On Labor Day weekend, photos of President Donald Trump looking worse-for-wear, taken by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds for Getty Images, hit the internet. Soon after, the White House and Trump himself went all but silent, prompting rumors to hit the internet that he was dead.
When Trump confirmed he was in fact, very much alive, the news was not met with rejoice but disappointment, as demonstrated by fans on The Late Night Show with Steven Colbert show booing when he announced the president’s good health. The show is generally left-leaning, making the reaction not necessarily surprising, however it is alarming nonetheless.
The fact that citizens across America seemed relieved by the death of Trump is telling of how unpopular he is and reveals how Americans feel they deserve a better president.
Trump received the lowest 100-day approval rating of any in the past 80 years, according to ABC.
No situation better exemplifies this than the fact that when rumors of his death hit the internet, many shared their thoughts and prayers that the rumors were true.
Does it say more about the American public that they are hoping for the death of their own president, or more about the president himself that he is so despised by a large portion of his own people that they’d wish for his demise?
How can a people that feels disrespected and disregarded – a people that is beginning to realize they’re being lied to and manipulated – be expected to respect in return?
Trump held a press conference on Sept. 2 proving that the rumors were, just that, rumors. Americans hoping for his death then took to the internet to express their anguish.
Zoe Sarpy, a sophomore psychology and art major, believes the public’s hope of Trump’s death is a sign that the American people want better.
“It says something about his character and how he’s running things,” Sarpy said. I think since people are literally celebrating him dying, they’re hoping for better. They want better chances and better things like a president should be doing.”
Anyone can say what they want: Say the approval ratings are faked. Say that the months-old photos conservatives tried to pass off as recent were, in fact, recent. Nobody can deny that a hefty group of Americans genuinely hoped that the president was dead. If that is not evidence of “low approval,” at least, I don’t know what is.
