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Celerity

(51,740 posts)
26. Nate White is a London copywriter. He answered a Quora question on February 12, 2019 with the reply the OP shows.
Wed Sep 3, 2025, 08:33 PM
Wednesday

Quora bots deleted the question soon thereafter.

Here is White's profile:



Here is the link to the question:






Here is the earliest link I could find to another site that highlights White's answer (it was posted less than a month after White's Quora answer went up):

British Writer Pens The Best Description Of Trump I’ve Read

March 8, 2019 ~ THE HOBBLEDEHOY

https://thehobbledehoy.com/2019/03/08/british-writer-pens-the-best-description-of-trump-ive-read/



Someone on the question-and-answer website Quora asked “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind.

Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.
For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.
So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever.
I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.

But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.

And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.

Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.
Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.
Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.
He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.

He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.

He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.
In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:
‘My God… what… have… I… created?
If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

Recommendations

2 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

This never ages malaise Wednesday #1
I think Mr. White authored that piece years ago. John1956PA Wednesday #2
Yes InstantGratification Wednesday #4
Anybody got a link? calimary Wednesday #8
There's no direct link to Nate White's original write-up on Quora, Feb. 12, 2019. Quora later took it down. ancianita Wednesday #13
First time I've seen it that I can remember, if the same person had to write it now Eliot Rosewater Wednesday #19
Totally agree. ancianita Wednesday #21
Nate White is a London copywriter. He answered a Quora question on February 12, 2019 with the reply the OP shows. Celerity Wednesday #26
"Mr. Obama, was generously endowed" JoseBalow Wednesday #3
Snicker hibbing Wednesday #18
My problem with Mr. White is he's much too nice, regarding Donald Trump. chouchou Wednesday #5
"Yes, he seems like my kind of guy" is a source of confusion and great distress to the British. progressoid Wednesday #6
Yes, it most certainly is. 3catwoman3 Wednesday #20
This goes back to its first run for prez, and never grows old Hekate Wednesday #7
It may be old but it's still as new as tiny, newly-sprouting weeds. calimary Wednesday #9
See Post 26 (White posted it on February 12, 2019) Celerity Wednesday #28
Excellent analysis of the orange felon Grim Chieftain Wednesday #10
Well, that sums it up nicely ashredux Wednesday #11
Goddamn right. Krasnov is an ignoramus. Joinfortmill Wednesday #12
"He's more of a big white slug, a privileged Jabba the Hutt" Ray Bruns Wednesday #14
"There have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of evil people too.... FakeNoose Wednesday #15
Wow. Endlessmike56 Wednesday #16
Thanks for sharing. If it is actually that old, it is uncanny how accurate and prescient it is blue_jay Wednesday #17
Great Britain is having nativist problems right now wolfie001 Wednesday #22
English wit is razor sharp thought crime Wednesday #23
"Picasso of pettiness," Butterflylady Wednesday #24
K&R spanone Wednesday #25
Absolutely perfect of what the orange piece of shit is.....to perfection. a kennedy Wednesday #27
"He has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility..." it's no wonder that he decided to become an asshole. Ping Tung Wednesday #29
No more needs to be said. kacekwl Wednesday #30
K and r KentuckyWoman Wednesday #31
The guy has around a 3 percent approval rating in MW67 Wednesday #32
Wish I had an answer Blue Owl Wednesday #33
This caught my eye... kentuck Wednesday #34
Spot On Chicagogrl1 Wednesday #35
So perfectly stated, "a Picasso of pettiness, a Shakespeare of shit." nt ShazamIam Wednesday #36
May be an optimistic statement: RVN VET71 Wednesday #37
Beautifully stated! Eliot Rosewater Thursday #40
Dump trump Johnnie Mae Thursday #38
Best description of Krasnov I've ever read. GoodRaisin Thursday #39
An excellent analysis of one who truly B.See Thursday #41
100% Mr.Bee Thursday #42
Simply marvelous description of TSF's personality characteristics. n/t iluvtennis Thursday #43
...boxed set! 🤣lol! Hope22 Thursday #44
This one sentence floored me in it's accuracy: DeeDeeNY Thursday #45
And WE, as a country elected this freak sdfernando Thursday #46
Bookmarked. Iggo Thursday #47
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