• RangerJosie@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Yes.

    That isn’t even a real question is it? Just take a minute. 1 minute and Google the last half century of US politics.

    We will absolutely vote for a gameshow host in a persistently full diaper. We’ve done it before. In 1980.

    • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 months ago

      Its an interesting article because it talks about who cares about it. His supporters care the most. So he goes to great lengths to keep it covered up in the press (but not in real life? Somehow?).

      • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip
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        2 months ago

        Honestly I don’t understand how this is an issue he cannot fix. Supposedly he is wealthy and connected, I can’t believe he couldn’t get treatment if it is some sort of condition or fucking use soap on a daily basis if it is not.

        The only other thing coming to mind is the purported incontinence and adult diapers, but then I can’t believe all his sycophants or generally all of the people he interacts with are willing to ignore an adult man smelling like literal feces without fail.

        • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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          2 months ago

          Fascinating isn’t it. An “issue for him to fix” requires he acknowledge the issue.

          He will not. People around him fear that he will suspect it is an issue. It can’t be brought up. Address it? HA! Acknowledge some deficiency? First of all - are you new? NO - and secondly name one other time where trump has said ‘this was a problem with me so i changed’.

          He is, and I say this in all seriousness, a demented narcissistic sociopath. This fecal aroma around him is a walking proof of that. That the world’s media has apparently chosen to keep quiet about for fear of being sued, or in thrall to their conservative masters or something.

          I really think everyone should think about why this is a thing at all, as you have here. The answers are terrifying. And another aspect of why his “sanewashing” by the press is just one aspect of his media existence, almost entirely created and maintained by corporate news for the benefit of - trump.

          • GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip
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            2 months ago

            I mean, even if you try to play along it seems crazy not a single person would visibly retch or show another sign of disgust. I once rode the subway and there was a homeless man who had visibly shat himself some distance on the station, when the wind blew in and like two dozen people waiting at the station would audibly gag and retch from the stench.

            I definitely believe the trumpet stinks, but i am just stumped how nobody, not even random supporters are taken by surprise to the effect of a repulsed reaction. I know i am covering my nose if it smells like shit all of a sudden.

            • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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              2 months ago

              Would you be surprised to learn that, for all that its status as a trending topic over just the last few weeks has caused many Americans to become freshly aware of the now-ubiquitous #TrumpStinks hashtag, the slogan is actually many years old? The below images are from over half a decade ago:

              That’s about halfway down the article. There’s also

              And further elaboration from the Congressman, including “That’s kind of that. I’ve been amazed that everybody is just kind of learning about this now,” - to your point.

        • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          Probably has at least something to do with the fact that he eats McDonalds all the fucking time? That can’t be good for your GI tract at his age.

  • Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    I haven’t heard specifics on his odor, but I bet it’s a nasty butt smell. Like when you go into a public bathroom and the toilet bowl still smells like the last guy’s moist, sweaty asshole that hasn’t seen soap in two weeks. That smell that just marinates in there for hours.

  • qarbone@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I don’t get the people saying this doesn’t matter. People don’t just naturally smell horrid if they are regularly bathing.

    Has he always smelled like shit or is this new? Is this further evidence of his inability (or unwillingness) to clean himself? Or is this a refusal to allow anyone to clean him despite a disability? Incredibly, is someone forcing him not to clean himself? Is this some form of incontinence he has refused to address?

    There are various implications about his health. Things most reasonable people have assumed but that Trump has stringently refused to provide acceptable verification for.

    There are things to think about beyond “bad man stinky” but other people here are acting like they’re too high-minded to ponder them.

    /inb4 I already know Trump sucks because <laundry list of deficiencies />

    • tee9000@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Wow so many questions youve raised that might have a basis in reality. I find the best way to form a foundational belief about someone is to focus on things that seem to be out of their control (OR IS IT??).

      Can we just straight up ban certain people from running for president to avoid this going forward? Smell, poor vision, obesity, age, maybe weird lookin people too…

      • qarbone@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        We absolutely should be banning people from public office (especially the presidency) because of age, mostly because of its causal relation with physical and mental fitness. Which is what the questions about his apparent smell are also trying to get to the bottom. Is this person suffering the advanced effects of age or are they still fit to perform the duties of the position?

        But thanks for engaging with the topic instead of trying to make this some banal conversation about what I think of his eau d’ toilet. Is what I wish I could’ve said.

        • tee9000@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          If you read the article you would see it claims he has smelled since the 80s.

          Sorry I raised questions about your hot take, im sure i wasnt operating with enough information to fairly judge you. But unfortunately i dont have the mental capacity to consider anything that isnt a “feeling” conveyed by an article headline and the picture that accompanies it.

          • qarbone@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            I can’t tell if you really thought I was really out here to post “hot takes” or if that’s simply the limit of your ability to process other people’s questions. In any case, thanks for the clarification. This will no longer be addressing you, so feel free to go be angry somewhere else.

            If true, it’s a long standing issue. And weird that it’s only being heavily brought up this election cycle. Perhaps last time the idea of Trump presidency was so far-fetched that it wasn’t deemed worth it? But it’s so easy that, if you’re going to sling mud like most political parties do, you’d have no reason not to use it from last time.

            • tee9000@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              Dont call people “high minded” for disregarding body odor as a politically relevant discussion.

  • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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    2 months ago

    It’s 10 months old but very comprehensive and well laid-out. Some good questions like “is covering trump’s odor journalism?” And “why is he so weird about smells” plus lots of verbatim firsthand accounts.

    • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 months ago

      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.

          • tee9000@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            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?

            • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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              2 months ago

              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:

              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 Yorker reports, 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.

              But wait! There’s more!

              • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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                2 months ago

                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.

                . . . 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.

                So now do you care what a candidate smells like?

                Wait- there’s more

                • Optional@lemmy.worldOP
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                  2 months ago

                  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.

              • tee9000@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                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?

  • Fox@pawb.social
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    2 months ago

    I’d vote for someone who literally stinks as long as they didn’t figuratively stink

  • djsoren19@yiffit.net
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    2 months ago

    On the list of reasons why Trump isn’t fit to be president, this is somewhere in the low thousands.

  • Awesomo85@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    “Trump is stinky doodoo caca head! He stinky butt man!”

    -What Democrats have been reduced to because they see the writing on the wall.

    I guess I don’t blame you. Everyone needs an outlet. Really I’m just sorry you let the media convince you that you will be put into camps if he wins.