Dear Commons Community,

The veteran broadcast journalist shared one simple sentence on Facebook that got nearly a million likes and more than 60,000 comments.

Dan Rather has some choice words, or rather, a little proverb for President Donald Trump.

The veteran broadcast journalist and former “CBS Evening News” anchor seemed to hit a nerve yesterday, sharing on Facebook a post aimed squarely at Trump’s tumultuous administration — to nearly one million likes and more than 60,000 comments.

“When a clown moves into a palace he doesn’t become a king, the palace instead becomes a circus. — Turkish proverb,” the post reads.

Rather also shared a recent article of his in the comments of yesterday’s post about Trump’s steep international tariffs and the U.S. economy, seemingly confirming the proverb was about him.

The premise of a clown entering a palace seemed to strike a chord.

“Perfect description of what is going on right now. I never understood people’s fear of clowns, until now…,” wrote one Facebook user, with another commenting: “My daughter used to be afraid of clowns. Here is one we can all be afraid of.”

Trump has certainly created the current White House in his image.

The former reality television star forewent the Oval Office’s traditional decor to include more gold, hawked Tesla vehicles on the grounds for his billionaire tech mogul buddy Elon Musk — and is practically selling U.S. citizenship for $5 million a pop.

The proverb itself likely originated with the Circassians, Sunni Muslims from the Northwestern Caucasus, and is not specifically Turkish. 

“Turkish proverb / American reality,” one user nonetheless argued on Rather’s post.

In his career, Rather covered some of the biggest events in modern history, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War and 9/11. 

Popcorn anyone!

Tony

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