Calling Trump unwell doesn't hurt Trump. It hurts disabled people.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/06/16/mock-trump-hurts-disabled/

But the answer to Trump’s ableism can’t be to outdo him. Ableism hurts people with disabilities regardless of who pushes it. And while Trump may be mildly angered enough to tweet something, it sticks with many disabled people long afterward. Trump’s campaign might rally around a message that Biden is cognitively impaired, but a “who can out-ableist who” showdown serves nobody.

As a little person, I regularly encounter people on the street who get down on their knees and mock how I walk, or people who stop their cars in the middle of traffic to get out and take pictures of me or my children. Other people who switch between using a wheelchair and walking are frequently accused of faking their disability.

(snip)

Furthermore, blaming the worst parts of Trump’s campaign and presidency on a disability lets people who voted for him off the hook. If he is disabled, then there may be things that he is experiencing that are out of his control but that he is refusing to recognize or acknowledge in a public setting. However, on the other hand, recognizing that he is fully aware of what he does means his supporters have to own what he does.

Watching our allies join the latest bandwagon of Trump bashing is extremely hurtful and can feel as though promises of solidarity are based on convenience and not authenticity. It feels as though they can compartmentalize their relationships with disabled people and their thoughts about the president as separate things. We often hear this when our loved ones say “I see you, not your disability,” which for several people in our community erases our identities.

[dawg day]

1. I'd rather call him "evil and despicable".

Being 'unwell' isn't the problem. The problem is he is destructive and immoral.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Exactly.

[lagomorph777]

20. If this ads is targeted at marginal MAGATS, it's well-aimed.

Trump is all about being "powerful." He and his MAGATS consider "powerful" to be the most desirable of all human traits. Making him look weak is death to his support.

"evil and despicable" is actually the second most desirable human trait, in MAGAT eyes. You don't want to elevate him in that way.

[meadowlander]

3. Being "unwell" is only an issue in the context of him being fit for the most powerful and stressful

job on earth for another four years.

We are essentially interviewing Trump for a job. Employers can decline to hire disabled people whose disability cannot be reasonably accommodated to meet the requirements of the job description. That doesn't make them ableist. And accusations of ableism shouldn't shut down a completely valid discussion of whether or not his obvious impairments mean that he can't carry out the job requirements adequately.

[StarfishSaver]

4. I don't agree

The problem is not that he's mentally and physically impaired - no one is saying there's anything wrong with that. It happens to a lot of people. But someone in as bad a shape as he is should not be in his job. Moreover, he's lying about it and has his government doctors lie about it and cover up the truth.

And I don't think any disabled person is going to be judged or denied opportunities because people call out Trump's physical and mental unfitness to be president of the United States.

[MissB]

5. I believe it's meant to provoke a reaction in Trump

He can’t stand being seen as weak. They are poking at him, and have said it is just the first part.

Nothing to do with folks who are disabled.

Totally has to do with making Trump seen as a weak leader.

[onecaliberal]

6. I'm sorry but someone in his condition should not be potus.

So I have to disagree.

[delisen]

15. What condition are you referring to ?

Some medical condition which you personally think he has?

[onecaliberal]

19. Psychotic, pathological, soulless and evil!

[mucifer]

7. I prefer the lindsay graham's own words ad. Yes, it's nicely edited. But, it says it all

he was probably asked who on the democratic side of the aisle he respected and he told the truth about Biden. It made a perfect ad.

[ck4829]

8. "his supporters have to own what he does." I wish I could share Rebecca Cokley's idealism

If they did, this would be a perfect world.

If they did, then nobody would be a Trump supporter to begin with.

I get why she is saying this, she isn't unintelligent, she is operating from a position of rationality, of cost and benefit, of cause and consequence.

Problem is, Trump supporters are not rational. I have never seen a bunch of people more duplicitous and with more moral myopias than today's right-wing, esp. those that support Trump.

These are the same people who will say "Both parties are the same/bad" then go on about how QAnon told them the Democrats are all in a cabal of Satanist baby eaters.

These are the same people who will spout unsubstantiated conspiracy theories and all sorts of drivel and then when confronted with facts and data, will dismiss the sourced data as "fake news".

I ultimately agree with a lot of what she is saying though: Questioning Trump's fitness should be a thing, but it should only be done in the frame of his particular ability to lead.

[Ms. Toad]

9. As to physical abilities, I agree.

I believe it is legitimate to question both his mental abilities (particularly his executive reasoning) and his temperament (and any mental health issue that impairs his ablity to delay gratification, control his anger, etc.). Those two characteristics are bona fide job criteria for anyone who has the ability to blow the world up.

[Loki Liesmith]

10. It doesn't

[KWR65]

11. I'm disabled and I don't understand this post?

The republicans would like to see me deceased.

[Goodheart]

12. I can't agree.

I don't think the ad in any way mocks disabilities.

[Doreen]

13. I have several disabilities but you can not see them.

Having unseen disabilities leaves you wide open to be accused of milking the system. However, I do not try to hide what sometimes shows and I would never try to do things I am not capable of doing.

Usually, when you are disabled you tend to know a lot of other people with disabilities so I know what I am seeing when I see someone doing something unusual. I see trump having several disabilities.

He lies about having them while making it sound like being disabled is wrong and makes you weak and that is what pisses me off.

I find nothing wrong on calling what we see. If we are not making fun of it but being concerned that it is effecting his ability to run this country then I see no problem with calling it out.

[secondwind]

14. Being unwell and being disabled are two very different things.

[sunonmars]

16. He has belittled every opponent, calling them dementiaed, unwell, unfit to lead, weak, feeble

He can suck it up as far as I am concerned, this rat bastard has no concern for no one else's health, yet looks like a 300lb hippo in a suit. I am not taking any high road on him, I'm going to run him into the ground and not letting up until he doesn't get back up.

[Vinca]

17. That's ridiculous. The writer of the piece isn't the President of the United States.

Trump must have extra scrutiny. It's got nothing to do with any illness or disability, it's got to do with the failure of the man and his accomplices to do the right thing and step aside. He is not well enough to lead a great nation and his enablers have been appointed for the slavish devotion to him, not the country. I'm sorry the little person takes this as a personal attack, but I don't understand it.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

18. Anybody with the ability to launch cruise missiles,

needs scrutinized for health problems.

[honest.abe]

21. Sorry but this makes no sense.

For one we dont even know if Trump is truly disabled and that is the basic problem. If he is hiding a serious ailment then we as the American people need to know about it. Mocking him might get him to fess up. Once we actually know he is disabled then yes, we shouldn't make fun of him. We should then discuss the ramifications of whatever disability he has on running for President.

[NurseJackie]

22. Meh.

Furthermore, blaming the worst parts of Trump’s campaign and presidency on a disability lets people who voted for him off the hook.

Oh brother. No it doesn't.