TRUMP

48 ANATOMY OF A MONSTROSITY
am right that Robert Pattinson should dump Kristen Stewart. In a
couple of years, he will thank me. Be smart, Robert.” 163 And: “26,000
unreported sexual assaults in the military-only 238 convictions. What
did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?” 164
Plus: “It’s freezing and snowing in New York – we need global warming.”
165
Trump’s Twitter account also served as a venue for his heckles and
jibes at various public figures. Long before he was tweeting abuse at
“Lyin’ Ted” Cruz, or putting down Jeb Bush (“Jeb Bush just got contact
lenses and got rid of the glasses. He wants to look cool, but it’s
far too late. 1% in Nevada!” 166) , Trump was perfecting the art of the
140-character insult. Of Arianna Huffington: “@ariannahuff is unattractive
both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband
left her for a man- he made a good decision.” 167 And to Cher,
after she mentioned his “rug”: “@cher—I don’t wear a “rug”—it’s
mine. And I promise not to talk about your massive plastic surgeries
that didn’t work.” 168
Trump’s tendency toward cruelty occasionally caused real personal pain,
as when he made a nasty crack about 81-year-old actress Kim Novak:
[Novak] was a near-recluse when friends urged her to
take a chance and appear at the Academy Awards last
year. Sitting at home, Donald J. Trump spotted Ms.
Novak, then 81, on his television screen and recoiled at
her appearance. He tapped out a message on Twitter. “I’m
having a real hard time watching… Kim should sue her
plastic surgeon!” To Ms. Novak, who read the message
after the show, it was a devastating setback in her return
to public life: She retreated to Oregon, fell into what she
called “a tailspin” and refused to leave her house for days.
In an open letter to her fans a few weeks later, Ms. Novak
denounced Mr. Trump’s tweet as bullying. 169