How The Cruelty Is The Point Of Trump’s Presidency | MSNBC

The Atlantic's Adam Serwer joins Morning Joe to discuss the release of his new book 'The Cruelty Is the Point,' which Serwer says is about the phenomenon of cruelty as a part of politics and how it is used to deny individuals their rights.

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How The Cruelty Is The Point Of Trump's Presidency | MSNBC

86 comments

  1. Delusional Psychopaths have no empathy or a conscience. Cruelty and dominance over others is what they crave.

    1. @steel celt Hating democrats is not a value. So I’ll ask again… What is it that you as a Republican actually stand for? What values do you deem important for leading this country? What policies do you support and why do you support them?

      You’re all hate and hot air. A completely empty agenda. Hating your fellow Americans is not a value system. Come up with some actual ideals and perhaps the other 70% of this country (along with the rest of the world) will start taking you seriously. For now, you guys are nothing but a sad, sad joke. It would be hilarious if it were not so unbelievably pathetic… Not to mention dangerous.

    2. @reality And you support fascism, racism, lower quality of life, and miseducation. Kia ora from NZ!!

    3. @lilly padIf you’re trying to convince me that Trump is a paragon of honesty and virtue, i would suggest you take a good hard look at the man, and do some research.

  2. Vladimir Putin polls higher than Joe Biden among Trump voters. The party of family values has become the party of treason.

    1. @Christiaan Hart Nibbrig Many republicans took re-election money & huge contributions from Russian oligarchs over the past 4 years. McConnell for one received a large “gift”.

    2. @Louis Tully Do you mean because he is working and not sending out hundreds of lies on twitter every day? We are loving it. That orange embarrassment is headed for prison.

  3. Trump saw himself as a 3rd world despot like Saddam Hussein. So naturally he believed that General Milley, and other American Generals, would grovel at his feet, and carry out atrocities and human rights violations against the American people in his name. He was wrong.

    1. @Russell S I’ve heard the exact same thing about trumpers . I’m hesitant to call them conservatives because I’ve never seen this in any political party before trump and I’m hoping it leaves with him. I guess we’ll see in 24 after trump is indicted and they run someone else.

    2. @Russell S I was in DC that fateful day and yes In my opinion he did encourage violence . But that’s my opinion people interrupt things differently . I work in DC with the secret service, capital police , park police and DC police and they all blamed trump for the riot if only because instead of calming the crowd which a president should do he encouraged them to go to the capital and do whatever they had to do to stop the vote! That’s not presidential behavior!!!

    3. @Russell S I don’t hate anybody. I don’t like certain politicians. Your party is one that is intolerant . I never saw a less tolerant man than Trump. A liberal education that includes teaching of philosophy, psychology and history is all about tolerance. I will not tolerate anyone trying to destroy our Democracy to seize power and turn the United States into a totalitarian dictatorship. If that is what you think is progress you have some serious problem s you might want to seek a psychiatrist before you end up in serious trouble. Many of insurrectionists are already on their way to prison.

    4. @Thomas Armsworthy Jr Carter wasn’t weak, just honorable. Honest, trustworthy, faithful all those decent things our last miserable excuse for a president was the opposite of.

    1. @Joshua Williams The economy improved, the United States reduced its global emissions, pulled troops out of the middle east, saw the largest unemployment for minorities, raised the standard of living, attempted to secure the Southern Border, and stood up to China. The only cruelty being presented is the culture war you find yourselves in.

    2. @V for Wombat Sorry friend, I’ve studied this for the last 30 years due to something I found among my WWII U.S. Army Air Corps veteran grandfather’s things. It seems he LOVED cutting medals off of dead NAZI’s and taking their personal effects. Among his items was a WWII NAZI Party ID card taken off of a dead NAZI and on this card it shows the ”Vorherige Parteizugehörigkeit”/”Previous Party Affiliation” of the NAZI listed on it as ”Kommunistische Partei”/”Communist Party”. After spending many hours in our local library and speaking to WWII veteran friends of grand dad’s I found that it was EASY for the NAZI’s to recruit Communists and vice versa due to the similarities in their ideologies. This is also the reason that Hitler used RED in his banners and propaganda as it was familiar to the Communists he was trying to recruit.

      And it’s more than obvious you’ve never bothered to READ and compare the stated economic/governmental ”goals” found in both the Communist Manifesto and the NAZI 25 Point Political Platform of the NSDAP to see they’re identical, meaning both are in fact ”leftist” ideologies. Fabian Socialist academia has used the Hegelian Dialectic for the past 70 years to make indoctrination TO Marxist ideology easier by telling lies about the NAZI’s and true ”far right” ideology which is in fact Anarchy due to the steady progression to the ”right” of political ”center” being for LESS/SMALLER government until you arrive there. In point of pure fact, ”right” ideology is American Patriotism as Conservatives and Libertarians have ALWAYS been for LIMITED GOVERNMENT and the principles of Classic Liberalism, i.e. ”equality of individuals/opportunity” that this country was FOUNDED ON. Your precious Democrat NAZI party is talking about ”EQUITY” which is in fact ”EQUALITY OF OUTCOMES” and it has NOTHING to do with the principles this country was founded on.

      And this is ”why” we can see historical parallels from the Democrat party, like the two quotes I’ve referenced from Patrisse and Hitler, but also the fact that a quick Google/DuckDuckGo search reveals that Democrats/BLM/ANTIFA have been attacking Jews for the past two years, and that’s explained by the following quote-

      “If we are socialists, then we must definitely be anti-semites – and the opposite, in that case, is Materialism and Mammonism, which we seek to oppose.” “How, as a socialist, can you not be an anti-semite?”-Adolf Hitler.

    3. Cruelty? We have record numbers of children in cages and some are on suicide watch!!!!!! Veggie Biden won’t even talk about it. Kacklin Kamaltoe won’t talk about it. The WH has turned into a circus and the clowns are evil.

  4. Just think Trump wears his unspeakably ugly mindset on this sleeve, yet many Christians knows this and are happy to votes for him.

    1. @lilly pad You may think you are saved by the Lamb of god, but you are damned by the darkness in your heart. Just listen to yourself. Trump is a horrible human being, and the way you sound, you are in full alignment with Trump. You have the gall to call someone else demonic.

    2. @Judith Bradford Trump offered no power. He offered freedom freedoms that come from the Constitution. The Sermon on the Mount was not for Demons and those who follow Doctrine of Demons.

    3. @The World There is real damage being done to those who are evangelical in their approach to their fellowman; the term is being very downtrodden in it’s connection to he former president. But God does not change and He remains mighty to save!

    4. Yeah if Trump would have just shut his mouth and let all the child molesters in the government everything would be fine but he made a promise he was going to take down the pedophiles and that’s exactly what he’s doing the election fraud is just a tiny little part of the corruption you people need to dig deep and prepare yourself for what’s coming cuz nothing can stop it

    5. @Andrew Pepe Go with God, leave all that chaos of the world to Him. Trump exposed himself as a heartless president, the pandemic exposed who really is, and what he’s really about, himself.

  5. “Cruelty” is what makes Trump tick. It always has and always will. The most horrible and evil person to walk this earth.

    1. @lilly pad no sweetie…you don’t know because what you’re reading is fiction.
      A false prophet is a person who spreads false teachings or messages while claiming to speak the word of God. And if any profit dares to speak a message in my name that I have not commanded to him to speak or to speak in the name of other gods that profit must be put to death.
      I don’t see anybody running out to stone those false prophets that said that Trump was going to stay in the White House. You are

    2. @Tino Rivas why would I give him credit when the majority of his party thinks it’s poison and won’t take it.

    3. @Patricia D. The WORD of GOD is given by the Holy Spirit from Scripture. The False Prophet is for instance Pope Francis but I am sure you don’t know why he is. Anti-Trumpers are nothing but Stone Throwers they ALL live in glass houses.

  6. I believe it was Jon Stewart who called Trump’s governing style “Gleeful Cruelty”. I couldn’t agree more.

    1. Why do suppose the Germans have a word for it and we don’t. Taking pleasure in the misery of others has long been a game fascists relish.

    2. And he is fake, even his slogan is stolen from Ronald REAGAN, the difference is that Ronald Reagan was genuine and (to my knowledge) the most successful leader. He brought the cold war to an end! He was a strong leader, hard but yet diplomatic.

    3. @Bob Courtier Not only fascist but apparently half of your population. Half of your population are white supremacists. Well done Republicans, well done. Kia ora from NZ!!

  7. What’s nice is that my entire family in PA, all Trump supporters, say they’ll never even vote again (most of them voted for the first time) because Trump didn’t win reelection. That’s fine with me.

    1. @Brandon West It’s a big, bad world out there Brandon! Only WE, the people that care about real Democracy, know it’s rules and honour them, can make the world less FAKE! We have had a bad back step….WE CAN PUSH BACK by VOTING BLUE!!

    2. Lisa, at least you are strong enough to admit trump didn’t WIN THE ELECTION! It gets a lot easier from there! Vote as you wish BUT VOTE, before we lose more ground rules!

    3. @Sheryl Lovell Agreed. I’ve had several friends in PA, western PA, and they are kind thoughtful people. I recognize the group satirized here as “Pennsyvanians”. But there’s some of that group in many, many states. And some of those in the right circumstances can be fun, just folks, helpful people.

  8. I’m still waiting for Stephen Miller to be arrested for cruelty to children and medical abuse of young women at the border – all with Trump’s blessing. They should both go down for this alone.

    1. @kris Villegas FACTS ARE FACTS AND THE HOMEBOY SHOULD SLITHER BACK UNDER SOMETHING; NOT DISAGREEING.

    2. @Larry Garland Undoing the damage will take some time and yes they could do better but you need to recognize the difference between unaccompanied minors and kids ripped from their parents arms.

    3. It shocks me that I had actually forgotten that, because there are so many awful things that he has done, or had others do.

    1. @greg j Jim Crow laws were about segregation and, by extent, limiting the rights of black citizens. In the context of factors leading to the riots, laws which limit the rights of black citizens would be a factor. The way you presented it was that Jim Crow laws were a response to riots.

    2. Donald Trump is the king Troll and all you brainwash vaccinated sheep are going to find out real soon in the coming days prepare yourself dig deep nothing can stop what’s coming nothing Obama will be hung

    3. @greg j Ok, If you want to discuss things then lets avoid the flood of short posts demanding specific answers.
      To answer your first question. CRT is a social study and as such does not have a goal. It is a tool that can be used to avoid the intended and unintended causes for inequality.
      As I have said, more than once now, CRT is a tool and it’s applications would be dependant on those using it. If a socialist was taking it’s cues from it then it would be applied in socialist ways. If an economist was using it, they would use it in economic ways. So, no CRT does not exist only in a socialist structure.

      Before I get to your next demand we should clear something up. You have previously made the claim that CRT is marxist and now imply that it is socialist. While Marxism and Socialism share some ideas, they are not the same thing and cannot be used interchangeably.

      Alright, next question. I do deny both the generalization of all leftists and the adjective of malicious and adverb of maliciously. There are instances of those among the left of using racial inequality for their personal gain but they are not limited to the left in either quantity or quality.

      Lets see if you can answer a question in return. Why was my economic situation ‘very important’?

    4. @Trevor Bowser It is important because I find most Leftists hail from affluency. As such, these individuals by and large, are out of touch with the lower middle class. They find it easy to push racial divide/hatred because they don’t have to live among the consequences of it.

    5. @Mr. Miami Cuddles Chasing news networks by commenting on their YouTube channels.
      Typical Conservative.

  9. Doesn’t matter to trumpsters how many abortions he paid for he says he is against abortions that’s all they require.

    1. That’s one reason several if my KY Bible belt Christians vote for him , they want some one that shares their values !!!! They don’t get it this man never had and. Never will have Morales! I’ve told ppl no telling how many he paid for , yet I’m not only one that caint figure out how to get thru to them !

    2. Older Trump voters on SS believe that Trump won’t get rid of SS because he promised he wouldn’t. When he got in office he severely cute funding on both. Payroll taxes fund these programs. Trump promised to permanently get rid of payroll tax. He also got rid of the clean water and clean air regulations.

    3. Face it everyone hates Trump because he hates the pedophiles and he’s taking them down and everyone that talk s*** about Trump support the pedophiles and that said the pedophiles are going down prepare yourself people dig deep nothing can stop what’s coming

  10. “He’s not hurting the people he needs to be” – Memorable quote from a Trump supporter circa 2019. google it.

  11. I think this guy nailed it in his book, it’s a sad reflection of when people devolved from human beings, to beings.

  12. Just because “historically” electors react in a certain way does not mean they are going to react that way every time. “Historically” we have never had a political party embrace sedition before.

  13. The phrase “trump’s america” is the most ignorant phrase ever uttered, America is not “trump’s”. Never was. Never will be. His imagined power is dead and buried.

    1. @Les On the right the fringe became mainstream. There’s more doubt in people’s minds today than I’ve ever seen.

    2. @La Zhuzh You’re right, I had forgotten about the group that simply thought they would profit by following trump and were (are) fearful of losing out – they are probably similar in their range of emotions though to the more oafish ‘base’. Base, how very apt.

    3. @Les Very similar; in fact, the only difference is they just have nice houses and a touch more class covering up the run of the mill soul rot all these Confederates seem to collectively possess.

    4. @Seymour Butts Along with the regular ‘fake news’ every few seconds, don’t you think all ‘authority’ (education, law, expertise etc) has been systematically attacked by the right wing manipulators. I know my 20th C. history reasonably well and the Nazi party did the same in order to become the pre-eminent if not the sole authority. In addition, or perhaps because of the undermining of trust in almost everything, conspiracy and modern superstition (including evangelical nonsense) has advanced frighteningly, in many ways into a new dark age, an ‘unenlightenment’.

    5. @Les I used to have faith in the american people before Trump came along. All I know now is how gullible we look to the world. To many of us are falling for the absurd.

  14. Being conservative is one thing but being so hateful is another. Anyone who disagrees is wrong period and has to be put down as stupid. When you say Republicans want someone like Trump I certainly do not. The partisanship without a strong moderate group further divides the country.

  15. TRUMP IS HIS FATHER’S SON. HE TAUGHT HIM WELL AND TRUMP WILL BE GOING TO PRISON BECAUSE OF IT.

    1. Hello, Bonita. Jeremy here and to sum this all up, I never liked Trump’s Father, Fred, either. I don’t like Donald either. Fred sure taught Donald Well, and not in a good way. If Donald was a different person, he would be more caring.

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