Everything Trump Touches Dies

Publisher's Summary

A respected, longtime Republican strategist, ad maker, and contributor for The Daily Beast skewers the disease that is destroying the conservative movement and burning down the GOP: Trumpism.

In Everything Trump Touches Dies, political campaign strategist and commentator Rick Wilson brings his darkly funny humor and biting analysis to the absurdity of American politics in the age of Trump. Wilson mercilessly exposes the damage Trump has done to the country, to the Republican Party he served for decades, and to the conservative movement that has abandoned its principles for the worst president in American history.

No left-winger, Wilson is a lifelong conservative who delivers his withering critique of Trump from the right. A leader of the Never Trump movement, he warns his own party of the political catastrophe that leaves everyone involved with Trump with reputations destroyed and lives in tatters.

Wilson unblinkingly dismantles Trump’s deceptions and the illusions to which his supporters cling, shedding light on the guilty parties who empower and enable Trump in Washington and the news media. He calls out the race-war dead-enders who hitched a ride with Trump, the alt-right basement dwellers who worship him, and the social conservatives who looked the other way.

Everything Trump Touches Dies deftly chronicles the tragicomic Trump story from the early campaign days through the shock of election night to the inconceivable trainwreck of Trump's first year. Rick Wilson provides not only an insightful analysis of the Trump administration but also an optimistic path forward for the GOP, the conservative movement, and the country.

Combining insider political analysis, blunt truths, and black humor, Everything Trump Touches Dies is perfect for those on either side of the aisle who need a dose of unvarnished reality, a good laugh, a strong cocktail, and a return to sanity in American politics.

©2018 Rick Wilson (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Gives me hope

The book as written and performed is magnificent. Listing to the POV of a GOP insider gives me hope that Democrats will learn from all of their mistakes and that the GOP as it stands today will be as extinct as the Whigs.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Glad I'm not a Trump fan!

I expected this book to be a blockbuster, but even I could not anticipate how blistering this book would be. Rick Wilson loathes Donald Trump and all those who surround him, and he is happy to let the rest of us in on his insider's story. Love it if you despise Trump; hate it if you love him. And if you're a smug Democrat (as I am), be prepared to hear some unhappy challenges to your intellectual superiority.

41 of 46 people found this review helpful

A Great Listen (No Matter What Your Party Is)!

This is one of those books that you will be apt to feel just a bit guilty about reading (or, listening to). It is brutal, highly judgmental, often sarcastic, and even quite crude, at times. Regardless, it is a frank, unvarnished insider's look at the Trump presidency told by an undeniably well-informed Republican political strategist. Humor is the sugar that makes this bitter political tale palatable. Rick Wilson's narration provides a rare first-hand expression of the emotions attached to the fears, frustrations, regrets, and anxieties surrounding the story.

This is a rare example of a Trump critique from the point of view of a true conservative and there is something for any political partisan in this book. For liberals, there is a rare view of how the rise of Trumpism has damaged the GOP and destabilized the two party system. For conservatives, there is an explanation of how years of political scorched earth tactics sabotaged the future of the party. For those who didn't vote or voted for certain losers, it shows how they became dupes of those who sought to manipulate the election.

This book will ultimately challenge many of the long-held beliefs of partisans of every stripe. After listening to it, even if you maintain your old opinion, you will probably need to rethink it.

31 of 35 people found this review helpful

Talking sense and talking trash in perfect sync!

Let's be real, you're here to hear a well-spoken man bash trump. He does so both eloquently and sensibly while remaining entertaining. He definitely has some strong republican views, but as a democrat I found myself respecting his version of republicanism - one that doesn't kowtow to hatred, fear-mongering, and a general sense of nothing-matters-but-the-votes. Definitely worth a listen. Its both enjoyable and thought provoking.

35 of 41 people found this review helpful

Required Reading

This book contains all you need to know but were afraid to ask, and all that you know but didn’t want to believe. Big thanks to Rick Wilson . Blunt -Tough Love- #Salute!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Everything Trump Touches Dies is a hard book to review

Hi all!

This was a funny, irreverent, and steeply unapologetic book about The Trump Presidency. Reading this as a Democrat and Liberal, I can’t help but point out the obvious fallacy of this book: Rick Wilson tries hard to point the blame at Trump for everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. I believe, however, that Trump is a symptom of the deeper Republican problem— not the cause. These issues of racism, bigotry, and prejudice did not just crop up in 2016; they are issues that have plagued the Republican Party for years. Trump may be the antithesis of everything traditional conservatives believe, but their neighbors in the Republican Party were asking for it for a decade or more.

If, like me, you are a Democrat who wishes to read this book, buckle up and prepare to grit your teeth. A lot. But also prepare to laugh and walk away with a deeper understanding of “that other party.”

96 of 118 people found this review helpful

Entertaining, masterful roast of Trump's GOP

Rick is a master with the English language. He's an insider and pulls no punches showing the moral rot of what used to be the GOP (and the political ineptitude of the Dems).

If you've followed Trump-Russia, the thread that is noticeably unpulled in this book is the collusion, illegality, and likely layers of dirty dealings and blackmail that have gone into the cartoonish, slobbering public prostrations GOPers give Trump. Rick shows the indefensible positions, mocks the absurdity and moral decrepitude of it all, then essentially shrugs with a "gee, wonder why they did that..?" and moves on.

In a sense, what Rick's book shows is who was and was not on the take. Rick Wilson, for whatever you think of his previous work writing attack ads against Dems, was not on the take.

And about that past work... Rick casually slips in that he helped with the (brilliant) ads that took down (leacherous GOP candidate and odious human) Roy Moore. That fact should chasten Dems who laugh along with Rick's assessment of the Dem's political incompetence, but then think, "yeah, but Trump is so toxic now that he'll take down himself, ...right?" Not true. Just like the 2016 election that was Hillary's to lose (and I'm actually a huge Hillary fan), Dems may lose again if they don't quickly lean on and learn from people like Rick Wilson.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Prepare to Laugh A Lot

This is a wonderfully funny book and full of insight into our current political situation.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

The definitive version

You can get the Kindle version (and I have), but you’ll be missing out.

Rick’s (in)famous tone of voice, the sound effects and the occasional musical choices in the audio were far more entertaining than just reading the words.

20 of 25 people found this review helpful

ETTD surgically removed my rose-colored glasses

Like getting a colonoscopy or eating my vegetables, I know that swallowing the ETTD pill (though difficult at times) was good for me.

Like the above, it was made infinitely more enjoyable with a stiff drink.

I feel smarter now. I may not actually BE smarter... but I FEEL smarter. Learning how the sausage we know as "Donald Trump" was made, although distressing at first, has made me calmer about the future of our country.

I've learned that the GOP hasn't really lost their collective marbles or sold their souls to the devil (although Evangelicals actually have). No, the GOP haven't drunk the koolaid, they're simply cowards who can (and most likely will) be voted out.

I hope the leaders of the Democratic party will digest the wisdom Rick Wilson lovingly spoon fed them and use it like Popeye uses spinach.

Eat! Eat! Will make you strong like bull!

I effing love this book! I effing love that Rick Wilson narrated it! I effing love how entertaining it is!

In keeping with my food analogy: ETTD is like chicken soup for the disillusioned patriot soul.

Read it, learn it, live it. You'll be glad you did!

53 of 68 people found this review helpful