Summary
Followers of President Donald Trump who imitate his cruel style of spitting out hateful insults beware: the style reveals your insecurity and weakness. While Trump routinely undermines his desperate desire to be seen as a strongman leader by insulting others and thereby highlighting his own insecurity, he also provides a platform for his supporters to follow suit and debase themselves publicly. From Marco Rubio, who adopted Trump’s nasty insults during the 2016 campaign before groveling for his current role as Secretary of State, to Senator Ted Cruz, who accepted Trump’s attacks on his wife and family before ‘enthusiastically’ backing him and echoing his insulting rhetoric, Trump’s copycats routinely humiliate themselves, revealing a lack of both confidence and character.
Analysis
The latest display of insecurity from the Trump camp came, ironically, at a White House UFC event in June. This time, Trump sunk into his weakness alongside one of his obsequious supporters, the UFC fighter Josh Hokit. In his post-fight speech, Hokit made a vicious, false comment about former first lady Michelle Obama. After praising Trump for hosting the fight, Hokit added, out of nowhere, “And lastly, Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?”
A mixed chorus of boos and cheers rang from the crowd as Trump smiled at Hokit’s hateful remark, basking in the fighter’s show of insecurity that Trump constantly succumbs to himself and encourages his bootlickers to stoop to as well.
It’s fair to ask why an athlete would celebrate victory by attacking a person he’s never met and goading an audience into ridiculing someone who has nothing to do with the event. Instead of highlighting his win with a show of dignified sportsmanship, Hokit chose to follow Trump’s mean lead down to the bottom, revealing a weakness of character that he can’t punch or choke his way out of.
Under normal circumstances, no comment by Hokit would warrant consideration of any sort. His cruel words directed at Ms. Obama are nothing more than a troll’s throwaway inanities in an online comments section. But because Hokit was given this platform to spout his malice by the President of the United States, who refused to condemn the remark afterwards, the comment serves as a reminder of how we got to such a low point in public behavior, staged on the White House lawn no less: Donald Trump dropped the decorum bar into the gutter with his incessant cruelty, chronic dishonesty, childish insults, and hateful attacks.
What a confident leader does
In a 2008 town hall meeting, Republican presidential candidate John McCain corrected a woman who said she couldn’t trust Barack Obama because ‘he’s an Arab,’ stating, “No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man and citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign’s all about. He’s not an Arab.” When the crowd jeered him, McCain maintained his composure, saying, “We want to fight, and I will fight. But I will be respectful. I admire Senator Obama and his accomplishments, and I will respect him.” Where McCain showed respect for himself and his opponent, Trump, the ‘sniveling coward’ as Cruz called him, spurred the regretful Rubio and the ‘obeisant’ Cruz into copying his vulgar, bullying behavior, effectively bringing out the worst in two former rivals and belittling them into being his followers.
Conclusion
While Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO and Trump sycophant Dana White did denounce Hokit’s comment—stating, “I understand that the Obamas are public figures but I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families. Everyone knows my position on free speech but I hate that kind of nonsense.”—White’s words would carry more impact if he could actually bring himself to condemn Trump’s hateful attacks on others, and stop providing a stage for fighters to say ‘nasty and false things about people’s families.’
Trump can’t condemn Hokit’s remark—nor can he apologize for his own racist and hateful actions such as posting a video depicting the Obamas as apes—because he’s not strong enough to do so. His insecurity demands that he denigrate others to try to feel good about himself. A strong, self-respecting person doesn’t need to publicly humiliate others to compensate for his insecurity, nor does he need to kowtow before a corrupt conman, as Hokit does before Trump.
Take Action:
- Brookings Institute
- Pew Research Center
- The Prindle Post
- ‘dedicated to examining the significant ethical issues raised by current events and present in our culture’