--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How we react to the presidency of Donald…" description: "\"“How we react to the presidency of Donald Trump will be the first test of our preparedness. His administration in its infancy is already wracked with s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/mark-lilla-13300_donald-trump_how-we-react-to-the-presidency-of-donald_157298.jpg" --- # How we react to the presidency of Donald Trump will be the… ![“How we react to the presidency of Donald Trump will be the first test of our preparedness. His administration in its infancy is already wracked with scandals. But the real scandal is that he is president at all. Yes, a few extra votes in key states might have changed the electoral college outcome…” quote by Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/mark-lilla-13300_donald-trump_how-we-react-to-the-presidency-of-donald_157298.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/mark-lilla-13300_donald-trump_how-we-react-to-the-presidency-of-donald_157298.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aad/mark-lilla-13300_donald-trump_how-we-react-to-the-presidency-of-donald_157298.jpg) > ““How we react to the presidency of Donald Trump will be the first test of our preparedness. His administration in its infancy is already wracked with scandals. But the real scandal is that he is president at all. Yes, a few extra votes in key states might have changed the electoral college outcome. But a Democratic victory would not have masked the fact that it was a third force that surged from below to fill a vacuum and defeat both parties. There proved to be an untapped yearning to hear someone address America’s new challenges in a different key, someone willing to champion change and say without equivocation that America can be great. Trump offered an authoritarian snarl and an ever-changing string of bizarre spontaneous “positions,” not a political vision. But his demagogic skills were sufficient to move millions to applaud his race baiting, his misogyny, his hardly veiled threats of violence, his contempt for the press, and his contempt for the law.”” [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The reaction to Trump's presidency tests societal readiness; his rise reflects a demand for bold, alternative leadership amid perceived political vacuum. **In simple terms:** Trump’s era shows a craving for decisive change. Key Takeaway Recognize the appeal of strong, unconventional leaders. Themes politics leadership populism media Mood critical analytical concerned Type political observational When to use this quote - elections - media coverage - grassroots movements - policy debates Key Concepts authoritarianism demagoguery public sentiment Questions to Reflect On - Why do people gravitate toward charismatic figures? - What are the risks of dismissing traditional parties? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on charisma can overlook substantive policy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Electoral college](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electoral-college/) ## Related quotes > [ I think we're in store for a presidency \[of Donald Trump\] even more unlike any that people have been imagining. I think it's gonna… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-think-we-re-in-store-for-a-presidency-of-donald-trump-even-more/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [It is difficult to predict the outcome of any Presidency, but with Donald Trump the worst-case scenarios seem particularly plausible, because he is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelefa-sanneh/it-is-difficult-to-predict-the-outcome-of-any-presidency-but-with/) Kelefa Sanneh > [Twenty minutes into his presidency, Donald Trump, who is always claiming to have made, or to be about to make, astonishing history, had done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/twenty-minutes-into-his-presidency-donald-trump-who-is-always/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [As he assumes the awesome responsibilities of the presidency, Donald Trump has inherited a world on fire and a U.S. military weakened by years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/as-he-assumes-the-awesome-responsibilities-of-the-presidency-donald/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [I was not the only journalist to whom Trump offered gifts clearly meant to shape coverage. Many reporters have told me that Trump worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megyn-kelly/i-was-not-the-only-journalist-to-whom-trump-offered-gifts-clearly/) [Megyn Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megyn-kelly/) > [It was pretty evident, I think, the direction the country was going, and that's why I think Donald Trump offered such a clear alternative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-bannon/it-was-pretty-evident-i-think-the-direction-the-country-was-going-and/) [Steve Bannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-bannon/) > [ \[Donald Trump\] has offered me a position. Very early on. In fact, the election night or the wee hours of Wednesday, he did. And… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellyanne-conway/donald-trump-has-offered-me-a-position-very-early-on-in-fact-the/) [Kellyanne Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellyanne-conway/) > [ This guy \[Donald Trump\] has not offered a single serious policy proposal, which is important if you want to be president of the United… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/this-guy-donald-trump-has-not-offered-a-single-serious-policy/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [“Reince Priebus, getting ready to shift over from the RNC to the White House, noted, with alarm, how often Trump offered people jobs on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/reince-priebus-getting-ready-to-shift-over-from-the-rnc-to-the-white/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [Donald Trump was tainted every kind of way you could imagine. I mean, no way in the world that Donald Trump is a champion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-ellison/donald-trump-was-tainted-every-kind-of-way-you-could-imagine-i-mean/) [Keith Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-ellison/) > [Other than they may or may not have discussed the relative merits of the Electoral College vs. the popular vote, what I am told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-tumulty/other-than-they-may-or-may-not-have-discussed-the-relative-merits-of/) [Karen Tumulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-tumulty/) > [Even without voting, illegal aliens do affect who gets elected president, and that's since the Electoral College elects the president, and the states are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/even-without-voting-illegal-aliens-do-affect-who-gets-elected/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“A less well known impact of immigrant populations is the increase that destination states gain in Congress where apportionment of seats in the House…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-s-greenberg/a-less-well-known-impact-of-immigrant-populations-is-the-increase/) [Edward S. Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-s-greenberg/) > [I would've easily won the popular vote, much easier, in my opinion, than winning the electoral college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-would-ve-easily-won-the-popular-vote-much-easier-in-my-opinion-than/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [If I had lost the popular vote but won the electoral college and in my first day as president the intelligence community came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/if-i-had-lost-the-popular-vote-but-won-the-electoral-college-and-in/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) ## More by Mark Lilla > [“Democratic politics is about persuasion, not self-expression. I’m here, I’m queer will never provoke more than a pat on the head or a roll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/democratic-politics-is-about-persuasion-not-self-expression-i-m-here/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“The other component was to build cadres through political education. Republicans sought out wealthy donors to set up foundations and think tanks as safe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/the-other-component-was-to-build-cadres-through-political-education/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“The romantic wants to create a world where he or she will possess a fully integrated, unconflicted identity—where the answers to the questions Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/the-romantic-wants-to-create-a-world-where-he-or-she-will-possess-a/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“The universities of our time instead cultivate students so obsessed with their personal identities and campus pseudo-politics that they have much less interest in,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/the-universities-of-our-time-instead-cultivate-students-so-obsessed/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“The Republicans have successfully persuaded much of the public that they are the party of Joe Sixpack and Democrats are the party of Jessica…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/the-republicans-have-successfully-persuaded-much-of-the-public-that/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“Mary McCarthy, though, had it wrong when she wrote that “Madame Bovary is Don Quixote in skirts.” Emma’s suffering is Platonic: she searches, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/mary-mccarthy-though-had-it-wrong-when-she-wrote-that-madame-bovary/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“You might have thought that, faced with a novel anti-political picture of the nation, liberals would have countered with an imaginative, hopeful vision of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/you-might-have-thought-that-faced-with-a-novel-anti-political-picture/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“The Stillborn God is not a fairy tale. It is a book about the fragility of our world, the world created by the intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/the-stillborn-god-is-not-a-fairy-tale-it-is-a-book-about-the/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“The forces at work in healthy party politics are centripetal; they encourage factions and interests to come together to work out common goals and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/the-forces-at-work-in-healthy-party-politics-are-centripetal-they/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“Martin Luther King Jr. was the greatest movement leader in American history. But, as Hillary Clinton once correctly pointed out, his efforts would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/martin-luther-king-jr-was-the-greatest-movement-leader-in-american/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“Like any other political doctrine, liberalism makes assumptions about things human and divine, and these assumptions are, and ought to remain, open to disinterested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/like-any-other-political-doctrine-liberalism-makes-assumptions-about/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“Better the self-torture of a godless Protestant conscience than the fantasies of a modern Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/better-the-self-torture-of-a-godless-protestant-conscience-than-the/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“Identity is not the future of the left. It is not a force hostile to neoliberalism. Identity is Reaganism for lefties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/identity-is-not-the-future-of-the-left-it-is-not-a-force-hostile-to/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [Whoever takes it upon himself to write an honest intellectual history of twentieth-century Europe will need a strong stomach. But he will need something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/whoever-takes-it-upon-himself-to-write-an-honest-intellectual-history/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) > [“The most important lesson is this: that for two generations America has been without a political vision of its destiny. There is no conservative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lilla/the-most-important-lesson-is-this-that-for-two-generations-america/) [Mark Lilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) [Explore all 51 Mark Lilla quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lilla/) ## More Donald trump quotes > [I'm not here trying to convince anybody to vote for Donald Trump. I think every Christian needs to make up his own mind about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jeffress/i-m-not-here-trying-to-convince-anybody-to-vote-for-donald-trump-i/) [Robert Jeffress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jeffress/) > [ Vote for Donald Trump. You're going to see something and you'll be so happy, you'll be so thrilled. This \[presidential\] election is about every… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/vote-for-donald-trump-you-re-going-to-see-something-and-you-ll-be-so/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [We're going to create factory jobs for recent immigrants, and Donald Trump is going to take care of them. That's why his numbers, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-sessions/we-re-going-to-create-factory-jobs-for-recent-immigrants-and-donald/) [Jeff Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-sessions/) > [When it comes to bullying small businesses, Donald Trump is the poster boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/when-it-comes-to-bullying-small-businesses-donald-trump-is-the-poster/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Donald Trump is a different ball of wax. I've been trying to say for I don't know how many months now that the traditional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/donald-trump-is-a-different-ball-of-wax-i-ve-been-trying-to-say-for-i/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Donald Trump has been rewriting the rules since he got into politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-michael-cillizza/donald-trump-has-been-rewriting-the-rules-since-he-got-into-politics/) [Christopher Michael Cillizza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-michael-cillizza/) > [Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/donald-trump-is-temperamentally-unfit/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [At minimum, we must recognize that there are legitimate, unanswered questions about whether the Obama Justice Department involved themselves in a political project targeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-meadows/at-minimum-we-must-recognize-that-there-are-legitimate-unanswered/) [Mark Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-meadows/) > [ Donald Trump has opened \[ politically correct enforcement\] up wide. He's made a very bold statement and he's backed it back just a little… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/donald-trump-has-opened-politically-correct-enforcement-up-wide-he-s/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [Donald Trump doesn't necessarily stay mad for very long. He's a transactional guy. If you can offer him something, he will take it. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/donald-trump-doesn-t-necessarily-stay-mad-for-very-long-he-s-a/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [Donald Trump so far is sending a signal that he's going to run the government like his business and maybe that's going to work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/donald-trump-so-far-is-sending-a-signal-that-he-s-going-to-run-the/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [ If \[Donald\] Trump throws 20 million off of health care, that's going to be - if he handles this badly - and it's very… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/if-donald-trump-throws-20-million-off-of-health-care-that-s-going-to/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [Donald Trump is not going to be the nominee, because we are not going to allow - people will wake up and we're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/donald-trump-is-not-going-to-be-the-nominee-because-we-are-not-going/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [If we turn our backs on the remaining industries and not reinvest in these places and just say 'You're on your own,' we will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fetterman/if-we-turn-our-backs-on-the-remaining-industries-and-not-reinvest-in/) [John Fetterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fetterman/) > [ \[Donald Trump\] knows he's going to get hit, though. He's the president. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megyn-kelly/donald-trump-knows-he-s-going-to-get-hit-though-he-s-the-president/) [Megyn Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megyn-kelly/) Browse all 2,538 Donald trump quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“How we react to the presidency of Donald Trump will be the first test of our preparedness. His administration in its infancy is already wracked with scandals. But the real scandal is that he is president at all. Yes, a few extra votes in key states might have changed the electoral college outcome. But a Democratic victory would not have masked the fact that it was a third force that surged from below to fill a vacuum and defeat both parties. There proved to be an untapped yearning to hear someone address America’s new challenges in a different key, someone willing to champion change and say without equivocation that America can be great. Trump offered an authoritarian snarl and an ever-changing string of bizarre spontaneous “positions,” not a political vision. 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