People on both the right and the left have taken opportunities to lend sympathy after the attempted assassination of presidential candidate Donald Trump last weekend in Butler, Pa.
Some on the left have been accusing their fellow leftists of being centrists for daring to show sympathy for the far-right Trump.
Some social media accounts and brands, such as Sticker Mule, have used this as an opportunity to come out and voice their support for Trump.
This space will not be used to tell you how to feel. A human being was shot. Maybe the idea of gun violence is particularly triggering for you. Maybe you’re worried something like this can happen at a political event you attend. Even the most diehard leftists may have complicated feelings about what happened last weekend. However, no matter where you stand on the matter, it’s vital to remember one thing: Trump is still the enemy.
Drag performer Jinkx Monsoon put it beautifully in a text post on Instagram:
“Will someone PLEASE tell me — Have you had an increase in slurs being yelled at you?
“Have you seen how many queer and trans people are being found dead lately?
“Have you felt unsafe as a queer person since politicians have made you a scapegoat?
Yeah. Me [too].
“I’m sorry to my fellow victims of political violence.”
Jinkx Monsoon followed up with a separate post.
“To be very clear:
“I don’t expect anyone to be happy about all this.
“This is horrible. All of it.
“I just don’t know what you’re getting out of sucking up to them now? I don’t know why *that should redirect your moral compass.
“I’m not upset to see people abhorring violence. I’m upset that they’re volunteering these feelings *now. Where were you when *we were being murdered? Where are you now as we continue to be murdered?
“Posting sympathy to an ear and a bunch of n*zi’s. That’s where.”
Jinkx Monsoon is coming down particularly hard on those who chose this moment to speak up out of the many moments that they could have. And for that, she is correct. But there may also be people out there who have been the loudest activists against Trump and yet still have complex emotions about the whole scenario. And to those individuals, let’s extend some grace. But even those individuals need a reminder: No matter what you feel about the events occurring last weekend, you have to remember that Trump is still a threat to our community.
Just days after the shooting, Trump named his pick for vice president, JD Vance. A statement from the Human Rights Campaign details Vance’s track record.
“MAGA author and US Senator JD Vance has a history of spewing anti-LGBTQ+ vitriol and opposes reproductive freedoms nationwide,” the statement reads. “He defended the dangerous ‘groomer’ smear campaign against Democratic politicians for their support of LGBTQ+ people, said he “strongly disagreed” that LGBTQ+ people should be protected from discrimination, railed against the Equality Act, calling its landmark nondiscrimination provisions ‘an assault,’ and argued that victims of rape and incest should be be barred from accessing abortion care. As a United States Senator, Vance has routinely taken aim at basic rights and freedoms, voting against a bill to codify access to IVF, introducing legislation to charge doctors with a felony for providing medically necessary health care to transgender youth, and promising to support a national abortion ban.”
No matter your feelings about the shooting, you need to remember that Trump and Vance are after your rights. We can’t let them win.