opinion, express them, and then get shutdown with “arguments” such as “you’re just an entertainer, shut up and entertain us.”
Trump is a vulnerable issue for the entire planet. We have a dangerous, corrupt, incompetent narcissist leading the strongest nation in the world. He abuses and bullies not only our own people, but our own allies as he kneels to the most corrupt, unstable, threatening enemies that maintain a perilous effect on all of the world. Trump is not a uniter of peace but a dangerous disrupter of hostility with uncontrolled sociopathic behaviors which threatens world peace. The reflections here are not just of the Brits, but of the entire global response including of all of our allies, but a giddy retort of North Korea, China and Russia, to name a few of those nations who control his impaired mind and behavior which threatens the harmony that we once maintained with our allies. This reliance was dependent on our unity, endurance, strength and commitment to one another.
Britain and all of our allies maintain every right in the world to speak up in retort with affirmation of trump’s chaotic, disruptive, disharmonious and unpredictable threats trump has saturated on our allies, our own nation, the rest of the planet and it’s ability to survive. If you are naive enough to believe these are the responsive appraisals of just one man, one nation of which they have every right to respond to trump’s influence on their own safety and planet, then sir, you just have not been paying attention.
In other words, you are ticked because ‘your side’ lost the 2016 election.
Well said, Fran.
“Couldn’t care less” could care less is wrong, like the rest of your comment.
It’s “couldn’t care less” “could care less” means the opposite. A Trump supporter wouldn’t know that though, I suppose. 😂
What RATIONAL reason do Americans have to obsess over the Royal Family’s behavior?Why do Americans care about the British monarchy? I certainly don’t, but there they are, on the cover of American magazines every single month.
The answer to the question,” Why is Trump even an issue for Brits?” is that you are clueless. It’s a ridiculous question, and you know it. Your argument is one big logical fallacy. World leaders are public figures, and as such, people have opinions about them. You are trying to deflect from the fact that President Dumpy is gaslighting America and deliberately undermining the very foundation of our freedom.
Here’s what Lindsey Graham tweeted about Trump inMay, 2016 (before Graham’s entire head was up Trump’s ass): If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed…….and we will deserve it.
Stop being coy. The man is a menace, a threat to our democracy.
WE ARE REPUBLICANS, AND WE WANT TRUMP DEFEATED
The president and his enablers have replaced conservatism with an empty faith led by a bogus prophet.
https://lincolnproject.us/news/the-urgency-of-defeating-trump-falls-to-all-of-us/
“Warren, you are incapable of making a cogent, intelligent argument. “It’s none of their business”? Hahahahahahahahaha, you sound like a sullen teenage girl.”
Look everyone! What a FINE EXAMPLE of British education Nonee is! Can’t deal with reality, so engages in ad hominem attacks.
“The answer to the question,” Why is Trump even an issue for Brits?” is that you are clueless. It’s a ridiculous question, and you know it. ”
Given how you can’t even bring yourself to explain why it is a ridiculous question, it isn’t. You just engage in a fallacy response.
Explain WHY it is rational for Brits to fret about a leader of another country that they don’t even get to vote for? I mean, it makes no sense whatsoever. Meanwhile, you have tons of problems that are 100% Brit generated. Like your idiotic joining of the EU and now the damage coming from getting out of it (finally). If you put even HALF of the energy you that put into ORANGE MAN BAD raging into YOUR real problems instead, just imagine how far the UK would get in dealing with said problems.
As for the Americans and the Royal family: Only a small percentage of the US population ‘obsess’ over them. I myself just love how they are the ultra-personification of all things that are idiotic about Brits. The fact that you ignore them seems to imply that somewhere deep inside that TDS addled brain of yours, you know that to be true also. Or it is least a possibility you might want to explore with your NHS shrink.
The Lincoln Project? Who cares about them. They are a bunch of globalist-funded fake Republicans that seem to have far more name recognition with ORANGE MAN BAD obsessed Brits than they have in the US.
While you are at it: Look the term ‘RINO’.
I guess this is something that a lot of Americans would find very hard to understand as it is very well known that in general Americans do not even know what is going on outside their own border (I realise that is a big generalisation). But you should understand America is considered the most powerful country in the world, much of what happens in America especially surrounding the president influences the rest of the world. Having an opinion on a world leader that makes decisions that affect many people around the world, most would consider quite normal.
I understand this will be difficult to comprehend, but many countries around the world are educated about what happens outside of their borders, keep up to date with the latest news and will often find inspiration from the different leaders and happenings. When a leader is creating discord, ruining a country we have close ties to with widespread effects, forming an opinion about it is quite normal.
Having an opinion about the ‘Orange Man’ does not mean we are neglecting the happenings in our own country. Just like the opinions you mentioned in your answer to ‘Nonee’ about the problems facing the UK, Brexit etc. In fact, I am assuming it is okay for you to have opinions about the problems facing the UK but not for us to have opinions about the nightmare of a world leader that was voted into place?
“I guess this is something that a lot of Americans would find very hard to understand as it is very well known that in general Americans do not even know what is going on outside their own border (I realise that is a big generalisation). But you should understand America is considered the most powerful country in the world, much of what happens in America especially surrounding the president influences the rest of the world. Having an opinion on a world leader that makes decisions that affect many people around the world, most would consider quite normal.”
So what? You don’t vote and thus do not affect the out come. And it isn’t about American ignorance but British. We vote for POTUS mostly for the same reason why you vote for the party that Queenie appoints your PM from: Domestic reasons.
And US Domestic policy doesn’t effect you much, except indirectly and not much even so.
Americans are thus not ‘ignorant’ for ignorance sake. We just do not care much about the reset of the world. And that is a rational position to take for us. It should be the same for you, even when you factor in that point you make about America’s ‘outsized influence’.
“I understand this will be difficult to comprehend, but many countries around the world are educated about what happens outside of their borders, keep up to date with the latest news and will often find inspiration from the different leaders and happenings.”
Oh cut the attempts to make up for your inferiority complex that you of the geopolitically castrated have. Americans don’t pay attention to the rest of the world because we have the luxury of not having to do so.
“In fact, I am assuming it is okay for you to have opinions about the problems facing the UK but not for us to have opinions about the nightmare of a world leader that was voted into place?”
HE is not the nightmare you are facing. America FINALLY disengaging from propping up the world system designed to fight an enemy that ceased to exist in 1993 is. He is just a symptom of what is going on. Same thing would have happened with Clinton in office, only part of a 20 year process. Trump is just accelerating it. Hell, COVID has done more to accelerate that than even he has.
So I REALLY don’t even see the rationality of British TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) when Trump isn’t the problem.
And how can I have opinions concerning the problems facing the UK if I am just another ignorant American? 🙂 Seriously, I do so because I like to keep up on world events as a hobby. I don’t get any real world benefit for the effort for the most part, just like other Americans who don’t follow this long figured out. Thus you and I share something in common: We educate ourselves about these things and form opinions therefrom but none of it is really worth doing as we can not impact it. I don’t impact what happens in the UK anymore than you do in the US.
Witless, ignorant, petty, naive and narcissistic…
Did I miss anything? Oh yea, abysmally stupid
Whose stupidity is off the chart…
This perfect storm of all things repugnant makes me profoundly embarrassed to be an American…
No, American C.P., I suppose you are a real person and not a bot. Pushy though, and mocking of my sentiments and values, like a bot – or a programmed anti-anti-Trump responder. I strongly suspect there are troll farms out in Trump Land who go looking for posts like this one and respond as you have to shut us up, or make us feel bad about ourselves or what we hold sacred. Hence, I wonder if you are camped out at at troll farm.
Regardless, and speaking of deeply held values, ACP, what do you hold sacred?
“I suppose you are a real person and not a bot.”
It is hard to tell these days.
“mocking of my sentiments and values,”
What did I mock, exactly? I was must making observations of reality as it is. You weren’t even mentioned personally.
PS, I am ACP. For some reason I could not use more normal WP account before.
Thanks for letting us know, Warren, aka ACP.
Speaking of my values, I do care who the British PM is, as Theresa May has a tough job to do in guiding the UK through the Brexit morass. Brexit and the rise of white supremacy, plus nationalism across the planet are major concerns to me, and these dynamics will impact America and all our citizens. Thoughtful, caring people pay attention to these kinds of developments, imho.
Some pictures were hard to see for my 70 year old eyes, both too small and blurry.
When someone that defective is given so much power, it’s everyone’s problem.
Yup. Plus, Trump is only part of the problem. For me, the bigger issue are the Trumpers. Why are they so angry? Why are they drinking the Kool-Aid?
That’s rich given how many will willing vote for Biden DESPITE believing Tara Reades accusations or figuring out he’s senile.
No it isn’t. Brits should mind their own business.
America will elect whatever President it wants and to hell with the rest of the world. It is none of their business.
Warren, you are incapable of making a cogent, intelligent argument. “It’s none of their business”? Hahahahahahahahaha, you sound like a sullen teenage girl.
Thank you Warren, you speak for many Americans.
You are most welcome. 🙂
A parallel discussion of the underlying issues forming this debate can be found in my post: Covid Journal – Day 61. It was posted May 10, 2020. Why do the people who love Trump do so? Why do the folks who protest the Stay-at-Home mandates do so? Why do so many people mistrust government and the MSM (mainstream media)? I posit that it is a collective response to all the lying, deception and betrayal that we have experienced from so many for so long – sex abuse by priests and Boy Scout leaders, the Pentagon Papers, the lack of arrests in the 2008 Wall Street debacle, Waco, Ruby Ridge, Watergate, 9-11, no WMDs in Iraq, etc.
“Why do so many people mistrust government and the MSM (mainstream media)? I posit that it is a collective response to all the lying, deception and betrayal that we have experienced from so many for so long”
Yup. The whole Russian collusion thing was proven to be w/o foundation, they knew it but ran with it anyway. It drove the entire Shampeachment (to the point that the House didn’t even mention it in the Articles of Impeachment in the end). Same with the false claim that Trump called the Coronavirus a ‘hoax’. The list goes on and on. And not just recently, the completely fake National Guard memos Dan Rather tried to smear Bush with, for example.
“Why do the folks who protest the Stay-at-Home mandates do so? ”
Same reason we protested British taxes. Learn our history.
Less snarky reason, quarantines of this nature should be for those who are vulnerable, not those who aren’t. You want heard immunity to be achieved in the population that is not, too. Called…SCIENCE!
You’re digging into some important stuff here, Warren. Yes, why do so many people mistrust government and the MSM? Yes, there have been so many lies and deceptions in our society during my lifetime of 70 years that include both governments but also trusted institutions like the Boy Scouts, ie: the thousands of young men who got raped and sexually assaulted by predatory adult leaders. Add in the Catholic priests and the other religious betrayals and we have a royal mess.
I call society’s reaction of mistrust a kind of societal PTSD. I’ve written about it elsewhere at the Mountain News, most notably in my Covid Journal pieces. I encourage you to take a look, and I’d love to hear your commentary.
Warren, we finally seem to be getting somewhere. What happened in 1993 that is such a linchpin in your political beliefs? You mentioned that momentous date today, July 9, 2020, but it got posted far above in the commentary.
Also, you talked quite a bit about not caring much about World Affairs, yet you talked about studying them as a “hobby.” Sounds contradictory. I don’t judge contradictions necessarily, but I do find them interesting and I wonder what you feel about yours.
huh?
Americans do not care in general. I as an individual follow them, yes. But I fully realize that it isn’t important — nor has been since the Cold War ended — to do so. And is becoming even less important.
Editor’s Note: The following email was sent to me by MN reader Jane H. who was unable to psot it herself:
I can’t answer Warren the Ape cuz I don’t know/have a URL?
Can you give me one or ask him for me…please.
Warren…do you like turtles?
Jane
Huh?