Archive
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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July 14, 2026
Tina Brown: "It's sad for Senator Lindsey Graham that the last person he spoke to on this earth was the president who stole his soul."....Graham on Trump, 2015: "Crazy...a jackass...a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot...Shouldn't be commander-in-chief...There's only one way to make America great again: tell Donald Trump to go to hell."....Graham on Trump, 2016: "If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed...and we will deserve it."....Graham on Trump, 2026: "Mr. President, you're not far behind God."....Trump on the U.S.: "As you very well know, a short time ago we were a dead country."....WH deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, on asylum seekers: "In every case, they're either criminals, benefit seekers, economic migrants, welfare seekers, etc."....MN Rep. Tom Emmer: "[Somalis] don't assimilate. And if they don't assimilate, then they should go the hell back to where they came from."....Megyn Kelly on TPS being stripped from 400K Syrian and Haitian immigrants: "We know our country is better than yours. That's because we filled it with our work ethic and our culture and our values. You being here only dilutes it for us, those who built and live in it. We don't want you! We don't care if you're offended. Get out! Go home! Go back to fuckin' Haiti!"....Steve Schmidt in response: "This person was the host of presidential debates?"....Steven Beschloss: "Anyone who saw the images of a bloated and stuporous Trump wandering around the meetings of the G7 conference this week...would not be surprised to learn that he's increasingly losing touch with reality."....Trump on G7 members: "The stock market is more brilliant than anybody on this stage, other than me of course."....Knicks fan at victory parade, on Trump: "I f***ing hate him...The revolution starts in NYC...if we bring this energy to these f***ing people that are pedophiles that run this world, like this, we could do anything."....WSJ on Iran deal: "The U.S. had options but Mr. Trump blinked."....Thomas Friedman: "There's a new sheriff in town. Dial 1-800-Ayatollah."....Lawrence O'Donnell on Trump: "The most cowardly lion of all."....Trump on Iran: "They want to make a deal so badly. I just don't know if they're worthy of making it."....Trump on Sen. Bill Cassidy: "A loser."....Trump on Biden: "Four years of incompetence...He might have been sleepy, but boy he could create inflation."....Trump on George Conway: "A Trump Deranged Loser at the highest level. This is a truly unattractive person, both inside and out."....Trump on Democrats: "They're animals...We have to stop this horrible threat of cancer that's permeating our country, called communism."....Trump: "Has anyone ever seen a Happy Dumocrat?"....Trump: "I don't want to have anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits, OK? They're hopeless. Bad people."....JD Vance: "If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story. The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy."....former Rep. Donna Edwards on Trump: "Even Richard Nixon knew that he had done something wrong."....TNR's Greg Sargent on Trump: "He thinks corruption is the highest form of winning."....former WH attorney Ty Cobb on Trump's $1.2B cryptocurrency earnings: "We are seeing the greatest onslaught of corruption in the history of mankind in the last 18 months...If they traced every dollar that [Hunter Biden] was accused of ever having, he couldn't ante in the game that Trump is playing...The grift is on. It's stunning."....Fox host Emily Compagno on Senate candidate James Talarico: "A demon in human skin. He doesn't want anybody to eat red meat."....Rep. Seth Magaziner on Great American State Fair: "Because Trump is who he is and only cares about himself and wants to be constantly feeding his own ego, he put together this shitty event that no one is at."....Rep. Mark Pocan: "Everything from algae to bad music. It's Donald Trump, personified, so no one is showing up."....Rep. Yassamin Ansari: "Nobody wants to be associated with the most corrupt president in American history, who has absolutely destroyed this country as he's enriched himself and his family. So it was hilarious and pretty sad to see Fox with the empty background behind them trying to tout this as some sort of success."....Andrew Sullivan on Trump: "More Henry VIII than George Washington. But much, much dumber."....Trump on the nation's highest military award for valor: "As I see my two beautiful sons, I think I'm going to give one to myself, one to them, and we'll have a threesome, OK? I'll give them the Congressional Medal of Honor for something -- for their genius at hunting -- and I'll get one for taking on Russia, Russia, Russia or something."....Andy Borowitz: "Like many Americans, I mourn the sudden passing of Lindsey Graham. I had hoped he would live long enough to be tried for treason."....
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June 18, 2026
Trump on Sen. Jon Ossoff: "A pathetic failed Dumocrat senator, Os(jerk!)off, who is a joke in D.C. Nobody even knows who he is!"....Lawrence O'Donnell on Trump: "Disgraceful, heartless vulgarity. Relentless stupidity."....Trump on Netanyahu: "Has no f***ing judgment."....Thomas Friedman: "With each passing month of his presidency, Donald Trump behaves more like America's commander-in-thief than its commander-in-chief."....Mary L. Trump on her uncle: "He and his family continue to treat the presidency like a licensing deal, existing solely to enrich themselves, as if the White House were nothing more than the gift shop at one of his bankrupt casinos."....Cheryl Crow on Trump's UFC 250 fight: "Disgraceful and void of decency...A distraction from reality."....MAGA congressional candidate Michael Carbonara on Gov. Gavin Newson: "A corrupt disgrace who should be locked up."....Trump on Newsom: "He's grossly incompetent, and everybody knows it."....RFK Jr. on NYT reporters: "Propagandists."....sports analyst Stephen A. Smith on Trump attending Game 3: "It is selfish. It is narcissistic. It is ridiculous that he is coming to this game."....Trump in reply: "You need a certain aptitude to run for president. You need a high IQ. I'm not sure that Stephen has that."....James Carville on Speaker Mike Johnson: "I think we should give him a nice burial, because he's dead."....Ken Paxton on James Talarico: "Talafreako."....Talarico on Paxton: "The most corrupt politician in America."....Laura Ingraham on Dems: "They're not defenders of democracy -- they're destroyers."....
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May 25, 2026
....Trump on former FBI director James Comey: "A Dirty Cop, one of the worst."....Sen. John Kennedy on Stephen Colbert: "I've always thought he was shallow as a puddle...CBS told him to sit his 50-cent ass down."....Megyn Kelly on Colbert's final shows: "Would you take it like a man? Where are your testicles?...Put your big boy pants on and exit with grace...I don't want my sons to see this behavior."....Trump: "When is ABC Fake News firing seriously unfunny Jimmy Kimmel?...It better be soon!"....Sean Hannity: "Democrats have one plan in mind: one-party rule, in perpetuity."....Sen. Ron Johnson: "Democrats want to turn America into a one-party nation."....Trump on Rep. Thomas Massie: "An obstructionist and a fool."....Tucker Carlson on attacking Iran: "The single most foolish thing any American president has ever done."....Sen. Chris Murphy on Iran War: "A ham-handed military operation."....Trump on Obama: "A weak and stupid American President. He was a disaster as our 'Leader.'"....Gov. Gavin Newsom on Trump: "A man-child."....James Carville on Trump: "You look like the backside of a nutsack."....
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April 28, 2026
WH Communications Director Steven Cheung on Jimmy Kimmel: "A s**t human being...A pathetic has-been (never-was) piece of trash...He should be shunned for the rest of his life."....DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin: "Chuck Schumer -- no one respects you. The definition of a lying scumbag politician, that is you."....Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick on Canada's trade strategy: "They suck."....Trump: "Joe Biden became mentally impaired, Kamala was born that way."....historian Timothy Snyder on Trump choices and policies: "Superpower suicide."....John Kerry on Trump Iran attack: "I think what he's doing now is challenging the validity of his FIFA World Peace Prize."....Rep. Gerald Nadler on Iran War: "We have a president who is utterly incapable and unqualified to handle this crisis -- that he precipitated."....Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Trump: "The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket."....John Cleese on JD Vance: "Exhibits the extreme confidence of someone who has no idea that he has no idea what he's talking about."....Trump on Pope Leo XIV: "I don't think he's doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess."....Sean Hannity on the pope: "A run-of-the-mill Trump-hating Democrat."....podcaster Michael Savage: "There's almost no loyalty to this country among the immigrant class coming in today...We've gone from the melting pot to the chamber pot."....Rep. Andy Ogles on Muslims: "Don't belong in American society."....SecDef Pete Hegseth to press corps: "Sometimes it's hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on....[You] are just like [the] Pharisees."....Rep. Linda Sanchez to RFK: "One thing I find incredible is that you suspended this pro-vaccine messaging campaign, but somehow you're spending taxpayer dollars to drink milk, shirtless in a hot tub with Kid Rock."....MTG on threats against her kids: "[Trump] had no compassion for death threats on my children. He blamed me -- basically that if my son were to get killed, it would be my fault. [His response] tells me exactly who Donald Trump is."....Trump: "Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way."....Rep. Hakeem Jeffries: "We've got a hater in the White House."....Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Eric Trump bragging about landing government contract: "Is the Pentagon just a cash machine for Trump's kids now? This looks like corruption in plain sight."....Rep. Darren Soto: "Bragging about corruption openly. That's where the Trump family is at now."....Rep. Ilhan Omar on Trump: "The most corrupt First Family of all time."....Trump: "We keep taking garbage into our country. Ilhan Omar is garbage. Her friends are garbage."....Trump on Fox host Jessica Tarlov: "One of the Least Attractive and Talented People on all of Television. Her voice is so grating and terrible...She makes up 'Poll Numbers,' and nobody challenges her because she is so boring...GET HER OFF THE AIR."....Tarlov, in response: "Guess I'll take this opportunity to mention that my numbers are far from fake -- Trump really is that unpopular."....British Parliament member Ed Davey on Trump: "Reckless, immoral, and completely outside the bounds of internatonal law...He's no leader of the Free World. He is a dangerous and corrupt gangster and that is how we must treat him."....Gene Weingarten on Trump: "A waddling, ignorant, half-senile gasbag with multiple emotional pathologies."....David Remnick: "At this point, Trump's psychosis is our biggest national export."....Trump on Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones: "They have one thing in common; low IQs. They're stupid people. They know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it...They're NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS."....Trump on Nancy Pelosi: "A bad person. Evil. She's an evil, sick, crazy -- it starts with a 'b.' "....accused WHCD attacker, on Trump: "I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes."....Megyn Kelly on Trump Iran threats: "I'm sick of this s**t. Can't he just behave like a normal human being?"....Garrison Keillor on Trump-Jesus AI image: "One more juvenile prank by America's oldest fourth-grader."....Matt Taibbi: "I remember wondering if 'Swalwell' was Latin for 'Stubble Lizard.'"....
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April 9, 2026
Trump to Fox execs: "Take Jessica Tarlov off the air. She is, from her voice to her lies and everything else about her, one of the worst 'personalities' on television, a real loser!"....Trump: "Allowing a sick country, with demented leadership, to have a nuclear weapon -- that's a war crime."....Alex Jones: "Trump's run off the edge of a cliff, and I don't think he's coming back from it...We cut bait on Trump...Trump is just a minor figure."....Laura Ingraham on Trump war briefings: "Was he...able to take it all in and understand the complexity?"...Megyn Kelly on Trump's "a whole civilization will die tonight" post: "I don't know about you but I am sick of this shit. I'm sick of it. Can't he just behave like a normal human? Just fucking shut up about that shit!"....Aaron Rupar on Trump: "It's really difficult to cover him in a way that conveys how unhinged he is...When you actually watch his rallies, you see that they're full of hatred, he's lying constantly, and a lot of it is incoherent."....Steven Beschloss: "The man sitting behind the Resolute Desk is out of his mind."....Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: "Unfortunately, invoking the 25th is not realistic right now, given his oddball cabinet of sycophants and eccentrics, and Republican 'spines of foam.'"....Trump: "NATO is a paper tiger. NATO is us. But when we needed them -- we didn't need them, by the way. We didn't need them. Obviously."....Sen. Tim Kaine on former AG Pam Bondi: "Basically sold out her own integrity...couldn't even look at herself in a mirror. And she still got sacked."....French senator Claude Malhuret on Trump: "The golfer from Mar-a-Lago...The only elephant who walks around with his own china shop."....Trump: "If you import The Third World, you become The Third World."....CNN's Abby Phillips on Trump speech: "Basically repeated a lot of the things that he's been saying in Truth Social posts, except he said it out loud."....WH Comms Director Steven Cheung on Phillips: "Totally unhinged...Complete lightweight...It's now clear why her ratings are in the shitter."....Trump on Great Britain's aircraft carriers: "They're little ones. They're not very good. I know they don't go fast and I know they don't work very well."....Trump on the Grammys: "Not watchable."....Trump on SCOTUS: "Has really hurt our country...[The world is] laughing at how STUPID our U.S. court system has become."....Trump on SCOTUS: "The country can only withstand so many bad decisions from a Court that just doesn't seem to care."....Trump on US legal system: "We've got rogue judges who are criminals. THEY'RE CRIMINALS!"....Trump on Iran: "The reason they want to make a deal is they have been BEAT TO SHIT."....Trump: "We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow 'Birthright' Citizenship!'" (off by 30, including Canada, Mexico, and Brazil)....Maureen Dowd on Trump: "He continues the amoral, pseudo-macho posturing -- just with a bigger stage and the biggest weapons."....Robert De Niro on Trump: "A corrupt leader enriching himself [and his] Epstein class buddies."....Will Saletan on Trump and D.C.: "He's basically doing to our city what a dog does to a tree."....Kid Rock, on two Apache attack helicopters hovering near his house during the No Kings Day march: "This is a level of respect that shit-for-brains Governor of California will never know."....Trump on Dems: "We're a party of Common Sense. They're a party of insanity."....Trump on Biden and Harris: "Two sleepy people. Two stupid people."....Trump: "President Obama wasn't a smart man. Highly overrated. He was a great divider."....Trump on Kennedy Center: "That building's ready to fall down. It's in terrible shape."....Trump on USA: "A year ago we were a dead country."....Rachel Maddow on Trump "What he most wants is for everybody to be thinking about him and talking about him all the time."....protest sign at No Kings Day march: "Alexa: Change the president."....