Save Your Thoughts and Prayers. Reflecting on responses to the Donald Trump “shooting.”
Opinion by Fredrick Joseph — I cannot say whether the recent shooting involving Donald Trump was real or fake. What I can say is that he is a grifter who will do anything for power. I do not wish him well. As he would not spit on me if I was on fire.
It’s unsettling that many quickly send thoughts and prayers to Trump while ignoring the suffering of Palestinians, the Congolese, the Sudanese, and others. The humanity offered to Trump versus these groups is telling. People profess a desire for less violence, yet this principle seems fickle, dependent on the victim’s identity. When violence strikes the powerful, the outcry is resounding; when it affects the oppressed, the silence is profound.
I crave peace but understand that the language of the oppressor is often violence, the only language Trump and his supporters understand. Since Trump’s 2016 campaign, the liberal establishment has spoken of the existential threat he represents. As a Black leftist, I agree. Trump embodies the ugliest aspects of American history and society. His rhetoric and policies lay bare the hate and division often cloaked in more palatable guises.
Trump’s disdain for marginalized communities, encouragement of violence, and assault on democratic norms present real dangers. The liberal chorus correctly identifies his authoritarian impulses and appeal to the darkest corners of white America. His vile actions helped secure Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, not because Biden presented radiant progress, but as the antithesis to Trump. The mere prospect of Trump reclaiming the Oval Office is Biden’s most potent campaign weapon for 2024.
If Trump is the existential threat we claim, why are so many rooting for his well-being? Politicians feign compassion, but it’s disturbing to see ordinary citizens, especially white liberals, caught in the same web of performative empathy. They claim to stand against Trump but wish him well, revealing a desire to maintain moral high ground while avoiding true accountability.
Vice President Kamala Harris Statement
What are people’s response?
Performative empathy allows one to feel virtuous without true accountability. It maintains societal structures benefiting the privileged while offering crumbs to the oppressed. Wishing Trump well is a refusal to confront harsher truths. It’s easier to wish an enemy well when their harm impacts you lightly while destroying others.
White liberals often fear being perceived as uncivil, operating within a framework of selective empathy and measured outrage. This helps Republicans frame Trump as a martyr and liberals as intolerant. Performative empathy has bolstered the forces they claim to oppose. Republicans weaponize the moment to claim that the left influenced the shooting, inciting real-world consequences against marginalized people.
Civility language becomes a tool of the oppressor, insisting on politeness over justice and allowing those in power to evade accountability. Well wishes to Trump are acts of complicity, reflecting a reluctance to embrace moral responsibility. Claiming Trump as a threat while hoping for his well-being is a tragic contradiction, exposing society’s fundamental flaw.
Marginalized communities cannot afford such luxuries. For us, Trump is a clear and present danger. His rhetoric incites violence, his policies enforce discrimination, and his presence emboldens hate. Wishing him well perpetuates our suffering. Republicans use divine selection tactics to insulate Trump from accountability.
To those supporting thoughts and prayers for Trump: your compassion is misplaced. If you believe in the danger he represents, work tirelessly for his defeat. Your solidarity must be with those he seeks to destroy. Half-measures and empty gestures are past. The fight for justice demands clarity of purpose and a steadfast commitment to principles. Only then can we build a world where the marginalized are no longer threatened by the likes of Donald Trump.
When they go low—I go whichever direction gets us free.
