Donald Trump’s remarks on “s***hole countries” roused a righteous high-mindedness in his detractors. But a perusal of their own past quotes suggest they are quite capable of similar words – when one particular state is involved.
John McCain, Republican senator
On Trump:“Respect for the God-given dignity of every human being, no matter their race, ethnicity or other circumstances of their birth, is the essence of American patriotism. To believe otherwise is to oppose the very idea of America.”
Respect for the God-given dignity of every human being, no matter their race, ethnicity or other circumstances of their birth, is the essence of American patriotism. To believe otherwise is to oppose the very idea of America.
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) January 12, 2018
On Russia:“Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country.”
Keith Olbermann, TV host and commentator
On Trump: “No, you’re not getting past the “S***hole” remark. Ever. You racist coward. Your presidency is over. Have a grown-up explain it to you.”
On Russia, last December, after hockey player Alex Ovechkin endorsed Vladimir Putin for this year’s election: “Maybe Ovechkin should be thrown out of this league and forced to go back and skate with Putin in that hellhole #ToHellWithRussia.”
Lindsey Graham, Republican senator
On Trump: “Following comments by the president, I said my piece directly to him yesterday. The president and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel. I’ve always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals.”
On Russia: A “one-man dictatorship” (2009) with “an economy the size of Italy” that is “playing a poker game with a pair of 2s” (2014).
Tim Wise, prominent anti-racism activist “fighting alt-right Nazis since ‘89”
On Trump:“For those who keep excusing Trump because ‘that’s just how some people talk’… um, if your standards for the president are no higher than those you set for your Uncle Cooter, YOU are the problem. Unfiltered people are either demented or four [years old]. Either way, we should ignore them.”
For those who keep excusing Trump because “that’s just how some people talk..” um, if your standards for the president are no higher than those you set for your Uncle Cooter, YOU are the problem. Unfiltered people are either demented or 4. Either way, we should ignore them
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) January 13, 2018
On Russia:“W/each new day I know why part of my family left s***hole of imperial Russia. 100 years after last rev[olution] let’s hope 4 another1,” in a tweet from 2016.
W/each new day I know why part of my family left shithole of imperial Russia. 100 years after last rev lets hope 4 another1 #ComeAtMeBroski
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) December 15, 2016
Barack Obama, former US President
On Trump: Nothing yet.
On Russia:“Russia doesn’t make anything. Immigrants aren’t rushing to Moscow in search of opportunity. The life expectancy of the Russian male is around 60 years old. The population is shrinking,” Obama told the Economist in 2014.
Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo political blog founder
On Trump:“It’s not just exclusion but a palpable dehumanizing contempt. The words only matter in as much as they illustrate the ugliness of what is currently happening and that is real and much more important than mere words,” Marshall wrote in conclusion to his post on Trump’s comments.
On Russia:“Xenophobic paranoia and a gravitation towards autocracy are embedded into the cultural DNA” of Russians, in a tweet from 2016.
Josh Barro, Business Insider Senior Editor, MSNBC contributor
On Trump:“Our president is an extremely prejudiced man and also an extremely superficial one,” Barro wrote in a column after the story broke. “The president’s prejudice causes him to make snap judgments about people, and his superficiality makes him incapable of processing information that might countermand his prejudices.”
On Russia: “A dystopic s***hole since the dawn of history,” adding in another later deleted tweet – “It’s amazing how much national pride Russians have, given how little they have to be proud of.”
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