Trump's documented degrading and dehumanizing statements about people (hub)

Synthesis

A sourced running list of times Donald Trump publicly mocked, demeaned or dehumanized people: a disabled reporter in 2015, political opponents as "vermin" in 2023, Somali immigrants and a congresswoman as "garbage" in 2025, a governor with a slur in 2025, and a dead filmmaker on the day his death was reported. Each entry is a dated, verbatim quote with a source; his own explanations are included where he gave them.

Mocking disability
Nov. 24, 2015, South Carolina rally: Trump mimicked New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has a joint condition, by flailing his arms with his right hand flopping at an odd angle in an agitated voice, saying "You gotta see this guy" and "Ahh, I don't know what I said! Ahh, I don't remember!" Trump said he was imitating a reporter "groveling after he changed his story" and denied knowing him, though the two had dealt with each other professionally in 1989.
Nov. 28, 2025, Truth Social: "The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both." Asked on Air Force One on Nov. 30 whether he stood by the term: "Yeah, I think there's something wrong with him, absolutely, sure."

Attacks on war heroes, Gold Star family and a judge (2015–2016)
July 18, 2015, Iowa: asked about Sen. John McCain, Trump said "He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK?" He added: "Perhaps he's a war hero, but right now he's said some very bad things." Rival candidates including Perry, Bush, Christie, Walker and Graham condemned the remark.
July 2016, on Ghazala Khan, mother of Capt. Humayun Khan (killed in Iraq in 2004), who stood silently beside her husband at the Democratic convention: "If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say." He also said he would like to hear her say something, and questioned whether Khizr Khan wrote his own speech.
June 2016: Trump said Judge Gonzalo Curiel had "an inherent conflict of interest" because "I'm building a wall," and called him "a member of a club or society, very strongly pro-Mexican" and "of Mexican heritage. And he's very proud of it." Curiel was born and raised in Indiana. Speaker Paul Ryan called the remark "the textbook definition of a racist comment."

Immigrants: "rapists," "animals," "shithole" and Springfield (2015–2024)
June 16, 2015 announcement speech, on Mexican immigrants: "They're sending people that have lots of problems... They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." PolitiFact rated Tim Kaine's claim that Trump said "all Mexicans are rapists" False, and noted that experts found no evidence supporting Trump's claims.
Jan. 11, 2018, Oval Office DACA meeting: Trump was reported to have called African countries "shithole countries," asked "Why do we need more Haitians?" and named Norway as a preferred source of immigrants. Trump denied using that language ("The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used"). Sen. Dick Durbin, who was in the room, called what was said "hate-filled, vile and racist" and said of the press accounts, "I've not read one of them that's inaccurate."
May 16, 2018, Sacramento, immediately after a California sheriff described state limits on sharing information about suspected MS-13 members with ICE: "You wouldn't believe how bad these people are. These aren't people. These are animals." Sen. Dianne Feinstein called it "deeply offensive and racist."
Sept. 10, 2024 debate: "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats." PolitiFact rated the claim Pants on Fire. A city spokesperson said there were "no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed," and police had received no such reports.

Dehumanizing opponents and immigrants
Nov. 11, 2023, Veterans Day speech in Claremont, N.H.: Trump vowed to "root out" "the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country," adding that "the threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within."
Dec. 2, 2025, cabinet meeting, on Somali immigrants: "When they come from hell, and they complain and do nothing but bitch, we don't want them," and "we're going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country." On Rep. Ilhan Omar: "She's garbage. Her friends, garbage. These aren't people who work." Omar's spokesperson said his "obsession with her is unhealthy."

Insults aimed at rivals' intelligence (2024–2025)
Aug. 3, 2024, Truth Social, on Kamala Harris: "she's really DUMB! ... She has an extremely Low IQ."
Oct. 21, 2024, Truth Social, on Harris: "dumb as a rock."
Sept. 24, 2025, Truth Social, as president, on Harris: "Kamala Harris, who is DUMB AS A ROCK."
Oct. 2, 2024, Truth Social, on Tim Walz: "Walz was a Low IQ Disaster."
Jan. 15, 2024, Truth Social, on Nikki Haley: "NIKKI 'BIRDBRAIN' HALEY."

On the death of a critic
Dec. 15, 2025, Truth Social, after director Rob Reiner and his wife were found dead in what authorities were investigating as a homicide: Trump wrote that Reiner suffered from "a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the post as treating "a family tragedy" as politics.

In his own Truth Social posts as president (2026)
June 10, 2026, about commentator Stephen A. Smith: "an arrogant fool, a low IQ individual. In other words, he's 'dumb as a rock'."
June 24, 2026, about George Conway: "a Trump Deranged Loser at the highest level... No wonder his 'husband' dumped him like a dog! This is a truly unattractive person, both inside and out."
Apr. 16, 2026, about former administration official Joe Kent: "Kent, horribly, lost his wife... although he married again, quite quickly, in my opinion... Kent is a LOSER, just like Tucker, Candace, Megyn, and the rest of them are LOSERS — You're born that way, LOW IQ, and there's not a damn thing they're going to be able to do about it!"
Jan. 30, 2026, days after a Border Patrol agent killed Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti, Trump wrote: "Agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist, Alex Pretti's stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE Officer."

Counts and repeated phrasing (computed by the site from the public archives)
Method: counts below come from searching the CNN Truth Social archive (Feb. 2022 to Oct. 3, 2026) and the Complete Trump Tweets Archive (2009 to Jan. 2021) for the phrases quoted, excluding reposts. They may miss deleted posts and are the site's own tally, not a news report.
The phrase "Low IQ" appears in 41 of his own Truth Social posts: 1 in 2022, 12 in 2024, 9 in 2025 and 19 in 2026 through Oct. 3. Targets in 2026 include House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Robert De Niro.
The insult "ugly... both inside and out" recurs across twelve years: aimed at Arianna Huffington on Twitter in 2014, in a post of Oct. 30, 2025 that does not name its target, and at New York Times reporter Katie Rogers on Nov. 26, 2025. On June 24, 2026 he used a variant, "unattractive person, both inside and out," about George Conway.

At a rally (Oct. 3, 2026)
At an Ohio rally on Oct. 3, 2026, at about 2:16 in the video, Trump called Democrats "dumbocrats" while saying they kept money, as heard by the site's editor; YouTube's auto-captions render the word as "Democrats." Near the end of the speech he called Democrats "a bunch of dumb son of a bitches" (from a transcript of the video; timestamp not yet checked).

Perspectives

Defender — Trump and White House allies
Trump's stated explanations, as he gave them: on Kovaleski, he said he was imitating a reporter "groveling after he changed his story" and denied knowing him; on the January 2018 meeting, he said "the language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used"; on Gov. Walz, he said "I think there's something wrong with him, absolutely, sure." His allies have also defended some remarks as aimed at criminals or political opponents rather than at groups of people. Editor's note: there is no excuse for this behavior.

Editorial read — The Author (site author), thesis
The author's thesis: there is no real defense for these statements. The explanations above are recorded because Trump and his allies gave them, not because they hold up against the quotes themselves. In the author's view, people who defend this behavior are pandering to Trump.

Research notes
Where to find every post: Trump Twitter archive data (2009–Jan. 2021) at https://github.com/MarkHershey/CompleteTrumpTweetsArchive and CNN's Truth Social archive (Feb. 2022–present) at https://ix.cnn.io/data/truth-social/truth_archive.json. This entry links to specific posts and reporting; the counts section is the site's own tally from those archives. Open leads: none strong remaining. A search of the archives for Joe Biden turned up mostly the nickname "Crooked Joe" and no insult sharp enough to list.

Note
Trump has given explanations for some of these remarks; they are recorded where he gave them.

Sources
[1] PolitiFact — Trump and reporter Serge Kovaleski (Nov. 2015) (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/jun/13/priorities-usa-action/pro-clinton-super-pac-ad-trump-mocked-disabled-r/) · 2016-06-13
[2] Boston Globe — Trump's Veterans Day speech, "vermin" (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/12/metro/veterans-day-speech-trump-promises-root-out-left) · 2023-11-12
[3] AOL/Newsweek — Trump stands by slur against Tim Walz (https://www.aol.com/articles/trump-stands-r-word-while-144245733.html) · 2025-11-30
[4] GV Wire — Trump calls Somalis "garbage" at cabinet meeting (https://gvwire.com/2025/12/02/trump-calls-somalis-garbage-he-doesnt-want-in-the-country/) · 2025-12-02
[5] NPR/VPM — Trump says Rob Reiner had "Trump Derangement Syndrome" (https://www.vpm.org/npr-news/2025-12-15/trump-says-rob-reiner-had-trump-derangement-syndrome-in-post-on-his-death) · 2025-12-15
[6] Trump on Truth Social, Apr. 16, 2026 (Joe Kent) (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116416663301119812) · 2026-04-16
[7] Trump on Truth Social, June 24, 2026 (George Conway) (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116802818595314334) · 2026-06-24
[8] Trump on Truth Social, June 10, 2026 (Stephen A. Smith) (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116725365354632342) · 2026-06-10
[9] Trump on Truth Social, Jan. 30, 2026 (Alex Pretti) (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115982625271651077) · 2026-01-30
[10] WHSV/AP — Minneapolis mourns ICU nurse killed by a Border Patrol agent (https://www.whsv.com/2026/01/26/minneapolis-mourns-icu-nurse-killed-by-border-patrol-agent-warmhearted-neighbor-caregiver/) · 2026-01-26
[11] CNN Truth Social archive (all of Trump's posts since Feb. 2022) (https://ix.cnn.io/data/truth-social/truth_archive.json)
[12] Complete Trump Tweets Archive (2009–Jan. 2021) (https://github.com/MarkHershey/CompleteTrumpTweetsArchive)
[13] Trump on Truth Social, Oct. 30, 2025 ("An ugly person, both inside and out!") (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115463473432662826) · 2025-10-30
[14] CBS News: Trump on McCain (https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/donald-trump-john-mccain-war-hero-captured) · 2015-07-18
[15] NBC News: Trump questions Army father's DNC speech, wife's silence (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-questions-army-father-s-dnc-speech-wife-s-n620241) · 2016-07-30
[16] PolitiFact: Trump's comments about Judge Curiel (http://politifact.com/article/2016/jun/08/donald-trumps-racial-comments-about-judge-trump-un/) · 2016-06-08
[17] PolitiFact: Tim Kaine and Trump's "rapists" remark (https://politifact.com/factchecks/2016/aug/08/tim-kaine/tim-kaine-falsely-says-trump-said-all-mexicans-are/) · 2016-08-08
[18] WHYY/NPR: Trump denies vulgar slur; Durbin says he said it (https://whyy.org/npr-story/trump-denies-calling-african-countries-vulgar-slur-top-dem-says-said) · 2018-01-12
[19] PolitiFact: Springfield pet-eating claim (https://politifact.com/factchecks/2024/sep/11/donald-trump/trump-repeats-baseless-claims-that-haitian-immigra/) · 2024-09-11
[20] PolitiFact: Context of Trump's "animals" comments (http://politifact.com/article/2018/may/17/context-donald-trumps-comments-about-immigrants-an/) · 2018-05-17
[21] Truth Social post, Aug 3, 2024 (Harris) (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/112899423486841729) · 2024-08-03
[22] Truth Social post, Oct 21, 2024 (Harris) (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113346028169366176) · 2024-10-21
[23] Truth Social post, Sept 24, 2025 (Harris) (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115261110149678466) · 2025-09-24
[24] Truth Social post, Oct 2, 2024 (Walz) (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/113235598943240962) · 2024-10-02
[25] Truth Social post, Jan 15, 2024 (Haley) (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/111759813242120117) · 2024-01-15
[26] Video of Trump's Ohio rally, Oct. 3, 2026 (YouTube) (https://youtu.be/D9IpEhA49-s) · 2026-10-03

Connections

Related — Presidential conduct: AI video mocking 'No Kings' protesters
The video showed protesters and a named commentator hit with sewage-like sludge, an example of degrading imagery aimed at critics.

Related — Trump and Zohran Mamdani: from threats to cordial meetings (2025–2026)
Contrast case: the same speaker softening toward a target he previously attacked.

Same actor — Trump's documented statements degrading and objectifying women
Women-focused companion entry; same speaker and pattern.