230 Things Donald Trump Has Said and Done That Make Him Unfit to Be President
How many times has Donald Trump disqualified himself from holding the most powerful job in the world? You be the judge.
It has been 13 months since Donald Trump announced his presidential bid and, in the same speech, called Mexican immigrants rapists. The ensuing drip feed of Trumpian absurdities and offenses has had a desensitizing effect. We know that Trump is a racist, a misogynist, an authoritarian, and a narcissist, but we’ve lost track of the many, many specific things he has said and done that disqualify him from the office he seeks.
So we have compiled a list of specific things that make Trump an unacceptable candidate for the presidency. Some are policy proposals that should be outside the bounds of debate, like punitive torture. Some are casual vulgarities, like his description of Rosie O’Donnell. You might not agree that each individual item on the list is disqualifying in isolation—you can vote those down, and vote up the ones you find especially egregious—but the list’s cumulative weight makes its own statement.
Disclaimer: Trump contradicts himself a lot. Not all of the policy positions listed here reflect his current thinking on a given subject. You’ll have to decide for yourself whether you find that reassuring.
Update, Aug. 1, 2016: We originally listed 141 items here. But Trump doesn’t stop saying and doing unpresidential things, so we’ll continue to update the list through Election Day. New items will appear at the top of the list under “Recent Trump Moments” for a while, until they are replaced by fresher instances of self-disqualification.
Correction, July 18, 2016: This post originally described the Central Park Five as “five black men.” One of the five, Raymond Santana, is Latino, and all were between 14 and 16 at the time of the attack.
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1. Proposed to create a database system to track Muslims in the U.S.
2. Made fun of a reporter’s physical disability
3. Advocated shutting down mosques
4. Claimed he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the 9/11 attacks
5. Called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
6. Questioned Ben Carson’s Seventh-day Adventism
7. Questioned Ted Cruz’s evangelical faith
8. Called Mexican immigrants rapists
9. Said a U.S.-born judge couldn't be impartial because of his “Mexican heritage”
10. Claimed, falsely, that President Obama “issued a statement for Kwanzaa but failed to issue one for Christmas”
11. Tweeted: “Our great African American President hasn’t exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore!”
12. Questioned President Obama’s American citizenship, bringing the “birther” campaign into the mainstream
13. Threatened to “spill the beans” about an unspecified scandal concerning Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi
14. Bragged about the size of his penis during a primary debate
15. Said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose voters”
16. Blamed sexual assault in the military on “put[ting] men and women together”
17. Said women should be punished for having abortions
18. Endorsed torture
19. Said he would force the military to commit war crimes
20. Called for the death penalty for the Central Park Five, five teenagers later exonerated of rape and assault*
21. Urged supporters to beat up protesters at his rallies
22. Defended then–campaign manager Corey Lewandowski after he physically grabbed a female reporter
23. Said, “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her”
24. Didn't understand the phrase “nuclear triad” during a primary debate
25. Said of Carly Fiorina, “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?”
26. Called for the construction of a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent immigration
27. Advocated waterboarding as punishment even if it doesn’t help gain information, because “they deserve it anyway”
28. Called Rosie O’Donnell a “big, fat pig”
29. Founded Trump University, which a salesman called “a fraudulent scheme [that] preyed upon the elderly and uneducated”
30. Named and threatened former students who criticized Trump University
31. Described Fox debate moderator Megyn Kelly as having “blood coming out of her wherever”
32. Said Mitt Romney would have “dropped to his knees” for an endorsement
33. Called an attorney who requested a break to pump breast milk “disgusting”
34. Referred to 9/11 as 7-Eleven
35. Accused Hillary Clinton of “playing the woman card”
36. Tweeted “The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”
37. Suggested that Bill and Hillary Clinton conspired to murder aide Vince Foster
38. Said that the U.S. military should withdraw from Japan and South Korea and allow those countries to defend themselves with nuclear weapons
39. Proposed to charge American allies for military defense
40. Named himself as his primary consultant on foreign policy
41. Disparaged Sen. John McCain's military service because he was captured by the North Vietnamese
42. Proposed a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports
43. Referred to Tiananmen Square demonstrations as a riot and said the Chinese government’s response “shows you the power of strength”
44. Refused to rule out using nuclear weapons against ISIS
45. Didn’t immediately disavow an endorsement from KKK leader David Duke
46. Described global warming as a hoax perpetrated by “the Chinese” for competitive reasons
47. Told his security team to confiscate protesters’ coats and “throw them out into the cold”
48. Said about women, “You have to treat ’em like shit”
49. Proposed to change libel laws to make it easier to sue media organizations
50. Barred reporters from campaign events for unfavorable coverage
51. Said, “It doesn’t really matter what [the media] write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass”
52. Pretended to be his own publicist
53. Responded to the murder of 49 people at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub with “Appreciate the congrats for being right on Islamic terrorism”
54. Refused to take care of his children, saying that husbands who change diapers are “acting like the wife”
55. Called Elizabeth Warren “the Indian” and “Pocahontas”
56. Suggested that Sen. Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
57. Advocated assassinating terrorists’ families
58. Told a female contestant on Celebrity Apprentice, “That must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees”
59. Greeted a Miss Universe contestant with a kiss on the lips, which she called “gross” and “inappropriate”
60. Directed a female employee not to take lunch orders when visitors came to Trump Tower because he found her insufficiently attractive
61. Publicly shamed a Miss Universe winner for gaining weight
62. Advocated plundering oil from Iraq, Libya, and other oil-rich countries invaded by the U.S., in violation of the Geneva Conventions
63. Launched at least 15 business ventures that went on to fail
64. Filed for corporate bankruptcy four times
65. Sold Trump University and Trump Institute courses that relied on plagiarized materials
66. Hired a suspicious number of advisers who have done work on behalf of Vladimir Putin
67. Attempted to court Jewish voters with anti-Semitic stereotypes about money, influence, and dealmaking
68. Paid campaign money to family members and his own businesses
69. Refused to release his tax returns during the campaign
70. Has repeatedly done business with figures linked to organized crime
71. Included two anti-Sharia cranks on a list of five foreign-policy advisers
72. Praised Saddam Hussein for being good at killing terrorists
73. Refuses to sell any of his more than 500 businesses if he’s elected, potentially creating unprecedented conflicts of interest
74. Claimed he’s donated $102 million to charity, although journalists have been unable to find evidence of any substantial donations
75. Used contributions to the Trump Foundation to buy a helmet and jersey signed by Tim Tebow for $12,000 at a charity auction
76. Claimed he’s donated $1 million to veterans’ groups, although none received any money until reporters began investigating
77. Praised the U.K.’s vote to leave the EU because a falling pound would be good for his Scottish golf course
78. Wished for a housing-market crash
79. Subjected his then-wife Ivana to what she described in a deposition as rape, although she later said she didn’t mean the word literally
80. Suggested that supporters who attacked a homeless Hispanic man were “very passionate” and “love their country”
81. Said, “I think Islam hates us”
82. Pointed out a black supporter and said, “Oh, look at my African American over here”
83. Retweeted bogus crime statistics that wildly inflated the rate at which blacks kill whites
84. Advocated withholding free public education from insuffciently studious kids
85. Proposed to appoint himself U.S. trade representative
86. Kept a collection of Adolf Hitler’s collected speeches in a cabinet by his bed
87. Suggested that he might refuse to serve as president if elected
88. Repeatedly suggested that President Obama might be a Muslim
89. Said, “Refugees are trying to take over our children” by telling them “how wonderful Islam is”
90. Claimed there’s “no real assimilation” of “second- and third-generation” families from the Middle East
91. Tweeted an image that originated on a white-supremacist messageboard containing a star of David over a background of money
92. Took out advertisements alleging that the “Mohawk Indian record of criminal activity is well documented” to fight competition for his casino business
93. Attempted to seize and bulldoze the home of an Atlantic City, New Jersey, widow under eminent domain
94. Called the decision to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill “pure political correctness”
95. Questioned Hillary Clinton’s religion
96. Kept journalists in restrictive “press pens” on the campaign trail
97. Has insulted 239 candidates, journalists, organizations, countries, sitting politicians, and celebrities on Twitter
98. Repeatedly claimed, falsely, to have opposed the Iraq war
99. Posted a link to Facebook promoting the conspiracy theory that the Obama administration actively supported al-Qaida in Iraq
100. Falsely claimed that Ferguson, Missouri, and Oakland, California, were “among the most dangerous [places] in the world”
101. Claimed that American Muslims knew about the Orlando nightclub shooter and San Bernardino terrorists before the attacks
102. Doesn’t know how many articles are in the Constitution
103. Claimed a federal spending bill “funds ISIS”
104. Included the head of the white nationalist American Freedom Party on a list of California delegates
105. Falsely claimed he “100 percent” owns “the largest winery on the East Coast”
106. Has been a plaintiff in at least 1,900 lawsuits and a defendant in 1,450 more
107. Tried to set up an investment partnership with Muammar Qaddafi
108. Threatened Amazon as payback for negative coverage in the Washington Post
109. Defended FDR’s internment of Japanese Americans
110. Promised to deport U.S. citizens whose parents immigrated illegally, in violation of the 14th Amendment
111. Praised North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un
112. Didn’t know the meaning of the term “Brexit” less than a month before the U.K. referendum on leaving the EU
113. Earned millions from failing casinos by shifting the debt burden to investors
114. Said that “maybe” his employees should feel they have to return quickly from maternity leave or risk being replaced
115. Speculated about his 1-year-old daughter’s future breasts
116. Doesn’t pay his bills
117. Characterized the theme of his administration as “America First”
118. Fraternizes with avowed white supremacists on Twitter
119. Repeated a supporter who called Ted Cruz a pussy
120. Entrusted his health to a doctor who described his test results as “astonishingly excellent”
121. Praised conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, telling him, “I will not let you down”
122. Suggested the U.S. should reduce its debts by partially defaulting on them
123. Argued that the massacre at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub could have been prevented if patrons had been armed
124. Proposed a 35 percent tax on Mexican-made cars and trucks, in violation of NAFTA
125. Proposed to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants
126. Proposed to compel Mexico to pay for a border wall
127. Read out Sen. Lindsey Graham’s personal phone number in a campaign speech
128. Believes that he would “get along very well” with Vladimir Putin
129. Said that Black Lives Matter activists are “looking for trouble”
130. Believes the world would be “100 percent” better if Saddam Hussein and Muammar Qaddafi were still in power
131. Proposed to abolish gun-free zones
132. Claimed that the U.S. is being “ripped off” by its fellow members of NATO
133. Approvingly repeated a tall tale about a U.S. commander ordering the execution of Muslim insurgents with bullets dipped in pig’s blood
134. Proposed to have China assassinate Kim Jong-un
135. Said that Hillary Clinton “got schlonged” by Obama in 2008
136. Employed a butler who said President Obama should be “hung for treason”
137. Falsely claimed there have been calls for a moment of silence for Dallas shooter Micah Johnson
138. Said, “If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS … the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president”
139. Claimed that “the birther movement was started by Hillary Clinton in 2008”
140. Refused to condemn anti-Semitic attacks on journalists
141. Sued a former campaign aide for $10 million for breaching a confidentiality agreement