The Donald has harsh messages on many topics. However, the comment he made yesterday about bullying is absolutely despicable. He has harrassed many groups himself.
Now, The Donald has turned his attention to bullying of young people. His epic response is….”get over it.”
Kids lose their lives to bullying. Fourteen-year-old Destiny Gleason of Montana lost her life to bullying. Her mother described one of the incidents:
“At one point they took some photo of some random person’s private parts and put Destiny’s name across it and spread it around the school. Anything they could possibly do to hurt her and bring her down.”
It’s gotten so bad that the president has had to talk about it. President Obama had this to say about the bullying of transgender kids:
“We’re talking about kids. Anybody who has been in school, in high school, who has been a parent should realize that kids who are sometimes in the minority, kids who have a different sexual orientation or are transgender are subject to a lot of bullying, potentially. They’re vulnerable.”
When asked if he was ever bullied in school, Trump said no. He just said that adults bully each other, too. That may be true, but bullying is a big problem for people of all ages. Letting kids get bullied just because “adults do it, too” is not a good defense. These kids are vulnerable. Trump just said:
“You know, it happens, right? But you gotta get over it. Fight back, do whatever you have to do.”
He is saying this because he is a bully himself. He spent months bullying Megyn Kelly because of the questions she asked him. He called her a “bimbo” and a “lightweight reporter.” He mocked a disabled reporter. He called Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas.”
On the side of LGBT adolescents, nine out of ten get bullied in school. LGBT youths are four times more likely to commit suicide. That should not be dismissed with a “get over it.’
Here is a bit from Trump’s interview Megyn Kelly:
https://youtu.be/FlPJRs-UF7A
Featured image by Donkey Hotey via Flickr, available under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
