Remember how ‘Deplorables’ worked out for Hillary Clinton?
It was the Friday evening before the September 11 attacks’ 15th anniversary, and 60 days before the Presidential election, where White House hopeful HIllary Clinton made the following remark about then-candidate Donald Trump’s supporters:
“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?” Clinton said. “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”
‘Deplorables’ became a rallying cry for her intended diss target, and those words followed her — years after Election Day.
Heaven knows I don’t find myself agreeing with Clinton often, but she was right. Plus, we now have almost four years of corroborating evidence. Even though the “Deplorables” drama was not the reason behind Clinton’s loss in 2016 …
President Donald Trump will likely experience his own “Deplorables” moment after he jumped on Twitter to say: “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”
Trump shared that message while likely shedding the coronavirus that had infected him days earlier, and arguably receiving the best otherwise-inaccessible medical care in the country.
I’m thinking about my weekday stroll last week along the east side of 23rd Street in New York City’s Manhattan borough, where every few storefront businesses I passed were shut down — some closures appear to be permanent, based on the window signage. I saw an even higher frequency of shuttered doors today during my walk through the Lower East Side.
Because packing indoor restaurants would create a target-rich environment for COVID-19, restaurants have tried to avoid going out of business by building outdoor dining spaces that look like crude feeding stalls on some urban farm.
Some Manhattan streets appear deserted, even during the day.
I remained aware of the things I couldn’t immediately see during my walk.
Like the grandparents who are treasured by other family members, which means normal visits have now become Zoom calls.
Or the elderly who have to survive this disease alone; not even a remote family for them to dream of.
Or the number of unemployed New Yorkers.
I’ll never forget the lives taken from us by this virus.
Through my lens, COVID has dominated many lives, and this viral invasion is directly linked to Trump’s public health malpractice.
“ … Don’t let it dominate your life.”
It’s as if Trump didn’t realize he sent that tweet from his hospital bed.
Trump’s sandpaper words appear to be another contribution to the four-year gaslighting operation he’s been deploying. But I don’t see the public falling for this lie.
Trump’s “Deplorables” moment has placed an accent on the changed lives many of us now lead. And it looks like this new normal will cost him some votes. And more lives, unfortunately.
We now hear that the Superspreader in Chief plans to campaign on the road every day between now and Election Day.
Seems like the distress call of a desperate President, given his illness, the deadly pandemic he apparently has chosen not to stop, 21 days before the election, his death-spiral finances, and a “Deplorables” moment he now owns.
Truly the Superspreader’s final tour.
The out-of-business signs I see on the streets and the ones I expect to see in the future tell me this is a candidate who is campaigning for himself, and not for Americans …
song currently stuck in my head: “Café Reggio” – isaac hayes
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