Last month, author J.K. Rowling defended Donald Trump’s right to be a bigot. In typical J.K. fashion, she was able to thoughtfully and intelligently explain that freedoms must be afforded to all and not just to those whom we like. At no point has there been the question, however, that J.K. endorses, support or in any way condone Trump’s actions or words. With the Brexit vote imminent, J.K. was one of the many voices weighing in on the vote. On Monday, she posted an essay to her website called, On Monsters, Villains and the EU Referendum. The first line reads, “I’m not an expert on much, but I do know how to create a monster.” In the essay, J.K. drew a parallel between the Leavers’ argument and Trump’s campaign, by saying, “In America, they call this ‘post-truth politics’. Forget the facts, feel the fury.”
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling called presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a fascist and compared him to an “unstable nightclub bouncer” in a statement she posted on her website Monday.
She made the comments in a statement titled “On Monsters, Villains and the EU Referendum” that denounced the scare-tactics used by British political parties when advising the public whether or not to remain a member of the European Union.
“His stubby fingers are currently within horrifyingly close reach of America’s nuclear codes,” she wrote of Trump.
Nationalism and fear is driving the current conversation about the upcoming EU Referendum vote, Rowling wrote. But she also noted that on the U.S. campaign trail, the same tactics are being used.
“He achieved this pre-eminence by proposing crude, unworkable solutions to complex threats,” she said. “Terrorism? ‘Ban all Muslims!’ Immigration? ‘Build a wall!’”
“Look towards the Republican Party in America and shudder,” she said. “God help America. God help us all.”
I wish J.K. would carry a microphone in her bag. That way, she would always have one to drop after laying down some truths. You can read her full essay here. Her discussion on Trump is about halfway down, although I recommend reading the whole thing. Some Americans have become a bit myopic about our election and have not considered how Brexit will affect the world (one of those people, unfortunately, is Trump.) I assume conversely there are those wrapped up in Brexit who need reminding that whomever’s “stubby fingers are currently within horrifyingly close reach of America’s nuclear codes” will always matter to the rest of the world. I appreciate J.K. continuing to carry the #NeverTrump banner because she argues points much better than I do. Now if I could only convince her to write my Facebook posts until the November election.
Photo credit: WENN and Fame/Flynet Photos
As a right-leaning libertarian, I appreciate this. I don’t understand how we got to this point. I’m already over this election. I hate all the candidates… Gary Johnson included. ugh
“In America, they call this ‘post-truth politics’. Forget the facts, feel the fury.”
I had never heard it put this way and in one simple statement she has encapsulated everything that is going on during this election. She really is a great writer.
On a related topic, #TrumpSoPoor tweets were giving me life yesterday. Some were incredibly funny.
I agree, she framed the situation so brilliantly and accurately with that phrase.
Agree miagirl, the Trumpsopoor tweets were amazing. I howled quite a bit.
I love J.K. Rowling SO MUCH, I can’t even describe it 🙂
On a bookshop near my work in London, there’s a sign letting people know that they can pre-order the newest Harry Potter. And next to it, the bookshop has a blackboard saying: “fiction: because real life is too depressing”. That’s how I feel about Brexit, Trump, etc. Luckily there are still some people who can shed light (lumos…anyone..?) on the whole situation, and she’s one of them.
@Mlle – totally changing the subject, but I’m currently in London for a few more days, love Harry Potter & Doctor Who, and am not a big drinker. Is there anywhere not super touristy (cuz I’m all over Tower of London and Buckingham already) that is a must see? (Ie not in the guides, but real Londoners know and love it). Understood if you don’t want to out the tourist-free zones, though 😉
Not Mlle, but a Londoner. Most places are touristy, there aren’t any real secrets, but here are the HP filming locations: https://www.visitbritainshop.com/world/articles/harry-potter-film-locations/ I highly recommend Leadenhall Market and the City in general. Guildhall Art Gallery and the Roman Amphitheatre beneath it are wonderful, and unknown to many Londoners: http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visit-the-city/attractions/guildhall-galleries/Pages/guildhall-art-gallery.aspx And the Museum of London is great too. Just don’t dawdle in the coffee queue at Pret or Starbucks, we’ve all got work to do. 🙂
Thanks Tina! Those are some great suggestions 😊
I saw some of the polls and it seems like the Leave vote and the Remain vote are very close? So, my British friends, are you guys leaving us tommorow?
I certainly hope not! But yep it’s neck and neck….very scary!
I do hope not, but have been taking French lessons just in case. 🙁
crikey, I hope not. Ireland is an option…
I think there is something wrong with our polling – it crashed and burned at last year’s general election. Bookies still have us odds on to stay. The Leavers are the noisiest of the two camps but I don’t think they’ll quite make a majority.
Whatever an individual Briton thinks, and regardless of whether Britain itself would be better off outside the EU, Brexit will be a big risk factor globally – especially considering the position of the City of London (our financial centre). Perhaps not as big as market uncertainty following a Trump victory, but both would be highly destabilising outside the two countries themselves.
London’s Burning. <— sorry I had to.
It’s going to come down to turnout. Please, young people, you’re our only hope.
JKR is just so magical. Her thoughts on a wide range of topics is so real and frankly common sense (you would think). Gotta love jo
It pains me greatly that our global neighbors have a negative view of us sometimes. For the most part, I’d like to think the American people are good people. That being said, Donald Trump does not represent us by in large. Yes, there’s idiots out there who dig him. But I believe there are more people who don’t. On the same note, it’s always the republican party that have these bigot aholes. Yes, Hillary Clinton is exhausting and hungry for the power, but I’ve never heard her say anything racist.
Ok I’ve said my opinion, I’m fully prepared to feel the wrath now. LOL….
I think most people with half a brain fully understand that Donald Trump is not a representative America or his people, he’s an anomaly who represents a particularly gobby section of the population, the kind of population we all have while the rest of the decent, good people are in the silent majority. I still hold the hope and belief he won’t get in the White House, that common sense will prevail.
He’s a brilliant con-artist who basically conned millions of people into thinking he is truthful and can lead a nation. I don’t blame the many Americans who’s lives have worsened during the past few years and are desperate to get a job or better paying job etc. They are desperate to believe anything and now believe a charlatan.
Americans, by and large, are good people. I know it’s hard to feel positive about the country now, but I still try. Americans are notable for being among the most generous people on Earth, statistically speaking. We give more of our time and money to charitable causes that almost any other nation (both government-wise and individually). Most of the people I meet are genuinely good people. But a lot of people are tired. We have the Tea Party, but now we have the regressive left as well. Most people don’t feel represented in the media, or political discourse. And on some level, Trump represents something different. I don’t excuse his supporters in the least, but I see him as a symptom more than a cause.
Yes, and we pray that the rational people out vote the Trumpster fans so we don’t end up with the Cheeto dusted one as our next president 🙂
While he doesn’t represent all of us or most of us, it is extremely critical to remember that Donald Trump has won millions of votes. That is frightening and shows us that we, as Americans, have a lot of work to do about bigotry and hatred in this land.
He hasn’t won that many votes – 13 million people voted for him in a nation of almost 320 million people. So, I ran the numbers – that’s around 5% of the population. Which means 95% of Americans have not voted for the man. Let’s not make this into something larger than it is. In addition, not all people are voting for him because of the racist and xenophobic stuff. A lot are, certainly. But I’ve also met Trump voters who simply think his business acumen would be good for the country, or something to that effect (which is wrong, but the point remains). I agree that Trump’s rise has been troubling (for a variety of reasons) but I am not convinced that he’s a sign of widespread intolerance within the nation.
Right and those people are the ones who are frightening. The uninformed, ignorant disgusting people. I agree that we have a long way to go regarding bigotry in this country. It’s depressing. I scratch my head and think is it 2016?! Aren’t we supposed be better?
@aims, Hillary has an issue with institutionalized racism. Calling urban kids in gangs “super predators” with “no conscience, no empathy” is problematic at best.
“If we’re honest, for a lot of well-meaning, open-minded, white people, the site of a young black man in a hoodie, still evokes a twinge of fear,” said Clinton. This is beyond problematic.
Joking about CPT (Color People Time), well, there you have it.
I didn’t know that TG. Thank you for letting me know. That’s equally disgusting as Trump.
But people have severely misrepresented the super predators comment. It was made in the 1990s during a seriously contentious period in legal history when the vast majority of African American organizations were leaning on Congress and the president to pass harsher laws to incarcerate more young men due to gang violence. The comments, of course, today are in a different light, and that’s worth pointing out. But if one is going to chide her for them, they should consider them in the context in which they were said and who was supporting them.
Also, the second comment isn’t really racist as much as it’s pointing out a factual statement. If you find that problematic, you probably find Jesse Jackson to be a screaming racist as well:
“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery. Then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved…. After all we have been through.”
That’s Jesse Jackson. Not a far off sentiment from Hillary. Is he problematic too?
You are right about CPT. That’s not really defendable.
@Sam, There was a whole sweeping contingent of people who supported the crime bill: white, black, hispanic, asian. But you’re saying because the bill saw the support of black activists and political leaders, it makes it okay for Hillary to strip children born into poverty and violence their identity? Additionally, the Congressional Black Caucus asked for provisions in the bill that were left out.
(Aside, Jesse Jackson, who was against the bill.)
Re: my 2nd comment, perpetuating the idea that a white person should be afraid of a black man in a hoodie is dangerous, problematic, and racist.
3rd comment: Here’s some context for you: Jackson said (I think this was in ’96), “We must face the No. 1 critical issue of our day. It is youth crime in general and black-on-black crime in particular. There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery. Then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved. After all we have been through, just to think we can’t walk down our own streets, how humiliating.”
It’s a confessional statement. He’s humiliated. Embarrassed that he fears his own culture. That’s not dehumanizing urban youth by any stretch. Nor is he making a blanket statement about black men in hoodies.
@aims, here’s Hillary’s remarks in full:
“We also have to have an organized effort against gangs, just as in a previous generation we had an organized effort against the mob. We need to take these people on. They are often connected to big drug cartels. They are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called ‘superpredators.’ No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel. And the president has asked the FBI to launch a very concerted effort against gangs everywhere.”
I love, love, love, JK, but I don’t love it when foreign celebrities weigh in on US elections. Americans, and even Republicans, cannot be painted with a broad brush.
Of the 31 million votes cast in Republican primaries, 13 million were for Trump, meaning nearly 2/3 of voters chose some one else. His success was fueled in part by the wall-to-wall media coverage of his antics and virtually no media rebuttal to his outrageous and racist policy ideas.
He is currently polling at 51% among Republicans vs. Hillary’s 77% among Democrats. Nationally, his poll numbers have sunk to an average of 39.2%.
It is still early in the cycle, but his steadily declining support is encouraging for the majority of Americans.
I did not take her comments as a slam on Republicans in general (and I’m married to one, so I have a personal stake in this!). The issue is not general Republicans, many of whom hate Trump as much as any liberal. The problem is the Republican leadership. They did very little to resist Trump and even now, they act stupidly, as though he actually has a chance to win. My husband makes the argument that they should accept that they will not win the Presidency in 2016 and should throw their resources into the House and Senate, since it is there that real laws get made. By keeping Congress, they could force President Clinton II to keep to the center and moderate herself. But No…they’re trying to convince the members to go all in for Trump, and that’s foolish. The party is a fool’s party right now.
@Sam, Putting their resources into the Senate and Congress would be the GOP’s smartest option. It would result in at least four more years of politics at a near stalemate, but it would allow them some more time to chip away at Hillary’s reputation (as they have been doing since 2008) going into the 2020 election. That scares a lot of Democrats not because of the future election, but how much more center can Hillary get, honestly? Its one of her biggest weaknesses with our voters. The Democratic leadership has been moving to the center and the GOP has been moving to the right to win elections for decades at this point. That’s why we have a “No facts, just fury” Trump and Hillary the Problematic. I’m voting for her, but seriously can’t imagine what driving her closer to the center will even look like.
Keeping the Congress would force her to sit down with them and try to compromise. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are many things, but they’ve never been accused of being stupid. Most people believe that they would certainly probably try to negotiate with her. Republican leadership is tired of the Tea Party and far-right after the 2012 and 2014 debacles. A Republican congress would probably force Clinton directly into the center or slightly to the right. Certainly, that would piss off progressives and those further to the left.
My mother used to say to me, growing up, “Be big and take your medicine.” Well, progressives now need to be big and take the medicine. A progressive is not getting elected this November. The choice is between a centrist moderate and a far-right fascist. What is difficult about that decision? Progressives would be smarter to focus on state level elections and Congress, but try explaining that to them.
Thanks to gerrymandering by both parties, most House seats are safe and Dems would need to flip five Senate seats, which is pretty unlikely under any circumstance.
It would be naive to think the McConnell/Ryan strategy of absolute obstructionism will change if Hillary is elected. They will no more compromise with Hillary than they have with Obama.
I agree that it’s about time the toxic political media culture did some long, hard, reflection. It’s been the same here vis a vis Brexit as it has been your side of the Pond with Trump.
I don’t mind JK weighing in on whatever she likes. Any more than I minded Obama coming over here and arguing for Remain. He can say what he likes. I’d agree that it’s probably counter-productive, however. The people JK and Obama are hoping to persuade are the very people who will resent an outsider weighing in.
Considering America has such a huge impact on the world, I’d say everyone gets to weigh in on your matters.
And wheter or not Trump has the Republican support, other Republican candidates weren’t any better. Heck, I’d say Trump is probably less crazy than Cruz.
At best it’s a choice between plague and cholera. The one-sidedness of her coment ribbs me the wrong way.
I love JK so, so much. More JK please. Much more!
The polls have closed here and the results are coming in now. Not that crossing my fingers will do anything but if we leave it’ll be a disaster. Hopefully we stay through the votes, if not, I hope the government will actually do something useful and ignore the result and keep us in the EU anyway since the vote is technically only advisory.