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Mudline Archive
STICKS, STONES, BROKEN BONES
During the 2000 Bush-Gore presidential race, we began collecting negative soundbites and posting them weekly on a MUDLINE ticker, as a temporary election feature. But in the aftermath of that tumultuous contest we realized that the tone of public discourse was unlikely to improve, and elected to continue the feature. Unfortunately, we were right; two decades later, incivility is hotter than ever. If you just can’t get enough snark on social media, this mud’s for you.
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January 9, 2022
....Newt Gingrich on Biden: "A mean-spirited vicious partisan hack..."....Philip Rotner on attempt to overthrow election: "Trump fell five Rudys short."....Laura Ingraham: "This isn't the Biden administration...It's the MSNBC administration."....Dr. Mehmet Oz and wife Lisa on New York magazine writer Olivia Nuzzi: "This f***ing girl reporter."....Dana Milbank: "Marjorie Taylor Greene is a wart on the body politic. Facebook is a melanoma."....Sidney Blumenthal on GOP: "Looking more and more like a death cult."....Lincoln Project: "If it looks like a coward, walks like a coward, and lies like a coward, it's probably Ted Cruz."....Rep. Liz Cheney on GOP: "Right now we have a cult of personality...My party is not embracing truth."....Trump on House Select Committee investigating 1/6: "Total bias and dishonesty."....John Pavlovitz: "I've never been prouder to not be a Republican."....Maureen Dowd: "It's as if Trump projected his id into a national psychosis...You can just picture him sitting there in the White House, surrounded by McDonald's wrappers, thrilled at the TV scenes of MAGA hooligans attacking the police."....Alex Jones on Trump: "How pathetic he is when you think he is playing 4D chess, going to save you, and he's not."....John F. Harris on Trump: "The most garish personality ever to occupy the presidency...He always has lots to say but no longer has anything meaningful to say."....Lawrence Jones: "The school districts are crying COVID, stealing your money, and spending it on woke indoctrination programs."....Rep. Dan Crenshaw on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: "Not a serious person."....Greene on Crenshaw: "Shooting with blanks."....Mark Levin on Biden: "The most lawless president in modern American history."....SD Gov. Kristi Noem on Biden: "He's attacking America and what has made this country so special."....Tomi Lahren: "I don't ever remember electing Dr. Fauci to run my country."....Rep. Lauren Boebert: "Are Democrat families checking Santa's vaccination records before letting him down their chimney this year?"....Trump on Twitter: "A disgrace to democracy...A disgrace to our nation."....Jon Stewart on 2021: "I might owe 2020 an apology. Good riddance to a s*** show of a year."....
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December 20, 2021
....Rep. Ilhan Omar: "Manchin's excuse is bulls***."....Michael Cohen on Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows: "Dumbest a-hole on the Hill."....Fox host Tucker Carlson on Sen. Joni Ernst: "A bloodthirsty warmonger."....Carlson on Biden and other Putin critics: "These people are children."....Slate's William Saletan on Carlson: "America's proudest nihilist...He's not looking for men who have souls. He's looking for men who don't."....Sen. Ted Cruz to Rep. Eric Swalwell: "Hush child. The adults are working."....Sean Hannity: "Joe Biden is weak and in an obvious and significant cognitive decline."....Ann Coulter: "The way it's going for Kamala, even the lapdogs in the White House press corps are probably just days away from asking her to spell potato."....attorney Lin Wood on Carlson, Dan Bongino, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: "They lied like dogs about me."....Britney Spears on 2003 interview by Diane Sawyer: "Kiss my white ass."....Rudy Giuliani on Dr. Anthony Fauci: "Everything he says is not science, it's bulls***."....Rep. Steve Cohen on Trump: "The most disgusting presidency in the history of this country."....James Carville: "I guess McConnell thinks what this country needs is more hungry children."....Rep. Lauren Boebert: "By the standard of today's left, the Founding Fathers would have been considered right-wing extremists."....Rep. Nancy Mace on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: "If you say something batshit crazy...you are going to raise money."....Caitlyn Jenner on Beverly Hills Hotel enforcing its dress code: "F*** your horrible service for not letting me have lunch with this tiny rip in my jeans."....conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Biden administration: "Did they use weather weapons to cause the tornadoes? That's a legitimate question to ask."....Trump: "November 3rd was the insurrection. January 6th was a protest."....Donald Trump Jr.: "I trust Joe Rogan more than I trust Anthony Fauci."....Jimmy Kimmel on Trump-O'Reilly rally: "If the place was any emptier, it would be Don Jr.'s head."....
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December 2, 2021
....NY Post's Kyle Smith on VP Kamala Harris: "Why does she keep wearing those rejected-by-Kohl's pantsuits?"....Trump on Bob Woodward: "Longtime con man...Lightweight lapdog."....Fox News' Tucker Carlson: "Liz Cheney should be ashamed, but she's become far too degraded for shame."....Rep. Ronny Jackson on Omicron variant: "Democrats will do anything to CHEAT during an election."....Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: "Nancy Mace is the trash in the GOP Conference."....Denver Post editorial board on Rep. Lauren Boebert: "Clearly incapable of remorse or reflection."....Michael Cohen on Trump's Big Lie: "This should become a documentary, and it should be called 'The Greatest Grift in U.S. History.'"....Mike Flynn on QAnon: "I find it total nonsense...And I think it's a disinformation campaign created by the left."....white supremacist commentator Hal Turner on QAnon followers who went to Dallas expecting reappearance of JFK Jr.: "Too cowardly to stand up, pick up guns, and go kill the people [who stole the 2020 election]."....Kyle Rittenhouse on lawyer Lin Wood: "He's insane...He thinks he's God and he just says all these weird things."....NY Post's Kyle Smith on VP Harris: "All politicians blather, but Harrisblather is like an air salad with vapor croutons and nullity dressing...It's pretty clear everyone in the White House hates her."....Donald Trump Jr. on Rittenhouse outcome: "Patiently waiting for Lebron James' inevitable dumb as s*** take on today's verdict."....Rittenhouse attorney Mark Richard on Reps. Gosar, Hawthorn, and Gaetz: "They're raising money on it...They want to trade on his celebrity, and I think it's disgusting."....Sean Hannity chyron: "DESPERATE DEMS RELY ON DECEPTION AND DISTORTION TO TRY AND SELL DESTRUCTIVE AGENDA."....House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Biden administration: "The most radical, the most extreme, and the most incompetent 10 months in American history."....Rep. Brendan Boyle on epic McCarthy floor speech: "The longest month of my life."....Rep. Susan Wild: "So far it's taken GOP Leader almost three hours to tell America why GOP is opposed to biggest Rx price reduction in history. I get it. That's hard to explain."....Rep. Jamie Raskin: "It is a feat of epic proportions to speak for four hours straight and not produce a single memorable phrase, original insight, or even a joke."....Rep. Adam Schiff: "If you took the worst orator in the world, gave him the worst speech in the world, and made him read it for the longest time in the world, that would be a lot like listening to Kevin McCarthy tonight. Except, probably better."....Rep. Nydia Velazquez: "Somebody call the manager, there's a Karen on the other side of the aisle. I mean Kevin."....James Carville on Reps. Boebert, Greene, and Gosar: "These are not quality people....Let them swim in their own slop."...Sen. Ted Cruz on Dr. Fauci: "Has distorted science and facts in order to exercise authoritarian control over millions of Americans."....Kayleigh McEnany on Biden: "No one has politicized this virus more."....Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: "They're ruining our country, these vaccine Nazis."....Fox host Lara Logan, on likening Dr. Fauci to Nazi war criminal Josef "Angel of Death" Mengele: "People all across the world are saying this."....ADL spokesman Jake Hyman on Logan and Fox: "Seem to be immune to shame and allergic to remorse."....HuffPost's Christopher Mathias on "Patriot Purge" series: "The most nakedly fascist piece of propaganda Carlson has ever produced."....Jim Acosta on Carlson: "Now that 2021 is coming to an ened, we decided to recognize you as our first ever bullshit factory employee of the year."....Howard Stern on Aaron Rodgers: "He's a scumbag because he lied...He put people in danger...He's a f***head and the NFL should be ashamed of themselves."....NY Post's Kyle Smith on VP Harris: "Maybe Kamala isn't an alien; maybe she's just a machine. Has anyone tried downloading and installing Political Hack 10.4?...Try unplugging her and plugging her back in."....Laura Ingraham on Harris: "Knows nothing except how to play the race card to get ahead."....
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November 18, 2021
....Ted Cruz on Liz Cheney: "Hates Donald Trump so much that it has just overridden everything in her system."....Cheney: "Trump broke Ted Cruz."....MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Cruz: "Sold his soul to a failed gameshow host."....Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Republicans who voted for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: "Traitors."....Laura Ingraham: "Total frauds."....phone message for Rep. Fred Upton in response to his vote for Infrastructure Act: "I hope you die. I hope everyone in your f***ing family dies...I hope everyone on your f***ing staff dies."....Rep. Lauren Boebert on Rep. Ilhan Omar: "The Jihad Squad member from Minnesota."....Rep. Madison Cawthorn on people in Washington: "Trying to destroy Western Civilization."....Steve Bannon on VA Dems: "They can't win elections they don't steal."....Judge Jeanine Pirro: "Leave it to the Left to lie, divide, and turn us against each other."....Trump on Alyssa Farah, his former WH director of strategic communications: "A clown...a nobody...an inglorious lightweight."....Ann Coulter on Trump: "I had no idea how abjectly stupid the man is. I didn't think he was a genius, but I didn't think he was that stupid...He's just a very, very, very stupid man."....Rep. Lauren Boebert on Pete Buttigieg: "[Took] maternity, paternity, whatever the heck you want to call it [so he could] figure out how to chestfeed."....Elon Musk to Sen. Bernie Sanders: "I keep forgetting that you are alive."....Greta Thurnberg on COP26: "A global north greenwash festival."....Laurence Tribe: "By a vote of 1-0, I will no longer recognize the GOP as either grand or old or a party. It is a cult, and its loyalty isn't to an idea but to a cabal."....Chris Evans on CRT critics: "The people who threw rocks at Ruby Bridges for trying to go to school are now upset their grandchildren might learn about them throwing rocks at Ruby Ridges for trying to go to school."....Trump on Biden: "It's a failed administration. It's a disaster."....Ted Cruz on Biden administration: "Utterly lawless."....Rep. Adam Schiff: "There is no lie too big or conspiracy too dangerous for Tucker Carlson to propagate."....Carlson on 1/6 investigation: "A purge aimed at legacy Americans...Soldiers and paramilitary law enforcement guided by the world's most powerful intelligence agencies [are] hunting down American citizens."....CNN's Jim Acosta on Carlson's "Patriot Purge" series about 1/6: "Proud Boy porn."....Daily Beast's Wajahat Ali: "We kept telling you they were going to become a radicalized, weaponized, death cult. Here it is."....DC Metro Police Officer Michael Fanone on 1/6: "If you describe that day as anything other than brutal and violent and a disgrace to this country, you're lying to yourself."....Stephen Colbert on subpoenaed Trump associates: "A collection of powerful dumdums who helped orchestrate the last-ditch efforts to steal the election, a high-stakes low-IQ heist on democracy."....pastor Rick Wiles on COVID vaccine: "It's an egg that hatches into a synthetic parasite and grows inside your body."....Tucker Carlson to Sen. Lindsey Graham: "How long before you're ordering drone attacks on people whose politics you don't like?"....
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October 30, 2021
Orlando Sentinel on FL Gov. Ron DeSantis: "What a fraud. What a phony."....Trump national security advisor Mike Flynn: "Fauci-ism is a component of the health side of fascism and Nazism...Dr. Fauci would be right there in the same room with people like Dr. Mengele..."....Sen. Tom Cotton: "Tony Fauci should resign in disgrace."....Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Rep. Liz Cheney: "Karen."....Trevor Noah on Greene: "Your crazy aunt's even crazier friend."....Trump on Meghan McCain: "Has always been a bully, and basically a lowlife."....former Saudi intelligence officer Saad Aljabri on Crown Prince MBS: "A psychopath with no empathy, [who] doesn't feel emotion..."....Fox News' Tucker Carlson on Rep. Eric Swalwell: "Legitimately stupid...He can barely remember to breathe."....Trump WH physician Ronny Jackson on Biden: "Weak, sleepy, confused behavior."....Kellyanne Conway on Biden presidency: "A man-made disaster."....Donald Trump Jr. on the USA: "We're starting to see the empty shelves that I experienced in communist Czechoslovakia in the '80s in America right now."....NY Daily News on Donald Trump Jr.: "SPAWN OF HATIN'."....Dame Joan Collins on William Shatner's space flight: "What a fool. Who wants to do that?"....