The abhorrent wannabe dictator Donald Trump (a.k.a. Mr. Sludge) reposted a repugnant AI-generated video after the “No Kings” protests over the weekend. The protests drew an astounding 7 million participants. It was overwhelming, and when Trump is beaten, he resorts to small-minded bullying.
The video was of a “King Trump” piloting a military jet and dousing a brown sludge on crowds protesting his king-like presidency.
Man-child Trump only showed how juvenile and small he is in the face of protests by millions who are all well aware how juvenile and small he really is. Seven million people versus a little plane dumping doo-doo seems like a no contest.
The video also shows Trump’s contemptuousness. He tried to humiliate Americans, truly American citizens who were exercising the most foundational democratic right, free speech and public protest. Those two things don’t sit well with power-hungry thugs like Trump who despise dissidence.
That grotesque, cartoonish image does what the “No Kings” rallies set out to prove, that there is no monarchy in Americ and that leaders can’t silence democratic peoples.
And the response from the man they protested against was to depict those citizens as trash to be defecated upon. That doesn’t work in a democracy. It inflames opposition, if anything.
Related: The person leading an actual ‘Hate America' rally every day is you, Mike Johnson
I think the video backfired on Trump in a big way, and if you weren’t motivated to come out over this past weekend to a “No Kings” rally, all the organizers need to do to coerce you to join the next time is to spread that video around.
Are you OK with your so-called president s**tting on you? I didn’t think so.
But the reality is, Trump has been dumping on America since 2015 in ways that are lots more offensive than what that disgusting video depicts. He has put the United States in the proverbial toilet bowl, and it’s our job to clog it up and make it come back up at him.
To that end, I started jotting down all the ways Trump has been defecating on democracy. It was really hard to cull down 22 times that he stunk it up for all of us, but here are a few.
You might want to open the window, because the sh**ty things he’s done really stink!
1. Promoting violent, dehumanizing rhetoric consistently. From urging physical attacks on protesters to endorsing torture, his pattern of normalizing violence has destroyed the norms that used to keep a level of decorum in politics.
2. Refusing to accept a free and fair election as well as attempts to undermine them moving forward. Trump sparked the horror of January 6. His baseless and reckless claims of fraud culminated in the Capitol assault. He and his supplicants in Congress are trying to rewrite what happened that day, but in the end history will get it right.
3. Weaponizing the presidency in myriad ways to reward allies (see the bailout of Argentina) and punish opponents. Using pardons (the Chrisleys), commutations (George Santos), and pressure on the Justice Department to indict, i.e. James Comey, Letitia James, and John Bolton. He’s taking the “justice” out of “justice system.”
4. Bungling and politicizing the COVID response. His mishandling, misinformation, and dismissing of science in lieu of Clorox during the pandemic worsened outcomes and cost millions of lives.
5. Nominating RFK Jr. as HHS secretary. As if he didn’t hurt the health of the country enough during his first term with COVID, Trump now seeks to make America even sicker by appointing the brain-wormed conspiracy theorist Kennedy. Among many other things, RFK Jr. is threatening vaccine confidence and scientific integrity.
Related: This week, RFK Jr. and Donald Trump showed how disease and despotism walk hand in hand
6. Pulling the U.S. out of global climate commitments and slashing climate policy. Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and cutting domestic climate initiatives risks long-term environmental and economic harm. And he called climate change a hoax at the United Nations. He’s the hoax!
7. Fomenting xenophobia and carrying out cruel immigration policies. In his first term it was family separations and aggressive detention practices. Now it’s unwarranted ICE raids and detaining anyone who is Black or brown, the majority of wh don’t have a criminal record.
8. Instituting the Muslim travel ban. Remember that one? It was a precursor to future policies that singled out people for their faith or national origin, and it continues to deepen divisions and stain U.S. credibility on religious freedom, all in the face of the rise of the Christian right.
9. Attacking the press and labeling critical outlets as “enemies.” His systematic delegitimizing of journalism weakens accountability and silences dissent, all part of a thriving autocracy..
10. Excusing political violence and releasing the January 6 prisoners, including Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. That was gobsmacking and sent a message that crimes in service of politics could be rewarded.
11. Undermining federal agencies and expertise. From the EPA to the CDC, sidelining career experts, researchers, scientists and physicians, and gutting intellectual muscle, leaving the country less prepared for crises.
12. Appointing judges, cabinet members and officials with extremist records and conflicts of interest. It’s all “I pledge allegiance to Trump” rather than the flag, whixh puts ideology over rights.
13. Cozying up to autocrats, most glaringly Putin, with public praise, and public fights with NATO partners weakened long-standing security frameworks and moral leadership. It laymen’s terms, it’s sickening.
14. Sparking economic chaos through tariffs and trade tantrums. Erratic, impulsive trade policies hurt farmers, manufacturers, and consumers while destabilizing global markets.
15. Supercharging disinformation and amplifying conspiracy theories. From fringe theories to outlandish memes, he aids movements that erode truth and trust in institutions.
16. Profiting from public office. He has turned the presidency into a family business with corruption in broad daylight.
17. Eroding voting rights and attacking election infrastructure. Rhetoric and policy choices that delegitimized mail voting and demonized election workers weakened democracy itself. And he’s already planning to upend next year’s midterm election.
18. Preaching hate. After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, most people called for toning it down. Trump barked at Kirk’s funeral about hating his opponents.
19. Rolling back LGBTQ+ protections. His policies and appointments, i.e Pete Hegseth, show that queer Americans are less worthy of basic rights.
Related: Donald Trump has begun eroding federal LGBTQ+ protections through executive orders
20. Promoting racist imagery and dog-whistle politics. Reposting racially charged memes and using coded language damaged social cohesion and emboldened extremists.
21. Accepting a luxury plane, for free, from Qatar. There are so many things wrong with this and too little space to be able to explain. This is an ethical nightmare, and if he ends up with that plane, he will figuratively be flying in a jet over us that says, “Screw you!”
22. Using AI deepfakes and grotesque imagery to humiliate dissenters. The “King Trump” sludge video is only the latest symptom. If millions marched to declare “No Kings,” the response is a humiliating defecation on protesters. God knows what his reaction will be the next time.
If the “No Kings” rallies proved anything, it’s that millions still believe in a republic that belongs to its people, not to the sludge that is Donald Trump.
Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit Advocate.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.
Charlie Kirk DID say stoning gay people was the 'perfect law' — and these other heinous quotes