This is somehow where we are, as both a society and nation.
The 2016 Election cycle is upon us in nearly full force, since it’s actually 2016 now. On the Democratic side, the nominee seems like a foregone conclusion, though there’s still room for an upset. On the Republican side, it’s been one massive game of musical chairs for months now.
In addition to taking plenty of shots at each other, some of the Republican nominees are, for whatever reason, entangling themselves in other feuds. While Ted “Let Me Refer To Hitting My Daughter For This Joke About Wanting To Hit Hillary” Cruz and Donald Trump appear to be the current GOP frontrunners, you would think that he’d be concentrating his energy on the Cruz campaign. But no.
You know how some people don’t like to be called on their nonsense? It seems like Trump really doesn’t like being fact-checked, because Megyn Kelly cited some of his misogynistic statements during that debate all of those months ago, and Trump is still holding a grudge. Like, to the point where he doesn’t want to appear at a debate if Megyn Kelly’s going to be a moderator.
And then he retweeted this, uh … gem:
Yikes.
According to this image, which is supposed to represent a contradiction of sorts, Megyn Kelly is somehow a hypocrite, because how she chooses to dress and be photographed is totally the equivalent to how a middle-aged man talks about and treats women. It’s super the same, right?
And then there’s the accompanying text — referring to her as a “bimbo,” who is somehow disqualified from being a debate moderator because … what? Because she’s pretty and was photographed being pretty?
Now, none of these are Trump’s words. It’s important to point that out. He’s said, um, plenty of mind-boggling things, but this is not one of them. We have to ask ourselves, as a society, if a retweeter is as responsible for the contents of a tweet as the original tweeter.
In most cases, including this one, we’re thinking yes. Both the image and the “bimbo” allegation (honestly, what century is this again?) are inappropriate and incredibly un-Presidential.
Trump’s having a lot of fun with his frighteningly enthusiastic fanbase right now. But if he’s serious about wanting to become President, he’s going to have to get serious about behaving like an electable candidate. Part of that is going to mean appearing on Fox News, which is basically the primary campaign tool of any Republican nominee.
Plenty of people would love to watch the GOP tear itself apart, which is definitely the direction in which it’s headed. Retweets like this are not helping at all.
And by the way, if you have trouble with a moderator asking tough questions … the political arena might not be your best career choice.