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During his visit to the United Kingdom last week, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that people in the U.K. like him. Actor John Cleese responded on Friday with a series of blistering tweets in which he torpedoes Trump's baseless assumption.
After Trump said on Thursday: "I think they like me here" in Britain, Cleese took to Twitter to correct the president.
Cleese said Trump's claim is "unfounded" and that the president is "pronoid," or the opposite of paranoid.
My American friends are asking me about President Trumps’s observation that the British ‘like him’. I regret this… https://t.co/RAgAEmJIlS— John Cleese (@John Cleese)1531486429.0
Cleese explains why pronoia is an appropriate descriptor for Trump's claim.
Pronoid is the opposite of paranoid. A paranoid person thinks, without any basis in reality, that everybody is out… https://t.co/VBmtmUbc3q— John Cleese (@John Cleese)1531486429.0
Tens of thousands of people protested Trump's visit, culminating with a massive "Stop Trump" march in London on Friday. Cleese said Brits "loathe" Trump because "he is the polar opposite of a gentleman."
The fact is that the British loathe Donald Trump This is because he is the polar opposite of a ‘ Gentleman ‘, who… https://t.co/wDHakHkgp7— John Cleese (@John Cleese)1531486430.0
Cleese described a gentleman as "modest, well-mannered, self deprecating, quietly intelligent, considerate of other people's feeling, and well-informed," all of which are qualities Trump lacks.
To the British, a ‘ Gentleman ' is a man who is modest, well-mannered, self deprecating, quietly intelligent, consi… https://t.co/rXFP4lx254— John Cleese (@John Cleese)1531486430.0
Cleese referenced Gareth Southgate, manager of England's national football team, as an example of a gentleman. Southgate "is not vulgar, inflated, vain, boastful, noisily ignorant, sleazy," Cleese wrote, issuing a subtle dig at Trump.
He is not vulgar, inflated, vain, boastful, noisily ignorant, sleazy and common as muck I hope this clears up any confusion— John Cleese (@John Cleese)1531486431.0
Twitter users agreed, pointing out other examples of Trump's warped sense of reality. On Friday, for example, Trump said a recorded interview he gave with The Sun, in which he blasted Prime Minister Theresa May's handling of Brexit, is "fake news."
@JohnCleese So Trump feels the World is totally behind him in all that he does! He will not gain any respect, which… https://t.co/fu8zlsmgHT— Helen Maria (@Helen Maria)1531494860.0
Americans "don't like him either," another person wrote. Recent polling showed Americans rank Barack Obama as the best president in their lifetimes, with Trump trailing in fourth place. Trump's job performance hovers around 41 percent.
@JohnCleese We don’t like him either. He somehow forgets about that whole popular vote thing. I mean, what are fact… https://t.co/pQnjVyeExk— Dresden Watts (@Dresden Watts)1531486560.0
"Trump is stupid," one follower wrote. "What's going on here is very dark stuff."
Others appreciated of the vocabulary lesson. (I know I did.)
@JohnCleese So I learned a new word today: pronoid. I thought you coined it; I was wrong, but there’s another malad… https://t.co/XbAx1Borq6— Maureen Sheridan (@Maureen Sheridan)1531489276.0
@JohnCleese Yeah. I agree with that. I think that a few years ago there would have been virtually no UK supporters… https://t.co/TLTCI3B7Vi— kevin mcinerney (@kevin mcinerney)1531486713.0
How did I make it 41 years without learning the word “pronoid”? Thank you, @JohnCleese, for the education. Thread… https://t.co/0bO4ij386v— Matt Ferraguto (@Matt Ferraguto)1531677073.0