Real Quotes

What Some “leaders,” journalists, and others have said:

“A very Happy Thanksgiving salutation to all of our Great American Citizens and Patriots who have been so nice in allowing our Country to be divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at, along with certain other foolish countries throughout the World, for being “Politically Correct,” and just plain STUPID, when it comes to Immigration.” —POTUS in his positive/inspiring Thanksgiving 2025 message

“Quiet! Quiet, piggy.” King POTUS responding to a reporter asking about the Epstein files.

“Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States.”—Alexander Hamilton

“The exposure and punishment of public corruption is an honor to a nation, not a disgrace. The shame lies in toleration, not in correction…“If we fail to do all that in us lies to stamp out corruption we can not escape our share of responsibility for the guilt. The first requisite of successful self-government is unflinching enforcement of the law and the cutting out of corruption.” —Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 7,1903

“I encourage you to watch — we call it the ‘Hate America Rally’ — that’ll happen Saturday. Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet ya see pro-Hamas supporters, I bet you you see Antifa-types, I bet ya see the Marxists in full display. The people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”–Speaker of the House Mike Johnson

“Obviously, there’s some things going on in the States that are of concern. We continue to look for ways to at least respond and raise some of the questions that need to be asked.”– Pope Leo XIV

“Where has all the leadership gone? If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the First Amendment?”–Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner

“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly “Inaccurate,” Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election. We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED. WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections. Remember, the States are merely an “agent” for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do….” King POTUS (August, 2025)

“I think there’s a growing recognition in this country, not just with Democrats, independents, but also Republicans, that de facto the Trump presidency ends in November of next year if the American people are given a fair chance and a voice and a choice. We’ll take back Congress. The President of the United States recognizes that, so he wants to rig the game, wants to change the rules midterm.” California Governor Gavin Newsom

“Those machines flew for 37 straight hours, they didn’t stop. They went skedaddle. You know the word ‘skedaddle’? It means skedaddle…They dropped the bombs and somebody said, ‘Skedaddle! Let’s get the hell out of here!’ And every bomb hit its mark, and hit it beautif—hit it incredibly.” Current president discussing the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, during a recent cabinet meeting.

“I have said that I think this is an experiment. I think LA is a petri dish, and they are essentially pressing the envelope to see how far the American public will tolerate the federal seizure of power from a governor and in this random thing is just a way of creating a sense of…terror and fate and fear in our community.” LA Mayor Karen Bass, discussing her opposition to the unconstitutional deployment of National Guard troops to the city.

“What we’re seeing right now … is not consistent with American democracy. … It is consistent with autocracies. It is consistent with Hungary under [Viktor] Orbán. It’s consistent with places that hold elections but do not otherwise observe what we think of [as] a fair system in which everybody’s voice matters and people have a seat at the table, and there are checks and balances, and nobody’s above the law. We’re not there yet completely, but I think that we are dangerously close to normalizing behavior like that.” President Barack Obama

“Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.” Former Congressional Representative Liz Cheney (June 2022)

“The facts are simple and devastating: Aid cuts have already cost lives, and the number of deaths will continue to rise…To me, this is the most remarkable thing about global health: With a relatively small amount of money, you can do a great deal of good for a great many people. This is money well spent, and we should go back to spending it-now.” Bill Gates

“The truth unquestionably is, that the only path to a subversion of the republican system of the Country is, by flattering the prejudices of the people, and exciting their jealousies and apprehensions, to throw affairs into confusion, and bring on civil commotion.” Alexander Hamilton

“If this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they‘re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country. We will hold this administration accountable. “ California Senator Alex Padilla, after being handcuffed and pinned to the floor by federal law enforcement officers (June 12) as he attempted to ask a question during Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Los Angeles press conference.

“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk. That’s when the downward spiral began.” California Governor Gavin Newsom (6/10/25)

“PITY THE NATION”

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (After Khalil Gibran) 2007

Pity the nation whose people are sheep

And whose shepherds mislead them

Pity the nation whose leaders are liars

Whose sages are silenced

And whose bigots haunt the airwaves

Pity the nation that raises not its voice

Except to praise conquerors

And acclaim the bully as hero

And aims to rule the world

By force and by torture

Pity the nation that knows

No other language but its own

And no other culture but its own

Pity the nation whose breath is money

And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed

Pity the nation oh pity the people

who allow their rights to erode

and their freedoms to be washed away

My country, tears of thee

Sweet land of liberty!

(copyright Lawrence Ferlinghetti)

“Our sacred rule of law is under attack. Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack, and insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes, and into our private thoughts.” Scott Pelley, CBS News, from his recent Wake Forest University Commencement address.

“President Trump, your first 100 days has far exceeded that of ANY other presidency in this country. Ever. Ever. Never seen anything like it. Thank you.” –Attorney General Pam Bondi during a White House Cabinet meeting.

“I don’t know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.” —D. Trump’s response when Meet The Press host Kristen Welker asked him whether he needs to uphold the Constitution.

“In recent months, generations of peacebuilding expertise have been devastated by severe, almost whole cuts to USAID and the outright shutting down of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). The last two decades of our advocacy for domestic violence prevention work are also being decimated by cuts to the CDC and other agencies doing that critical work. Tens of thousands of employees, peacebuilders, have been fired. This is not simply about funding these critical agencies—it’s about preserving democracy itself. We can’t ignore the warning signs, authoritarianism is on the rise right here in the United States of America, and democracy as we know it is at stake.”—The Peace Alliance

“American universities are facing extraordinary attacks that threaten the bedrock principles of a democratic society, including rights of free expression, association, and academic freedom. We write as one faculty, to ask you to stand with us now.” –From a letter signed by almost 900 Yale faculty members, asking University President Maurie McInnis and Provost Scott Strobel to protect academic freedom at Yale.

“Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” —Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“In a bold new departure for the forces of voter suppression, MAGA’s so-called ‘SAVE’ Act will make it harder for tens of millions of eligible Americans to vote, including tens of millions of people, mostly women, who change their names after marriage. Every eligible voter should be able to access the ballot box, free from legislated intimidation, trickery and harassment.” —Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)

A few of the sign quotes shared at the April 5 Hands Off Protests held throughout the country:
“My father fought fascism in World War II so we would not have to at home. I’m sorry Dad!”
“No kings in America.”
“Protect our lands. Hands off the EPA.”
“We value: due process, public health, science, our veterans, our diversity, the friendship and autonomy of our allies.”
“Hands off our rule of law.”
“Cory Booker sent me.”

****

“I’m about to go to the Senate floor, where I intend to be recognized, and when I am, I am not gonna stop speaking. I’m going to not stop standing. I’m going to go for as long as I am physically able to go. I’ve been hearing from people all over my state and indeed all over the nation calling upon folks in Congress to do more, to do things that recognize the urgency, the crisis of the moment. And so we all have a responsibility, I believe, to do something different, to cause, as John Lewis said, ‘good trouble,’ and that includes me.” Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), shortly before he announced his plan to deliver what could be the longest speech delivered in the U.S. Senate’s history. He began talking on the floor of the Senate Monday evening (4/1/25) at 7 p.m. ET, and after more than 20 hours of criticizing the policies of President Trump, he was still going.

“We do have authority over the federal courts. We can eliminate an entire district court, we have power of funding over the courts and all these other things. But desperate times call for desperate measures and Congress is going to act.”—Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House

“First, we must be honest about the lies and the abuses that have occurred within these walls. Unfortunately, in recent years, a corrupt group of hacks and radicals within the ranks of the American government obliterated the trust and goodwill built up over generations. They weaponized the vast powers of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies to try and thwart the will of the American people…These are people that are bad people, really bad people. The people who did this to us should go to jail.” Donald Trump, at the Department of Justice, March 14, 2025

“Stalin, Mao, and Hitler didn’t murder millions of people. Their public sector employees did.” –Elon Musk

“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.” 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

“This is an unparalleled attack on the rule of law in the United States, not seen since the days of McCarthyism in the twentieth century. Restrictive executive orders, unjustifiable institutional cutbacks, and intimidation tactics through threatening pronouncements by senior officials in the administration are creating an atmosphere to chill democratic dissent, a cherished American ideal. The Trump administration seems hellbent on dismantling the system of checks and balances which are the pillars of a democratic society.”—Mandeep Tiwana, Interim Co-Secretary General of CIVICUS (Announcing that the United States is added to the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist of countries with faltering civic freedoms–due to threats to civic freedoms under the Trump administration)

“America wants change, but there’s a responsible way to make change and a reckless way…His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber, and cars and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers. Your premiums and prescriptions will cost more because the math on his proposals doesn’t work without going after your health care.” Michigan Senator (D) Elissa Slotkin

“Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) is ours. We don’t want to be Americans, nor Danes; we are Kalaallit. The Americans and their leader must understand that. We are not for sale and cannot simply be taken. Our future will be decided by us in Greenland.” Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede

“For years to come, there are many people on the right, in the media and voters at large, that are going to be having to explain and justify how they fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump,” Marco Rubio to Jake Tapper/CNN in March 2016.

“What he’s (Musk) doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?’” Trump said in the Oval Office during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. “And then, if you don’t answer, like, you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired, because a lot of people aren’t answering because they don’t even exist.” AP

“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed, our safety will be restored. Scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.” Donald Trump’s inauguration speech on January 20, 2025

“Pardoning the people who went into the Capitol and beat up a police officer violently, I think, was a mistake because it seems to suggest that’s an OK thing to do,” Senator Lindsay Graham told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker.

“It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations,” Trump said in a statement afterward. “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.” POTUS comment after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and JD Vance in the Oval Office on 2/28/25. (Per Politico)

“It was a planned ambush designed to embarrass President Zelenskyy in order to benefit Vladimir Putin. That was an embarrassment. That was an abomination. What you watched was American power being destroyed in the world as everybody watches President Trump become a lapdog for a brutal dictator in Moscow.” Senator Chris Murphy, Connecticut (AP)

“Adding it all up. Connect the dots: Trump’s ratings continue to plummet. Musk’s DOGE is off the rails and becoming a late-night joke. Consumers are taking out their anger on Tesla. America’s oligarchs are openly defiant and behaving shamelessly. Bernie and other progressive voices are attracting record-breaking crowds. Trump and Musk are attacking Medicaid and Social Security to pay for a giant tax cut for the wealthy. The world’s leading democracies are joining together against dictatorial regimes, including Trump’s America. Economic indicators are trending downward. And elections look brighter. What does this add up to? America is waking up, and it doesn’t like what it’s seeing in Trump and Musk. I don’t want to sound overly optimistic. We have a huge amount of work to do. My purpose in giving you these additional reasons for modest optimism is for you to have a sense of possibility. All is not lost. We are not doomed. The Trump-Vance-Musk regime is filled with incompetence and riddled with treachery. If all of us maintain our courage and resolve, and do what’s necessary, we will prevail.” By Robert Reich, from his February 28 article–10 more reasons for modest optimism.