Donald Trump reaches a new low
However insane or outrageously offensive Donald Trump’s Twitter proclamations are, the media tends to report on them and amplify the message because it’s easy to cover and often in urgent need of debunking. This tends to lead to speculation on whether or not the latest thing he said will be what brings him down, even though nothing of the kind happened during the 2016 Republican primary or in the general election.
What slipped through the cracks this week, as is often the case, was the story of one of the people hurt by his daily lies. While Trump claims that victims of gun violence and their families have great love for him, (as most do in his delusions), Fred Guttenberg, who lost his 14-year-old daughter in the Parkland massacre last year has a different view.
During a CNN interview, Guttenberg laid out a clear perspective of how he and the other survivors of that tragedy were treated. It’s a pattern that Trump has repeated with every mass shooting. Trump meets with the victims and addresses the shootings in a speech where he vows to take some kind of action against gun violence, then after a few days of press coverage and idiotic remarks from his fellow Republicans, he talks to the NRA and the whole thing comes to a screeching halt.
“I don’t care about you, Mr. President, but I hate what you do,” said Guttenberg, addressing the camera. “It is time for you to stop talking on this topic until you are ready to give Mitch McConnell the go-ahead to open up the Senate and actually take on legislation. Enough.”
Gun safety legislation is hardly controversial anymore – with more police chiefs, veterans and mayors demanding action. Until the Senate actually shows an interest in passing legislation that the House already passed earlier this year, Trump’s remarks on guns shouldn’t even be dignified with media coverage.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making