The College Fix

Trump’s campaign is ‘sad and pathetic and sweaty and grasping,’ one professor wrote

Donald Trump announced November 16 that he would run again for president of the United States in 2024, his third attempt to claim the seat.

Several professors at prestigious universities took to Twitter to denounce Trump’s candidacy, responding to the announcement with varied degrees of emotion.

Laurence Tribe, a professor at Harvard Law School, responded by tweeting that “[Trump] was always going to run. Absent incarceration or interment, and perhaps only the latter, he inevitably would seek the presidency again. His narcissism, his megalomania, his delicate yet illimitable ego, would have it no other way.”

“He was always going to run. Absent incarceration or interment, and perhaps only the latter, he inevitably would seek the presidency again. His narcissism, his megalomania, his delicate yet illimitable ego, would have it no other way.”https://t.co/RZeTIUkgoA

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) November 16, 2022

Johnathan Perkins, the director of race and equity at UCLA, tweeted “Gosh, I’d honestly forgotten how frequently and easily Donald Trump lies into the microphone and camera.”

Gosh, I’d honestly forgotten how frequently and easily Donald Trump lies into the microphone and camera.

— Johnathan (him) (@JohnathanPerk) November 16, 2022

The College Fix reported in March on Perkins’ tweet wishing death on then-hospitalized Justice Clarence Thomas.

Jennifer Mercieca, a historian of American political rhetoric at Texas A&M University, quote tweeted her own tweet from September 3, to comment on Trump’s announcement. stating, “this is Trump’s performance of fascism, same tactics since 2016: he claimed to be purified to fight corruption by going down the Trump Tower escalator.”

“Once pure he became a target, victimized by the corrupt establishment. But he sacrifices for his followers, so they owe him,” she wrote.

Here's what I'm guessing is a preview of Trump's announcement speech tonight: it will be about how corrupt the system is, how Trump is heroically fighting it, and why his followers owe him their loyalty because he is sacrificing for them. https://t.co/CcuhTq2uqO

— Jennifer Mercieca (@jenmercieca) November 16, 2022

David Axelrod, a political consultant and director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, tweeted that Trump is a “loser.”

“In Trump’s cynical worldview, everything is about transactions,” he tweeted.

“Now it’s biting him, as many of his fellow opportunists who abided all kinds of horrendous behavior are jumping off the train because he’s no longer useful. He costs too much.”

In Trump's cynical worldview, everything is about transactions. "What's in it for me?"
Now it's biting him, as many of his fellow opportunists who abided all kinds of horrendous behavior are jumping off the train because he's no longer useful. He costs too much. He's a loser.

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 17, 2022

Jared Sexton, a writing professor at Georgia Southern University, went further, describing Trump’s campaign as “dangerous.”

“We are living [in] the wreckage of a society wrongfully built to support the wealthy at all costs. They have failed. They should not be trusted to build the future.

“Donald Trump’s new campaign isn’t a joke,” Sexton continued in another tweet. “It’s dangerous. But it’s also sad and pathetic and sweaty and grasping.”

“It should serve as a warning of the hollowness of wealth and privilege,” he wrote. “An anti-North Star by which we should pilot ourselves away from the cliffs.”

We are living the wreckage of a society wrongfully built to support the wealthy at all costs. They have failed. They should not be trusted to build the future.

It’s going to take the deconstruction of all these poisonous myths and a revitalization of faith in one another.

— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) November 16, 2022

Conservative professor expressed a dissenting view

However, Carol Swain, a recently retired political science and law professor from Vanderbilt University, expressed a view unusual among academics in a tweet reposting an interview Fox News conducted with former Vice President Mike Pence.

“Who has the intellect and cojones to be an effective president? #Pence #Trump #2024” she tweeted.

What do you think about Pence’s statement? Who has the intellect and cojones to be an effective president? #Pence #Trump #2024 https://t.co/aBs4KQguma

— Dr. Carol M. Swain (@carolmswain) November 16, 2022

Petition urges U. of Pennsylvania to investigate whether to revoke Donald Trump’s degree

IMAGE: CNBC Television/YouTube

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