I know that it’s insane to want President Donald Trump to act presidential. I know that it’s insane to want him to stop tweeting like a boy-obsessed teen who can’t stop mean-girling. I know that it’s insane to want the president to stop emboldening and encouraging racist white hate.
I also know the definition of insanity and I think I’m going insane, because I believed that any person with a heart and nonvampire blood in his veins could see the damage and devastation Hurricane Maria unleashed on Puerto Rico and be sympathetic. I also believed that even though the president of the United States has proved himself to be one of the most divisive leaders this world has ever known, he would be moved to do the right thing.
We’d all just seen what hurricanes Harvey and Irma had done to Texas, and while the president’s response wasn’t endearing or concerned, it was a response.
And then the hurricane happened to an island of brown people, and the president suddenly forgot, or maybe he never knew that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. The president was more concerned with challenging black protest in the NFL and joining the tons of other tone-deaf people who continue to make the silent kneeling during the national anthem about the flag.
Then, some four days after Hurricane Maria turned Puerto Rico into an apocalyptic ghost town and left damn near the whole island without power, the president finally decided that he would send a tweet noting how much money Puerto Rico owes Wall Street.
This. Is. The. President. Of. The. United. States.
This response is not only hurtful; it’s also shameful and embarrassing. It’s devastating to know that the leader of the United States openly doesn’t care about nonwhite bodies. He’s made that clear by the efforts he will go to to defend and protect hateful white nationalist speech. He makes that clear every time he continues to further the idea that kneeling for the national anthem is an anti-American protest. He makes that clear when he goes out of his way to cut out policies that protect people of color.
I don’t know why I thought that the president could, just this one time, after seeing the devastation that has left Puerto Rico crippled, say something even remotely presidential, but a white supremacist can only spit out white-hot racist bullshit. That’s what they do. I don’t know why I thought that maybe—after he learned that some 3.5 million people were without food, medicine, power, clean drinking water, homes, etc.—a small part of the president would be compassionate because that is what his job entails, but I was wrong again ... and yes, I know, I’m going insane.
I think actor-comedian John Leguizamo tweeted it best: