Perhaps we all occasionally exploit tragedy for our own ends, but Donald Trump turns it into performance art. The way he pounced on Charlie Kirk’s assassination was grotesque even by political standards. Trump practically sprinted to the nearest podium to turn Kirk’s coffin into a campaign stage, solemnly explaining how the dead man was a visionary — conveniently one who backed Trump’s every move.
His tribute was pure Trump: shallow, self-serving, and wrapped in tired clichés. “Great.” “Legendary.” Empty words on autopilot, the sort of thing you say about a sports team mascot or a steakhouse. He ordered the White House flags to half-mast, less out of grief than as a massive MAGA bat-signal, reminding his followers which kind of “young patriot” they should aspire to be.
And let’s not kid ourselves — Trump’s record on violence is about as peaceful as a bar fight. He’s the man who told rally-goers to “rough up” protesters, who gleefully said:“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of ‘em … I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.”
This wasn’t a joke. This was a presidential candidate actively encouraging assault — with a cash-back guarantee. He even giggled over Greg Gianforte’s body-slam of a journalist, calling him “my kind of guy,” as if sucker-punching reporters is a charming American pastime. And during the George Floyd protests, he borrowed a segregation-era threat:“When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Not exactly the voice of calm statesmanship.
Sure, he boasts about keeping America out of “foreign wars,” but then funnels mountains of money to Israel so it can keep leveling Gaza. That’s not peacemaking — that’s subcontracting the violence.
Trump loves to posture as the man who hates chaos and bloodshed, but everything about his rhetoric drips with menace. He doesn’t just tolerate violence; he flirts with it, eggs it on, and then washes his hands like Pilate when the fists start flying. That’s not “funny” in any sense of the word — except in the sense of being grotesquely absurd.
Very good Jude free Palestine
As someone said, Trump is weak with the strong and strong with the weak. Witness his toadying to Putin. Just an awful human being.
A perfect example yesterday of Trump’s sociopathic nature when he was asked how he was coping following the murder of his “son” Charlie Kirk. He replied along the lines of things are great, pointing over to trucks building his ballroom. Heartless. (Just thinking, I hope the contractor was paid up front, bearing in mind Trump’s propensity for stiffing his workers. Then again, the American taxpayer will be footing that Bill.)