It is time for Donald Trump to go and to take with him his squad of willing sycophants who have been dispensing lies, hatred, cruelty and terror in this country and around the world.
Trump reached another low last Friday when he posted on his Truth Social site a video depicting the Obamas as apes. In a new metaphor for his sick self-image, the video casts Trump as “King of the Jungle.” One must wonder what jungle that refers to.
The portrayal of the Obamas as apes is not the first time Trump has held forth racist comments and images for the country to regard. His demeaning references to African countries and his disparaging depictions of Haitians are only the recent expressions of his long held bigotry toward people of color.
Obama has shown his customary restraint in following presidential decorum up to this point in not getting embroiled in the political strife which daily racks our country. But now Trump has given him an opening with this new slur on both him and his wife. And not only them. Such a disrespectful white supremacist gesture is a slap in the face of every person of color and all white allies who seek to resist white nationalism and the ascent of this demagogue to dictator.
Back in the 1950s, it was the words of one lone senator speaking up against the cruel reign of terror perpetrated by Joe McCarthy against alleged communists — “Have you no sense of decency, senator?” — which precipitated an end to McCarthy’s kangaroo court. Now is the time for such a distinct voice to arise and stand out among the many who have the courage to speak up. That voice might be Gavin Newsom or Josh Shapiro or JB Pritzker or Wes Moore or Alexandra Ocasio Cortez. It might be Hakeem Jeffries who responded to the video by calling out Trump’s “vile, racist and malignant behavior,” describing him as “an unhinged bottom-feeder.”
But no. It is Obama’s time to offer what only he can do — to deliver a major speech which seizes this moment to speak to the abominable policies being carried out in the past year: the gutting of US AID, NIH, the EPA and the State Department, the weaponizing of the Justice Department, the oversized funding of the military and Border Security at the expense of SNAP, health care and other programs of social welfare, the vicious attacks on immigrants and protesters, the illegal attack and invasion of Venezuela, the daily lies from Trump, his press secretary and others representing him — all during which the Trump family has used their influence to garner over one billion dollars in favored business deals.
Obama has the stature, the dignity, the eloquence and the platform to remind our country what it means to speak in a presidential manner, to speak of the values and principles upon which our country was founded and which have guided it for 250 years. He need not indulge in the crass name calling or belittling language that others are tempted to use. The time for him to speak out among the many voices of dissent is now.
Ben Tousley lives in Greenfield.