Nice try, Donald Trump
Donald Trump is right in the middle of these domestic terrorism attacks. The MAGA bomber, whose attorneys said that his behavior was inspired by Trump’s rhetoric, was sentenced yesterday to twenty years in prison. The MAGA Walmart shooter, whose rhetoric also mimicked Trump’s words, won’t be so lucky. Even as these men inflict harm in Donald Trump’s name, what does he do? He attacks President Obama.
President Obama will likely be best remembered for his ability to express genuine empathy for people impacted by mass shootings. No one will ever forget how his tears freely flowed following the Sandy Hook massacre. When he broke his “self-imposed political silence” yesterday, as CNN described it, Obama called for all Americans to reject leaders “who demonize those who don’t look like us, or suggest that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life, or refer to other people as sub-human, or imply that America belongs to just one certain type of people.” President Obama did not call out Trump by name, but he didn’t have to. Trump knew Obama is referring to him — after it was pointed out by his Fox & Friends buddies — and took to Twitter to rage against President Obama.
Trump’s attacks took his typical form of pointing fingers, asking whether President Bush condemned President Obama for mass shootings that occurred during his presidency. No, Bush didn’t, but he also had no reason to. Many whites claim that Obama set race relations back many years, but honestly, all President Obama did to “set back race relations” was to ascend to the highest office in the land while brown. Further, Trump cannot realistically point his finger at anyone when, according to NBC News, Trump rolled back the Obama gun legislation that made it harder for the mentally ill to obtain guns. Trump then had the colossal nerve to say, “mental illness pulls the trigger not the gun.” True, Trump, but you made it easier for that mental illness to pull the trigger.
Trump was so intent on destroying anything created by the Obama presidency that when he entered office, he focused on dismantling everything President Obama built. Now, he points his finger at Obama? These actions reveal just how mentally ill Trump is himself. Keep the guns away from him.
Donald Trump has struck down policies that had been enacted for the protection and benefit of American citizens simply because they were enacted during Barack Obama’s presidency. Trump takes advice from talking heads on Fox “News,” and acts upon their words as if they were White House advisors. He has emboldened some of the worst members of our society to act on their hatred and fear of skin color and national origin. Then, he has the nerve to publicly say that he is “the least racist person” in the world.
People who have to repeatedly protest that they are not racist, are racist. They remind me of the racist white person who has one black friend, or the homophobic straight person who has one gay friend. They are merely putting on airs, but Trump is far worse than putting on airs. He is dangerous and has turned our society into something so negative that we may never be the same again. For those offenses alone, I hope he burns in hell.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years