Allison
We expect so little from Donald Trump, that even raw-level cruelty now feels remarkably normalized.
So yesterday Donald Trump Tweeted angrily, as he always does.
He wrote this …
If you read closely, you’ll note that the president of the United States refers to CNN’s Anderson Cooper as “Allison”—because Anderson Cooper is gay. And it’s Trump making a cruel and merciless and unambiguously unhumorous joke about his homosexuality. Because, To Trump, it’s funny, see? Ha ha. Hee hee. Anderson Cooper is a gay dude—and Trump doesn’t like gay dudes. So “Allison” instead of “Anderson.” Chuckles, right? So funny. Everybody laugh now. Because Donald Trump says we must laugh now.
And I know there’s so much shit going down. So, so, so much shit. ICE raids. Iran. The slumping economy. The death of democracy. Pam Bondi’s horror show and RFK Jr’s new devotion to measles. The disappearance of Marco Rubio’s soul. J.D. Vance masturbating to photographs of Eric Trump. It oftentimes feels impossible to breathe, let alone think. And if you’re one of those people who needs to mentally step away and focus upon the Puppy Network or “Happy Days” re-runs, I don’t entirely blame you.
But what does it say about our nation, and ourselves, that the commander in chief of the world’s (once) greatest power can take time out of his day to mock and ridicule and demean an openly gay man for being openly gay …
And nobody bats an eye?
Nobody even notices.
You are correct that this behavior has become normalized. I rolled my eyes when I read it, but immediately thought, “nothing new from this asshole.” It turns my stomach that this grade-school playground bully behavior is acceptable for a sitting president.
Thank you for bringing this to the fore. I think his contempt is under reported. It has been bleeding through the culture and the dehumanizing by others is a direct line from his continuous contempt of others