"You have to be wealthy in order to be great, I'm sorry to say." - Donald Trump

[DetlefK]

https://twitter.com/reidepstein/status/735921791139467265

[BainsBane]

1. Abraham Lincoln wasn't great, according to Trump

Nor Ghandi, MLK, Mandela, and a large number of figures considered great by many people, including historians.

[cali]

2. He is a delusional, ignorant moron

Gandhi
MLK
Merton
Lincoln
Thousands of artists and writers
Union organisers
And on and on



He is the opposite of great.

[malaise]

7. They are not great to Trump

Believe that's his entire world view in one sentence. He actually believes that he is great - yes that racist, fascist, woman hating, low life, scam artist- lil dick, Don the Con is great.
He is a sick fuck!

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Einstein...

And among Presidents, Grant was so down and out at one point that Mark Twain gave him some cash so he could eat and wrote that a nation that would treat so badly the man who saved it may not be worth saving.

I have no idea what Ike's net worth was, but the man who kicked Hitler's ass, and then worked for world peace casts a shadow that Trump is lost in.

[Aristus]

10. Ike was inarguably a great man.

But the Soviets kicked Hitler's ass. We were basically along for the ride.

[Rex]

21. Don't forget he just shit on everyone serving in the armed forces.

all the middle class and working class, everyone that is not a .01%. Trump is a plutocrats dream come true.

[cali]

22. Good point

[Separation]

3. Total Douche Canoe

How anyone can support this guy is beyond me.

[malaise]

4. Repeat it often to his loser followers

Hopefully they will wake up

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Actually, Isn't Being Great The Way Some People Became Wealthy?

So, it seems to be the exact opposite, in deference to some of the folks above who mentioned great people who weren't rich.

But, the greatest of athletes, or actors, or inventors, or doctors or lawyers become wealthy because they were great FIRST. So, Trump is completely wrong on this.

[cali]

11. Greatness, has little to do with wealth

[ProfessorGAC]

18. I Think You Missed My Point, Cali

Trump says you have to be wealthy to be great. Lots of lots of wealthy people became wealthy because they were already great at something. The greatness was the cause of the wealth, not the other way around.

I also said in deference to some who mentioned great people who were never wealthy. (Gandhi being the most obvious example, since he willfully eschewed material wealth.)

The point i was trying to make is that Trump is completely backward in that statement because many wealthy people were great before they were wealthy. It was the greatness that made them rich.

[Rex]

20. Great as in screwing people over to make a dime? Great as in destroying the working class?

Your definition of great and mine are not the same, it appears.

[kcr]

25. I think you're missing hers.

Most great people never even come near wealth at all. Wealth and greatness have absolutely nothing to do with each other to begin with.

[ProfessorGAC]

39. Resurrecting An Old Thread

No, now both of you missed the point. I never said they were related. You both made that up.

I said a lot of people become wealthy because they're great. I've said that 3 times now.

Trump says you have to be wealthy to be great. I say he is 100% wrong, because great athletes and great actors and great inventors got rich because they were great at something FIRST.

You have somehow mistaken my "Trump has it completely backwards" comment for support of what he said. I'm contradicting him!

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

6. and he's a Christian

[spanone]

8. well donnie, you're living proof that it's not necessarily so

[mainer]

12. "Jesus is not great" is what he just said.

Wonder how his evangelical followers will take that.

[Zorra]

13. All you are is dust in the wind, Mr. Trump. When your time comes, all your money

won't buy you another minute.

If you think that what you own defines what you are, you are nothing.

[Paladin]

14. Gandhi (nt)

[kentauros]

37. Plus -- Malala Yousafzai

Then again, trump likely doesn't consider anything related to peace as a sign of greatness.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

15. The Worhtington Law:

[world wide wally]

16. My parents

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who have been duped to agree with him.

One of the main reasons why Republicans often win is because they make Americans believe in this American Dream--that if you work hard enough, it is inevitable that you'll be rich. And so we've seen how high productivity is in America. And yet, few are rich. But we are a brainwashed society. Decades upon decades of conditioning has taught Americans that working oneself to death to get rich is the only way to greatness.

Trump is saying a lot of shit that he knows the average America will eat up.

The failure of us Democrats and progressives to understand this is what keeps us failing and losing elections at every level of government.

We've got to find a way to challenge this narrative effectively because nothing Trump says seems to hurt him at all.

[Rex]

19. So all our military professionals are lousy people? Is that what The Don is saying?

[Mendocino]

23. A corollary in his world,

if you aren't wealthy then you're lazy.

[Tsiyu]

24. "You have to be wealthy in order

for my administration to actually do anything for you."

Fixed that for ya', Mr. Drumpf.

[Skittles]

26. it is indicative of his extreme insecurity

he thinks money makes up for what he lacks

[tonyt53]

28. But that is the very reason his followers love him. He is wealthy, so he is great.

They could care less, as long as he says "fence" every now and them right after he says "trust me".

[Actor]

29. His supporters who are neither, agree with him.

Nothing he says or does will hurt him with his supporters and many in the middle are being drawn to him because they keep hearing over and over about how they cant trust Hillary.

Sure, they know Trump is crazy and ludicrous, but for reasons they do not know or understand (that is how propaganda works) they know they dont like or trust Hillary.

[d_legendary1]

30. "You have to inherit wealth in order to be great, I'm sorry to say..."

*waves hand while talking*

"...and I might also add that in order to stay great we lobby Congress to protect our assets and change the rules in our favor. That my friends, is the reason why I'm up here mouthing off and you're down there cheering for me." -Donald Drumpf

*Crowd explodes in applause*

[BlueNoMatterWho]

31. Link to quote

Does anyone have a link to the actual quote? I'm interested to see if he was referring to individuals or countries. Thanks!

[bluesbassman]

32. Here...

Here's a link that include video from the speech he gave when he made the statement. They'll spin this that he was referring to nations I suspect.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/05/26/trump-opened-mouth-created-gigantic-problem-republicans.html

[BlueNoMatterWho]

33. Thank you for the link!

Here's the quote:

Trump said, “There is one more thing that we have to do to make America wealthy again, and you have to be wealthy in order to be great. I’m sorry to say it…..We’ll build the wall. We’re going to build the wall. Believe me. We’re going to build the wall.”

As I suspected he was referring to the country, not individuals.

[bluesbassman]

35. Yes, but it goes to his fundamental belief that wealth is the answer to everything.

His followers will defend the statement as just being pragmatic, but the reality of Trump's view is that he only sees value in monetary wealth.

[frankieallen]

34. Well, in all fairness, he was talking about america

Being wealthy, not the individual. I'm sure he believes that, but it's not what he said, it's pretty obvious.

[Dont call me Shirley]

36. If you truly believed your comment, Don, you would find no need to be sorry about saying it.

[Bigredhunk]

38. Hmm

Does it count when you're given the wealth instead of earning it?

[HughBeaumont]

40. I'm not exactly sure what's worse . . .

. . . that this asshammer has a sizable following or that this country has THAT many history-challenged dumbasses who are willing to toss it in the shitter so easily.

[a la izquierda]

41. Fuck this guy.

I grew up lower middle class, worked my ass off to get a PhD, and just received word that I won a prestigious grant. I'm a humanities professor, not wealthy by a long shot, and am successful.
Fuck him in the ear.