Trump Praises A Guy Who Is Okay With Bullying Teenagers (TWEETS)

By
Darrell Lucus
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One of the lowest moments in American political history has unfolded before our eyes in the last few weeks. The survivors of a horrific mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida have been the targets of vicious harassment and trolling–just because they’re speaking out for common-sense reform of our gun laws so they can go to school safely.

In one of the worst forms of harassment and trolling, several right-wingers have claimed the survivors aren’t really speaking for themselves–as if kids can’t possibly be articulate about the issues affecting them. For all intents and purposes, these bottom-feeders are telling the survivors to shut up.

The bullying campaign received the imprimatur of First Son Donald Trump Jr. when he “liked” a couple of tweets that claimed David Hogg was being used to deflect from the FBI’s failure to pass a tip about shooter Nikolas Cruz up the proper channels. In what world is this acceptable? Well, apparently in a world where his father has no problem passing on a tweet from a wingnut who is helping lead the bullying campaign.

For some time, Donald Trump has been taking credit for bringing black unemployment to record lows. As part of this campaign, on Saturday he shared a tweet from prominent black conservative podcaster Wayne Dupree declaring it was perfectly fine for blacks to vote Republican.

But there’s one very big problem. Trump is effectively promoting a man who has been leading the charge to brand the Douglas High survivors as puppets.

For the last week, Dupree has taken to his blog to wring his hands at the kids supposedly being used by the “liberal media” to make it easier to take our guns. Take this post, for instance, in which he critiqued a CNN interview with Cameron Kasky.

Dupree claimed Cameron and his friends were being “used” to push gun control. He kept up a similar angle when he critiqued Alisyn Camerota’s interview earlier in the day with Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg.

Dupree railed that Emma, David, and their friends were on the verge of becoming “card-carrying leftists.” The theme continued when he blasted David for calling out Trump.

Dupree had a major beef with Hogg playing golf while one of his classmates was being laid to rest.

A furious Dupree claimed that it was a sign Hogg was “poisoned by Democrat brainwashers” and was “a Democrat politician in the making.”


Uh huh. Would Dupree be saying the same thing about C. J. Pearson or Millie March attacking Obama? Probably not. And yet he seems to think that kids have no right to speak out articulately if they’re liberal? It would be wrong for a liberal pundit to say that a conservative teen should shut up, and it’s wrong here.

But there’s another reason to question whether Dupree is acting in good faith. He was one of the most notorious of the “Sandy Hook truthers.” He frequently claimed that the parents were crisis actors. Take this for instance.

He actually had the nerve to say those parents’ grief wasn’t real. As one black man to another, Wayne, you’re a disgrace to the race. Indeed, that term was made for people like you.

Once Twitter figured out that Trump had just quoted a Sandy Hook truther who was now bullying another set of mass shooting survivors, the outrage boiled over.

It’s hard to believe that Trump doesn’t know by now that when you are president, a retweet or a quote is an endorsement. What message does this send to the Sandy Hook families?


It cannot be stated loudly enough–the president of the United States has no problem retweeting a conspiracy theorist and a bully. Let there no longer be any doubt–the White House is presently being occupied by a #SoCalledMan.

(featured image courtesy Dupree’s Twitter)

Darrell Lucus
Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.

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