Donald Trump doesn’t want a dog, for fear of looking phony, he says. But Cockburn can’t help wondering if there isn’t a deeper neurosis here. The president, it seems, is a dogphobe. He once was reported to have said ‘I never understood why people like dogs. Dogs are disgusting’ — though Snopes declared that fake news.
Trump does however seem to have a strange canine preoccupation. He has used the word ‘dog’ over 40 times on Twitter. He employs the formulation ‘like a dog’ with particular regularity — often, misusing the dog simile.
.@georgewillf is perhaps the most boring political pundit on television. Got thrown off ABC like a dog. At Mar-a-Lago he was a total bust!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2015
.@DavidGregory got thrown off of TV by NBC, fired like a dog! Now he is on @CNN being nasty to me. Not nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2016
Are dogs thrown off TV?
.@GlennBeck got fired like a dog by #Fox. The Blaze is failing and he wanted to have me on his show. I said no - because he is irrelevant.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2015
Does anyone remember this @BillMaher clip when he got fired from ABC- in fact, fired like a dog! http://t.co/Xekz6GTm
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2013
Wow was Ted Cruz disloyal to his very capable director of communication. He used him as a scape goat-fired like a dog! Ted panicked.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 23, 2016
Wow, great news! I hear @EWErickson of Red State was fired like a dog. If you read his tweets, you'll understand why. Just doesn't have IT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2015
I hear that sleepy eyes @chucktodd will be fired like a dog from ratings starved Meet The Press? I can't imagine what is taking so long!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 13, 2015
Do dogs get fired?
Robert Pattinson should not take back Kristen Stewart. She cheated on him like a dog & will do it again--just watch. He can do much better!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2012
Are dogs unfaithful? Cockburn thought famously that wasn’t the case…
Obama called Reverend Wright his friend, counselor & great leader--then dumped him like a dog!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2012
Obama called Reverend Wright his friend, counselor & great leader--then dumped him like a dog!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2012
Do dogs get dumped?
And, Cockburn’s favorite,
.@BrentBozell, one of the National Review lightweights, came to my office begging for money like a dog. Why doesn't he say that?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2016
He’s also displayed a predilection for comparing women to dogs (though incidentally has only tweeted the word ‘bitch’ twice, when quoting someone else):
When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2018
"@laurasgoldman: .@realDonaldTrump why is it necessary to comment on .@ariannahuff looks? Because she is a dog who wrongfully comments on me
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2015
And he loves to say how unsuccessful politicians ‘couldn’t get elected dog catcher’.
.@GovernorPataki couldn’t be elected dog catcher if he ran again—so he didn’t!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2015
Bob Corker, who helped President O give us the bad Iran Deal & couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee, is now fighting Tax Cuts....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2017
.@GovernorSununu who couldn't get elected dog catcher in NH forgot to mention my phenomenal biz success rate: 99.2% https://t.co/WsA3Jnjhwa
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2015
There is a clear pattern here. Cockburn wonders: was the President bitten by a dog as a child? Or did — horror of horrors — a dog ask young Donald for money?
