The one thing Donald Trump can’t bear people saying of him is something many near him confirm is true—he smells terrible. What will voters do with this intelligence? This report unpacks that question.
I read as much garbage as i could. That is longest, most rambling article i could imagine. You want to actually put it in your own words? Because saying we can politically judge candidate smell because trump sniped politicians for petty reasons as well is not a reason; its a logical fallacy. You want to spew meaningless hate like trump? And if a candidate comes along that is perfect for america but has an odor, you promise to hate them too?
To start, he sets the tone by stating, “. . . why are so many in America now talking about how Donald Trump smells, and why is Trump acting like this superficially puerile question is somehow political Kryptonite?” Which is the same question you were asking. Okay, so he’s going to answer that question.
First, he reminds us of the many anecdotal stories of trump’s deeply disturbing odor going back many decades. (Yes, yes, what if Jesus or whoever smelled bad? I know, we’re getting there, hang in there.) There are many accounts. Here are a couple - this is “the smell”, ok, the Thing We’re Talking About:
“Years ago I posted [online] about Donald Trump being kicked out of Keens Steakhouse in Manhattan—where I was eating with my father in 1983—because his smell was so offensive. . . .
*[My father and I] didn’t complain [about Trump’s smell]. The table next to him complained and the table behind him complained.*We smelled [him], but my father and I didn’t complain about it.
Trump was not elderly. [But] the smell was so f****** offensive that they finally had to ask him to leave [the restaurant]. And he did leave—quietly—and [his smell] wafted right by us.
Okay that was 1983. Let’s jump ahead to the 90s:
Yet another person wrote in to say, “That’s so true. I smelled [Trump] in the early nineties at an event afterparty. I really had the thought back then that he just saw himself [as being] so rich he didn’t give any…[thought to] his smell. I think he showers, but gas and not caring to wipe his bum was [the] issue. We saw him later in the evening surrounded by people; he was pulling girls into hugs and you could see they were pulling away, but he kept forcing them back. My friends and I left maybe two hours into the event.”
So, for the sake of discussion, let’s take as a given that trump smells bad. If you dismiss the premise completely, that’s a different article. So for the sake of getting to the “So What?” part of your question let’s agree - okay, trump smells offensive - something like feces.
The author then asks the question, Is it okay to write about a public figure’s smell? He says:
This is a difficult question, but we can at least find an appropriate starting point: the name of the person in D.C. who speaks most irresponsibly about how people smell.
That person would be Donald Trump. As the New Yorkerreports, Trump has long equated how someone smells with their value as a human being . . .
He gives several on-the-record examples. So. It’s actually trump telling the world - I judge this person by how they smell. Is that hypocrisy? (Politically relevant). Irony? (Human-interest story). Or something else? The answer is, it’s enough to make it a valid news topic.
So, trump is a huge asshole to other people about the way they smell. See the clip with Larry King for one example.
. . . Trump is certainly willing to exact vengeance on those who fail to mask native scents that offend him. As he told GQ in 2012, “I have fired people that, and maybe it wasn’t the main reason, didn’t exactly smell good. Maybe that was an early indicator [of their inadequacies].” Is it presuming too much, then, to suppose Trump might fear voters spurning him for the same reason that he’s at times spurned others?
That’s an “other” reason it’s a valid news story to write about. He knows it’s politically damaging to him if it becomes a trending topic.
His germaphobia is discussed here as “cover” for his preoccupation with smells. Several examples of him lashing out at people close to him, such as
Trump was in the midst of an extremely serious conversation with Digital Media Director Brad Parscale, Deputy Campaign Manager David Bossie, and Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway when the last of these had the temerity to cough—once.
Trump went “nuts” and stormed off, according to the official.
This is described as “a sort of “two-sizes-fits-all” narcissism, with one rule for the narcissist and another for the rest of the world.”
Is a personality disorder something you’d want to know about a candidate? You really should.
But your question “Who cares? Dumb Americans?” Is then directly addressed. Let’s see:
. . . does smell matter to voters as a matter of political science? And the answer, it turns out, is a qualified yes.
The “yes” here is a “qualified” one because it turns out that one political demographic in particular is likely to refuse to vote for any politician who smells bad.
That demographic is Donald Trump supporters.
Did you catch that? The people most likely to weigh a vote based on how someone smells are his own voters. What a twist! So now he’s not only unable to not talk about how people smell bad, his supporters have to ensure this story of his own bad smell of “feces, armpits, and ketchup” does not reach a repetitive level with his voters.
So there’s a high value on NOT talking about it. Who cares? The MAGAts. The Qanuts. His base cares. They must never know!
And THAT is the real point: Political journalism about trump is already beyond abysmal. But here’s a facet of his political life so banal and yet explosive (pardon the pun) that even those corporate news outlets who DARE to state that trump “falsely claimed” something, not that they can bring themselves to say he lied even, won’t touch this story. It would be too damaging to him to do so, for one.
Additionally, the national conversations, such as they are, about it would be overwhelmingly strident calls that “who cares?!” And “how is this even a topic?!” As your own comments predict.
Well political journalism has failed democracy and America many times before with trump. But never so much as this one particular point demonstrates.
The point is that helping Americans and the world see Donald Trump for what he is, not what his fans wishcast him into being, is the prime directive of all journalists who cover the man and his self-admitted dictatorial ambitions inside the United States. If Trump smells horrific, that’s not only an indication of why he’s hidden so much of his medical record from American voters but could also reveal personal habits that would impact his ability to serve as president. Indeed, they could even explain some of his most destructive conduct during his time in office. That it might also do damage to his reputation as a self-conceived “alpha male” is less of a concern for journalists, of course, but even that potential outcome to reporting on Trump’s odor would at least strike a blow for those in the journalistic establishment who—on matters of war and peace and even matters of personal conduct (like the fact that a federal court has held Trump to be a “rapist”)—have thus far had no luck getting news readers to simply see Trump for who and what he actually is.
Part III and I’ll just cut to the chase here as you’re no doubt a busy person with little time to read things beyond a few sentences.
Trump is demented - his mental capacity and competence are noticeably diminished in a medical sense. Trump is a narcissist - he has a personality disorder that distorts his understanding of the world. Trump is sociopatic - he has little-to-no empathy for others and is incapable of seeing things from someone else’s point of view.
And finally, trump is a rapist - a criminal whose sexual assaults are brutal, and cowardly, and reported publicly at least twenty times and counting.
Political journalism won’t touch these topics - the most important of information voters should have. And trump’s horrifying public explosive shits and fecal stench are more than a gross story - it’s a metaphor for who he is and how he’s handled by the supposed fourth-estate, whose role is creating a well-informed populace.
Oh okay so you employ the same strategy as the article. Just provide enough text (with an LLM) in your response to discourage the reader from engaging meaningfully while amazingly saying nothing meaningfully related to our discussion.
The disinformation age sucks. I have no words for how much you suck. So unless your response to this message is a succinct, human-typed reply that makes a single related argument to the legitmacy of a candidates smell then good day to you, chatgpt.
You sure look smart citing sources though, my goodness. So when i ask why anyone would vote for someone based on smell, you cite “sources” that confirms he smells. Okayyy…
And your most relevant sentence is trying to say that trump is hypocritical because he has judged people based on their smell? So you think we should be holding ourselves to trumps standards?
Maybe explain to me one more time, in your own words, why a candidates smell should be a factor when im deciding how to vote for?
Americans are dumb enough to engage with content like this, so probably.
Content like reporting from the NYT, CNN, direct quotes from people who worked directly with him on a daily basis for years?
Hey, here’s a thing- try reading it. You might be surprised.
Why would I, or anyone vote for someone based on their smell?
Again, if you read the article, it discusses that question in some detail.
I read as much garbage as i could. That is longest, most rambling article i could imagine. You want to actually put it in your own words? Because saying we can politically judge candidate smell because trump sniped politicians for petty reasons as well is not a reason; its a logical fallacy. You want to spew meaningless hate like trump? And if a candidate comes along that is perfect for america but has an odor, you promise to hate them too?
Garbage, huh. Ok. Let’s see.
To start, he sets the tone by stating, “. . . why are so many in America now talking about how Donald Trump smells, and why is Trump acting like this superficially puerile question is somehow political Kryptonite?” Which is the same question you were asking. Okay, so he’s going to answer that question.
First, he reminds us of the many anecdotal stories of trump’s deeply disturbing odor going back many decades. (Yes, yes, what if Jesus or whoever smelled bad? I know, we’re getting there, hang in there.) There are many accounts. Here are a couple - this is “the smell”, ok, the Thing We’re Talking About:
Okay that was 1983. Let’s jump ahead to the 90s:
So, for the sake of discussion, let’s take as a given that trump smells bad. If you dismiss the premise completely, that’s a different article. So for the sake of getting to the “So What?” part of your question let’s agree - okay, trump smells offensive - something like feces.
The author then asks the question, Is it okay to write about a public figure’s smell? He says:
He gives several on-the-record examples. So. It’s actually trump telling the world - I judge this person by how they smell. Is that hypocrisy? (Politically relevant). Irony? (Human-interest story). Or something else? The answer is, it’s enough to make it a valid news topic.
But wait! There’s more!
Part II
So, trump is a huge asshole to other people about the way they smell. See the clip with Larry King for one example.
That’s an “other” reason it’s a valid news story to write about. He knows it’s politically damaging to him if it becomes a trending topic.
His germaphobia is discussed here as “cover” for his preoccupation with smells. Several examples of him lashing out at people close to him, such as
This is described as “a sort of “two-sizes-fits-all” narcissism, with one rule for the narcissist and another for the rest of the world.”
Is a personality disorder something you’d want to know about a candidate? You really should.
But your question “Who cares? Dumb Americans?” Is then directly addressed. Let’s see:
Did you catch that? The people most likely to weigh a vote based on how someone smells are his own voters. What a twist! So now he’s not only unable to not talk about how people smell bad, his supporters have to ensure this story of his own bad smell of “feces, armpits, and ketchup” does not reach a repetitive level with his voters.
So there’s a high value on NOT talking about it. Who cares? The MAGAts. The Qanuts. His base cares. They must never know!
And THAT is the real point: Political journalism about trump is already beyond abysmal. But here’s a facet of his political life so banal and yet explosive (pardon the pun) that even those corporate news outlets who DARE to state that trump “falsely claimed” something, not that they can bring themselves to say he lied even, won’t touch this story. It would be too damaging to him to do so, for one.
Additionally, the national conversations, such as they are, about it would be overwhelmingly strident calls that “who cares?!” And “how is this even a topic?!” As your own comments predict.
Well political journalism has failed democracy and America many times before with trump. But never so much as this one particular point demonstrates.
So now do you care what a candidate smells like?
Wait- there’s more
Part III and I’ll just cut to the chase here as you’re no doubt a busy person with little time to read things beyond a few sentences.
Trump is demented - his mental capacity and competence are noticeably diminished in a medical sense. Trump is a narcissist - he has a personality disorder that distorts his understanding of the world. Trump is sociopatic - he has little-to-no empathy for others and is incapable of seeing things from someone else’s point of view.
And finally, trump is a rapist - a criminal whose sexual assaults are brutal, and cowardly, and reported publicly at least twenty times and counting.
Political journalism won’t touch these topics - the most important of information voters should have. And trump’s horrifying public explosive shits and fecal stench are more than a gross story - it’s a metaphor for who he is and how he’s handled by the supposed fourth-estate, whose role is creating a well-informed populace.
That’s why it’s important.
Oh okay so you employ the same strategy as the article. Just provide enough text (with an LLM) in your response to discourage the reader from engaging meaningfully while amazingly saying nothing meaningfully related to our discussion.
The disinformation age sucks. I have no words for how much you suck. So unless your response to this message is a succinct, human-typed reply that makes a single related argument to the legitmacy of a candidates smell then good day to you, chatgpt.
Fight idiocy with idiocy?
You sure look smart citing sources though, my goodness. So when i ask why anyone would vote for someone based on smell, you cite “sources” that confirms he smells. Okayyy…
And your most relevant sentence is trying to say that trump is hypocritical because he has judged people based on their smell? So you think we should be holding ourselves to trumps standards?
Maybe explain to me one more time, in your own words, why a candidates smell should be a factor when im deciding how to vote for?
I hope I’ve done that, but if not. Ok.
You definitely have not.