Dion Hines | Senior Forum Editor

Because most of my memory is clouded in a cannabis-induced haze, I don’t remember the exact occasion on which I was first introduced to Trump. What I do remember is the way that the adults in my life characterized him. He was the small-hand-having, ill-fitting-suit-wearing, lie-spewing, bigoted Cheeto-man. It wasn’t rare that I would overhear my teachers asking each other if they were updated on the latest news regarding “Donald Duck” or “Donald Dump” or whatever other rhyme Trump-hating Americans came up with. “There’s an idiot in the White House,” they would repeat, almost as if the mere recognition of the fact was consolation. 

And stupid did as stupid does — as my Momma puts it — when Trump and his administration settled into office on January 20, 2017. The former business mogul and then-new president kept insisting that his wall — you know, the one that he based his campaign on — would be built across the US-Mexico border and be paid for by Mexico themselves, even though there were few signs that such a thing would happen at the time. While more undocumented immigrants were deported under the Obama administration than the Trump administration, Trump’s harshly anti-immigrant stance throughout the 2016 presidential race made people much more attentive toward the abuse of immigrants held at the border. Remember the foil blankets and children in cages? 

He kept threatening to “repeal and replace” Obamacare; he attempted a “Muslim Ban”; he advocated for higher police force when it came to protests; he told Colin Kaepernick to get up. My God, he kept messing with North Korea. 

But what my parents, sister, and many others saw as irreparable damage being done to the stability of our democracy — whatever little remained — the rest of America only saw as stand-up material. Comedians across the country seemed to make it their goal to open the world’s eyes to the fountain of comedy gold that was Donald J. Trump.  “Look at his tiny hands!” “Why does he talk like that?” “He probably has a tiny d-ck. Coming to you live! It’s Saturday Night!” 

It became more obvious to me over the course of his campaign that the American inclination to use comedy in response to shocking political developments has become a very dangerous way to cope. Sure, it may be true that at one point painting Trump as some sort of cartoon villain eased the frightening turmoil that came with his term. However, as these jokes proliferate, I find people taking the threat of Trump less and less seriously. 

Trump signed 37 executive orders during his first week in office, one of which withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization. Another declared a “commitment to the First Amendment” — which is most likely meant to give bigots more freedom to spew hate — and another declared an end to “radical and wasteful DEI programs.”  Yet somehow, Americans are just laughing.

Trump may be absolutely ridiculous, but he is also the literal president of the United States of America, meaning he has the power to ruin all of our lives. It is not the time to be calling Trump “sassy” or to be comparing him to a drag queen; especially when considering the fact that his administration is actively attacking the queer and trans community. We don’t need to go back to the days of calling Trump the Antichrist nor should we be paralyzed by fear of his campaign, but we also shouldn’t laugh off policies that are the closest thing to fascism that a lot of us have seen. We need to take Trump seriously. We need to take his bigotry seriously. We need to take his and his administration’s policies seriously. When people’s rights are being taken away by the day, all we should be is serious. Otherwise, I am seriously concerned.