Many people have framed the Trump presidency as an end to the era of “political correctness.” Politically correct is such a loaded phrase though, that it has lost any meaning in our current social climate.
Originally defined as showing respect to people of all backgrounds, ethnicities and sexual orientations, its meaning has mutated over time. Certain people now associate being politically correct with those that reprimand you for any and every joke you make, lest it insult a single person.
Trump rode a perceived lack of political correctness to an election victory last November. His supporters called his public demeanor “refreshing”, “no-nonsense” and continue to praise his “straight talk.”
Without jumping into the fact that 90 percent of the things Trump says are nonsense, it is important to understand that his approach appealed to enough Americans that he got elected. So expectations for him to turn over a new page after he moved into the White House were always foolish.
However, there is something viscerally sad about seeing the president of the United States act so thoroughly un-presidential. Though Trump has insisted his behavior is “modern day presidential,” it is far from it.
Our president should represent the best of us. He or she should operate with class, dignity and grace. Regardless of your views on Obama’s policies, he was undeniably poised and classy.
Trump, on the other hand, stumbles through every interaction with the grace of a bull in a china shop and the dignity of a drunk uncle at a holiday dinner.
The latest example of Trump acting thoroughly disgusting was his re-tweeting of a GIF depicting him physically harming his election opponent, Hillary Clinton. The GIF, clearly edited out of multiple videos, shows Trump hitting a golf ball, and then cuts to footage of Hillary struggling on stairs and falling over. The GIF creator* had super-imposed a golf ball onto the footage of falling Hillary, to give the comedic effect of Trump appearing to knock her over.
This GIF was eerily similar to one Trump retweeted this summer of him beating up CNN, a trusted media outlet. But Trump does not respect our media; instead he needlessly rambles about Fake News.
This is not only the end of political correctness, but the end of political decency. Here is the president, still making fun of his opponent almost a year after the end of the election. He demeans media outlets that contradict his worldview. He takes baseless shots at our previous president and centers much of his agenda on just undoing his predecessor’s accomplishments.
The saddest part of this is, as Trump abandons decency and continues to maintain support from his uber-loyal base, other politicians must be getting ideas. This election, Marco Rubio tried to insinuate Trump’s genitalia didn’t measure up because of his small hands. Trump assured his reports that he had no issues down there. Welcome to modern politics.
Just last week, Ted Cruz, a suffocatingly conservative Senator out of Texas, favorited an incest porn video on Twitter. Outside of the irony of a senator who pushes his Christian beliefs down his constituents’ throats committing such a sinful act, it is just another stark example of the fact that nobody seems to care about their public image anymore. People will defend anything as long as it appeals to their basest instincts.
In America in 2017, we have politicians who represent the worst of us. Vile. Racist. Xenophobic. Incest-porn loving.
We need to change. For America’s reputation around the globe. For the youngest generations sake. For America’s sake.
Eric Hilkert ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in finance.
