Everything Trump Touches Dies

By: Rick Wilson

Narrated by: Rick Wilson

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

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

Prepare to Laugh A Lot

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

9 of 9 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.

22 of 24 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.

16 of 18 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.

27 of 32 people found this review helpful

Truly, A book for our times...

Full of information, truth, and humor.

Rick roasts all the political chestnuts on the Right, Left, and Middle.

Talks about the personalities involved, how we got here, and where we might end up going as a country.

8 of 9 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.”

86 of 105 people found this review helpful

Bitingly funny analysis of Trumpism from the right

If you are of a more liberal bent, you would still enjoy this immensely, as his takedown of all the Fox blowhards and Trump sycophants is filled with the insider knowledge of decades as a conservative Republican, including more than a few things I had heard of nowhere else.

If you are a fellow conservative who actually believes in principle (and yes, that includes racial equality, marriage equality, worker protections, etc.), you will probably enjoy seeing the “Vichy Republicans” (his term) skewered so thoroughly and amusingly.

And it does not end in hopelessness; the quotes from U.S. Grant and Churchill at the end are inspiring and apropos.

I admit that it is not all that uncommon for me to fall asleep while listening to some books, but never this one. I fully expect to listen again at some point, as it is so wickedly funny.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Trump, from the perspective of a real conservative

You need to download and read this book immediately... because nonfiction books about contemporary political issues have a very short shelf life.

Nonetheless, it will be well worth your while... unless you've drunken the Trump Kool-Aid and can't divorce your mind from the mindless adherence to the Dear Leader.

Rick Wilson is a conservative political operative... I'm talking about a traditional, dyed-in-the-wool, hard core fiscal debt and deficit hawk, libertarian-leaning, small government kind of conservative... the kind Republicans USED to be, before the Age of Trump.

In this book, he shreds Trump with the ferocity of the most faithful democratic socialist... illustrating in myriad ways how Trump is further from true conservatism, than Bernie Sanders. From the perspective of someone who was a highly aggressive pitchman for numerous right wing candidates and causes, he explains, in a clear and cohesive manner, what a disaster Trump has been for the conservative cause... and what damage, long term, Trump is doing to conservative interests.

The book is written with heaping doses of high snark and dark humor, but it doesn't diminish from the message, at all... it just makes the narrative even more real, as well as depressing.

I'm by no means a conservative... but even from my mostly liberal/progressive perspective, Wilson has done an outstanding job of enumerating the concerns about Trump that both liberals and conservatives (in a rare alignment) can fully agree on.

In short, a fascinating and compelling book.. highly recommended.

10 of 12 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!

47 of 60 people found this review helpful

#ETTD explained clearly and factually

Despite the emotion coming through, a very well thought, strong rational dialog on the state of politics in DC and specifically the White House. Clearly spelled out are why the lack of sensible direction are bad for our nation and both political parties, not to mention the backlash and pendulum swing will be destructive for years.
Best of all, how and why we need to fix this are included for anyone willing to listen.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful