Of all the innumerable ways in which I am disgusted by our president, perhaps none is more infuriating and nauseating than his bullying strongman swagger; his personification of that over-privileged brat who would, without a doubt, pick on the small kid, the poor kid, the Brown kid, the Black kid, the Jewish kid, the disabled kid, the fat kid, the gay kid, just to revel in the cheers, laughs and snickers of the surrounding crowd. And, frankly, if you voted for him, you have to ask yourself, am I in that crowd? So it’s not surprising when a recent
study revealed higher rates of bullying in areas that voted for Trump. Here are some numbers:
- Bullying in middle schools was 18 percent higher in GOP districts than Democratic districts.
- Twenty percent of middle schoolers in GOP districts, compared to 17 percent in Democratic districts, reported being bullied.
- Teasing about race or ethnicity was nearly 10 percent higher in GOP districts than those who voted for Clinton.
As I review these numbers, I think about those Trump rallies. I think about Trump at the helm,
mocking a reporter with disabilities while the supporting throng laughed and laughed. I think about Trump calling football players who disagree with him
sons of bitches while the crowd clapped and clapped. I think about Trump assigning a slimy
nickname to all of his adversaries and how his supporters grinned wildly. I think about Trump bragging about
sexual assault, and his supporters shrugging it off as locker room talk. Our children become us, not based on what they hear us say, but on what they see us do. So, no, it is not surprising when the children of the Trump voting community bully other kids at school, that superintendents across the country have seen “an increase in students being mean and intentionally cruel, especially to immigrants.” When you support Trump, your children see you supporting a man who mocks people with disabilities. When you support Trump, your children see you supporting a man who stands up for white supremacists and neo-nazis. When you support Trump, your children see you supporting a man who brags about committing sexual assault, despite the fact that he himself is a father to two daughters. When you support Trump, your children see you supporting a man attempting to tear down women who threaten him by
shaming their bodies. When you support Trump, your children see you supporting a man who calls people names, equates Mexicans with
drug dealers and rapists, calls African nations
shitholes, and
blames Puerto Ricans for being ungrateful for the federal response to a storm that killed over 3,000 Americans, while he so gallantly chucked rolls of paper towels into the crowd. Trump is the kid we tell our children not to be. But our voices ring hollow when we elect such a child to be our president. This is the Trump effect; the lowering of America to our meanest, schoolyard selves. And I, for one, am going to do the patriotic thing, and tell my sons to never, under any circumstances, act like their president. And isn’t that a goddamn shame.