By BEN R. WILLIAMS
Ah, Thanksgiving! It’s a day when family and friends come together to break bread with one another, a day when differences are put aside, and a day when the President rage-tweets a slur at a Governor at almost midnight.
Yes, at 11:27 P.M. on our nation’s day of fellowship, President Donald Trump posted his Thanksgiving message for all Americans on Truth Social:
“A very Happy Thanksgiving salutation to all of our Great American Citizens and Patriots who have been so nice in allowing our Country to be divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at, along with certain other foolish countries throughout the World, for being “Politically Correct,” and just plain STUPID, when it comes to Immigration,” Trump said in a single sentence that contains two separate zip codes. He then went on to ramble incoherently about Somali migrants before launching an incomprehensible attack on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. Trump wrote:
“The seriously retarded Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both, while the worst ‘Congressman/woman’ in our Country, Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U.S.A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how ‘badly’ she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation, which is essentially not even a country for lack of Government, Military, Police, schools, etc…”
I realize that the text I just shared reads like something mumbled by a drugged-up weirdo collecting half-smoked cigarettes from the ashtray outside of a Waffle House, but I assure you, this was actually our President’s Thanksgiving message. I’ll add that I didn’t censor the word “retarded” because if reading it makes you upset, it should.
In the immediate aftermath of Trump’s post, Indiana Republican Senator Michael Bohacek broke with his party by condemning Trump’s language and announcing that he would not be voting on redistricting in Indiana.
“I have been an unapologetic advocate for people with intellectual disabilities since the birth of my second daughter,” Bohacek said in a statement. “Those of you that don’t know me or my family might not know that my daughter has Down Syndrome. This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences. I will be voting NO on redistricting, perhaps he can use the next 10 months to convince voters that his policies and behavior deserve a congressional majority.”
I’m of two minds about Bohacek’s statement. Obviously, it’s horrible for the President to casually drop ableist slurs, and I salute Bohacek for taking a stand. He’s right: choices of words should have consequences.
But on the other hand, a large portion of Trump’s message (which I did not quote at length) was railing about Somali immigrants in Minnesota, referring to them as roving gangs seeking prey. That’s also pretty horrible and dehumanizing.
Meanwhile, Tim Walz got off pretty light compared to Ilhan Omar. Trump mocked her religious headwear, falsely claimed she entered the country illegally, and repeated the baseless conspiracy theory that she married her own brother.
Maybe we shouldn’t be quite so focused on that one cruel word in Trump’s message. Maybe we should instead acknowledge that every word of it was cruel, deranged, and so wildly un-Presidential that in a just world it would be immediately disqualifying.
I’m always annoyed at politicians who don’t seem to acknowledge that something is dangerous or problematic until they know someone who is personally affected. It happens constantly. How many times have you heard some variant of the following:
“I didn’t realize the challenges women face until I had a daughter.”
“I didn’t know how bad COVID was until I caught it.”
“I didn’t realize how expensive medical care was until I suffered a serious injury.”
“I didn’t accept gay people until my child came out to me.”
“I didn’t know how hard it was to scrape by on welfare until I lost my job.”
I’m not saying that I’m not in favor of people having eye-opening experiences that change their perspective. I just think that if someone doesn’t realize you shouldn’t attack a group of people until they personally know a member of that group, it speaks to a certain lack of imagination, and perhaps a lack of empathy.
Having said that, I do support Bohacek for taking a stand, and I hope others do the same. I guess we’ll find out soon; Christmas is coming, and I’m sure Trump is already working on his Yuletide message of unity.
