Webster dictionary defines vulgarity as follows:
The quality of lacking good taste, refinement, or manners (coarse, crude, tasteless) or being offensive in language (obscene).
Here is an example of President Trump’s demonstrated behavior:
President Trump repeatedly called a New York times reporter “stupid” while responding to a question.
There also are examples and categories of his demeaning verbal behavior.
Consider some concrete examples:
In the infamous 2005 recording released by Access Hollywood, Trump said: “Grab ’em by the p—-, You can do anything.” — a lewd, demeaning remark about sexual consent that many described as boasting about sexual assault.
In multiple more recent incidents, Trump has insulted female reporters at press events. He called one “piggy,” and shouted “Are you a stupid person?” at another during an exchange over a shooting-related question.
When addressing immigrants, particularly from Latin America, Trump has used dehumanizing and violent-tinged language. For instance, during his 2015 campaign launch, he said that “when Mexico sends its people … they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists.”
He also reportedly referred to people from certain nations as coming from “s—hole countries.”
His rhetoric has frequently included belittling nicknames and crude insults — not just toward opponents from opposing parties, but sometimes aimed at those within his own party.
President Trump’s vulgar rhetoric is emotionally damaging to the mental health of the individuals to whom he addresses his verbal insults.
Areas of verbal vulgarity include:
Objectification and sexual misconduct endorsement: Mockery of disabilities or personal traits. Demeaning name-calling and insults. Repeated use of pejorative nicknames, labels, or slights.
Xenophobic tone: Some statements devalue individuals based on national origin.
Use of profanity and coarse language.
Encouraging hostility or aggression:
Trump’s episodes of vulgar expression—whether lobbed at political rivals, journalists, women, immigrants, or entire institutions—have become so frequent that they risk losing their shock value.
Yet normalization is precisely the danger. Each instance chips away at the expectations we once had for political leadership: restraint, decorum, seriousness of purpose.
The result is a political environment in which vulgarity is a weapon. It allows Trump to brand opponents as weak, to delegitimize institutions that challenge him, and to turn serious issues into spectacles.
But the consequences extend beyond tone. When leaders rely on vulgarity instead of argument, they degrade the public’s ability to deliberate, compromise, or even recognize shared values. They deepen cynicism about politics itself. They communicate—especially to younger generations —that cruelty is part of leadership, that disrespect is a legitimate political tool, and that contempt is a substitute for ideas.
Leadership should be the ability to elevate, to unite, and to model the civic virtues that a healthy republic depends upon. Even in contentious times—especially in contentious times—vulgarity is not strength. It is a failure of it.
Americans can and do disagree about policy, ideology, and the direction of the country. Those disagreements are real and often profound. But they should not require us to accept a politics defined by vulgarity.
As Americans, we must recognize the need to delegitimize, devalue and simply ignore the immature behavior of our current Commander-in-Chief- Donald J. Trump.
H. Andrew Selinger, MD, is chair, Department of Family Medicine, Frank H. Netter, MD School of Medicine, Quinnipiac University