“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
This was tweeted – all in caps – not by a jealous nine-year-old schoolgirl with a crush on Travis Kelce, but by a 78-year-old former President of the United States trying to win his old job back.
Initially it seemed like an utterly bizarre act for someone who professes himself to be a “very stable genius” and a champion of Christianity. But truthfully, for Donald J Trump, it’s all just par for the course.
At this point there’s a tendency to brush aside Trump’s barely coherent rants as more white noise, and his comment was overshadowed by a failed assassination attempt later the same day. Given that this is someone who wants to serve as our Commander-in-Chief, though, we might want to consider the thought process which compelled him to share this missive with the universe.
D. Allan Kerr
Trump unleashed his pronouncement on Sunday morning, the holiest day of the Christian week, as millions of faithful Americans across the country were attending church. And while these congregations shared messages of love, Trump chose to share a message of hate.
His latest tantrum was in response to being jilted by the world’s reigning pop music queen in favor of Kamala Harris, who Swift recently endorsed for President. She did so with a social media message of her own, written with more class and thoughtfulness than we typically see in the political arena these days. She didn’t insult or attack Trump, or resort to juvenile name-calling − all tactics the Republican candidate has exploited with careless and cruel abandon throughout his entire life.
“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,” Swift announced shortly after last week’s presidential debate.
“If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most,” she noted, later adding, “”I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make.”
No disrespect uttered, no condescension implied. And released by someone who, despite many years under intense public scrutiny, still comes across as a pretty decent human being. Yet Trump responded several days later, without any further explanation, in an apparent fit of Tourette-tweeting:
“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
It should be noted that, while the endorsement was hardly a surprise, Trump apparently hastened Swift’s public announcement by previously employing artificial intelligence to suggest she was backing his campaign instead. This attempt amplified for her the “dangers of spreading misinformation,” the singer wrote in the same message.
“It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth,” she said.
I don’t fear Swift’s career will be damaged by Trump’s hatred – at this point, the disgraced former President is little more than a gnat to all that is Taylor. But I do question the mental and emotional capacity of a would-be Commander-in-Chief who takes the time to compose and publicly release an expression of hate directed to a private American citizen. The fact that this citizen happens to be one of the most popular in our country’s history just adds a whole other layer of stupidity.
For several months now – years, really − Trump supporters and pundits have called for their candidate to “stay on message.” What they don’t want to admit is that this IS his message. It’s always been a message of hate and division, of trying to intimidate and steamroll and shout down anyone who refuses to bend the knee, or who represents “the other.”
And his rhetoric of hate didn’t start with his political ambitions. As noted recently in this same space, when Trump called for the execution of five teenage boys known as the Central Park Five back in 1989 (who were later found to be not guilty), he said:
“Of course I hate these people, and let’s all hate these people because maybe hate is what we need if we’re gonna get something done.”
As a politician, however, he usually conveys his point in a more coded fashion. For instance, while he clearly hates America, he doesn’t come out and say it. He instead repeatedly refers to the United States as a “failed nation,” “a nation in decline” and “a joke,” allowing enough plausible deniability for supporters to argue he’s being misinterpreted by everyone else.
I can only surmise Trump continues to be rattled by the Kamala effect, because “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” – with exclamation point included for emphasis – is a nakedly transparent stance even his most fervent acolytes can’t refute. At some point, he’ll likely claim he was being “sarcastic,” as he typically does when he says something stupid or undeniably inaccurate.
But otherwise, we’re left with a question most of us have wondered many times before and are likely to ask again in the future:
“What the hell was this guy thinking?”
D. Allan Kerr probably doesn’t qualify as a Swiftie, but thinks Taylor seems like a class act with a lot of cool songs. This piece is part of an ongoing series exploring the character of the 2024 Republican nominee for President.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Trump tales: The time he revealed his hateful nature to Taylor Swift
Source link : https://news.yahoo.com/news/trump-tales-time-revealed-hateful-090231216.html
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Publish date : 2024-09-21 22:02:00
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