Even for Donald Trump Jr this is unhinged
Then there’s the “as long as they don’t” style of bigotry. An example of the type might say something such as, “I’m okay working with gays ‘as long as they don’t’ come flying into my office on fairy wings.” Or, “I’m okay working with blacks ‘as long as they don’t’ hold BLM rallies in the conference room.” The obligatory horse’s ass laughter inevitably follows.
Then we have intolerant, disgusting bigot Donald Trump Jr who is okay with disabled grocery store bag clerks “as long as they don’t” get elected to the United States Senate. Junior went on a vicious rant Friday at CPAC, targeting Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman in particular and mentally disabled people in general by accusing voters of electing a “vegetable” following the defeat of his father’s propped-up celebrity TV doctor.
“Pennsylvania managed to elect a vegetable,” the disgusting bigot son of a disgusting bigot said. “They criticise me as being ableist. I didn’t know what that was. [But he learned about it just in time for his speech.] But there’s always an ‘ist.’ It doesn’t matter what you’re talking about. And apparently an ableist is someone who discriminates against those with disabilities.” That’s another way bigots reveal themselves. If they pretend they’ve never heard of their form of bigotry then they can’t really be bigots, can they?
This is what making “America Great Again” is code for. Slithering back to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, specifically this time 1972. That’s when then presidential candidate George McGovern shamefully gave in to bigots and morons when he jettisoned his vice presidential candidate Tom Eagleton because Eagleton had at one time received treatment for depression. John Fetterman is currently receiving medical treatment for depression.
We’ve seen this all before, of course, when Donald Trump Senior mocked disabled reporter Serge Kovaleski with a disgusting parody. That was the moment that should have got Trump fired as a presidential candidate. It’s a sad reflection of America’s resurgent bigotry and intolerance that he was not.
So these insulting remarks are nothing new for Republicans, who have never recovered from John Fetterman’s victory over the pathetic “Dr Oz” last November. The GOP headed into the 2022 midterms brimming with, as it turned out, misplaced confidence only to witness a number of Trump-endorsed candidates spectacularly fall on their faces. It was a historic loss for the GOP. They failed to recapture the Senate during a time when they very much should have.
Anyway, it’s no surprise that Donald Trump Jr thinks that depression is a stigma that makes the sufferer mentally unworthy of holding “real jobs,” and that Junior is somehow a “real man” for having no tolerance for people with such disabilities. Junior is a disgusting bigot, of course, just like his father.
As someone who has been hospitalised three times for depression I can assure you that it doesn’t make you mentally unworthy. It means you’re a human being and as such you’re susceptible to human frailties and imperfection. My past struggles with depression makes me no less worthy of human acceptance than my type II diabetes. The only “mental challenge” in the equation belongs to anyone who thinks otherwise.
By the way, I overcame my depression with diet and daily vigorous exercise. I haven’t suffered depression for 15 years as a result. I don’t claim to know how to cure everyone, but it worked for me. So if you suffer from depression I would encourage you to also try the exercise route. By all means don’t ditch your doctors, just give physical health a chance as another possible way to mental health. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.