Trump’s AI Pope post caps a week of mega-indifference to Hitler jokes
An estimated 7 million Americans peacefully protested the collapse of our checks and balances democracy into a Trump-led authoritarian regime on Saturday, filled with grief but in the light of civil rights.
Trump’s response? A video of an AI crowning itself in a fighter jet, what looks like poop on these protesters. In a later interview, he called the participants of the “No Kings” events “shocked” and “not representative of this country”.
I’m afraid he’s right. What if most Americans would actually accept this kind of behavior by our president, or by anyone? Even funny? A recent Economist/YouGov poll found that 81% of Republicans approve of the way Trump is handling his job. Seriously, the vast majority of Republicans agree with Trump’s policies and behavior.
According to MAGA, non-MAGA people are very boring these days.
Vice troll JD Vance has become a tireless force not only for defending the most base and cruel behaviors, but for celebrating them. House Speaker Mike Johnson has made an art form of incompetent, flawed justifications for these approaches.
Everything you need to know about the future of the Republican Party is everything between the two approaches to Trump’s ego and bravado. It will stop at nothing to humiliate and dehumanize any opposition – openly admitting that it dreams of burning even those who protest peacefully.
Not even singer Kenny Loggins is safe. His “Top Gun” hit “Danger Zone” was used in the video. When he objected to the rhetoric of unity, saying, “A lot of people are trying to tear us apart, and we have to find new ways to come together. We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriots. There’s no ‘us and them,'” the White House responded … with a dismissive note, apparently the new norm in response to criticism.
It may be obvious, and even old news, that this administration lacks accountability. But the use of memes and AI videos as communication, devoid of truth or consequence, adds a new level of risk to disconnection.
These non-answers not only remove the truth from the equation, but remove the need for a real answer – creating a ruling class that feels no responsibility to explain or defend its actions to the governed.
Politico published a story last week detailing an official, party-sanctioned “Young Republican” group full of racism, misogyny and hate. Since most of our current politicians are part of the gerontocracy, these young people are relatives – that is, adults, in their 20s and 30s – and they are considered the next generation of party leaders, in a party that already has a properly defended secret police.
Here is a sample.
Bobby Walker, former vice president of the New York State Young Republicans, called the sexual assault “epic,” according to Politico.
Another chat member calls black Americans “watermelon people.”
“Very good. I love Hitler,” wrote another when delegates were told to vote for the most right-wing candidate.
There was also a gas chamber “joke” and a straight-up, “I’m ready to watch people burn now,” according to Hill, a member of the New York Young Republican National Committee, Annie Kekete, one of the women in the conversation.
Members of the group engage in slurs against South Asians, another popular right-wing target these days. There’s an entire vein of racism devoted to the idea that Indians stink, in case you weren’t aware.
“She just didn’t bathe often,” wrote Vermont state Sen. Samuel Douglas, a member of one group, of a woman mistakenly thought to be South Asian.
While some in the Republican Party have condemned, albeit half-heartedly, the comments, others, including Vance, have gone on the offensive. Vince, whose wife is Indian, claims that everyone is making a big deal out of nothing.
“But the truth is, kids do stupid things. Especially young guys, they make rough, dirty jokes. Like that’s what kids do,” Vance said. “And I really don’t want us to grow up in a country where a kid makes a stupid joke — a very stupid, stupid joke — ends up ruining their life.”
Not to be outdone, Johnson responded to the Pope Jet video by implying that there was a higher meaning to it.
“The president used social media to make a point,” Johnson said, calling it “ironic.”
Sarcasm means to embarrass and humiliate, to sound unacceptable through humor. I will take the first part of it. Trump meant to embarrass and humiliate. But protesting, of course, is nothing more than using feces as a weapon to insult the “No King” participants so that Trump won’t respond to their anger — no different than insulting black people and women in this group chat.
The 7 million Americans who protested on Saturday just don’t matter to Trump or the Republicans. Not their health care, not their ability to pay their bills, not their concern that the country they love is turning into a country where their leader is literally making it clear that he can exploit them.
But not everyone can be a king.
While the Young Republicans believe they have participated in their leader’s impunity, it turns out they don’t. That Vermont state senator? He resigned after pressure from the Republican governor.
The 7 million Americans who are angry with Trump may not be able to convince him to change his ways, but enough angry voters in Vermont can make a difference in their corner of the state.
So one thing Trump fears are the midterms, when voters shape our little corners of the United States — and, by extension, whether Trump will continue to use his throne.
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