It is staggeringly difficult to imagine what Donald Trump is going to say or do in any given situation — especially in situations where the gravitas calls for solemnity or respect. Trump doesn’t seem to possess those particular attributes, so he tends to make jokes that are inappropriate. Bearing in mind that this is a guy who thought joking about Antonin Scalia’s sex life during a tribute ceremony for him would fly, it goes without saying that Trump’s sense of humor is pretty dark.
Trump has never been above using 9/11 for his own purposes and never been below minimizing the tragedy of that day, but as he was about to sign the 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Bill, he laughingly told the attendees — families of the victims of the World Trade Center attack, many of whom fell to their deaths — that he wasn’t sure if there was room for all of them on the stage, but that if the stage were to collapse under the weight of all of them, “we’re not falling very far.”
To absolutely no one’s surprise, absolutely no one laughed.
Just before signing the 9/11 victims compensation bill, Trump jokes with the first responders and their families that the stage may not hold all of them but that if it collapses they “are not falling very far” pic.twitter.com/h9qY3C7iHK
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 29, 2019
Now, because even 18 years later, we still haven’t sorted out all of the forensics of that day, we can’t be entirely certain of the exact number. But most experts agree that at least 200 people fell from the World Trade Center on that horrific day.
For Trump to make a disgusting joke at their expense, telling it directly to their grieving families, then continue on with “we’ll see how well it’s built” after literally everyone was audibly disgusted by the joke, requires a kind of mental pathology I couldn’t even make guesses at. He has no business ever talking about September 11th.
Featured image via screen capture
Like what you see here? Join the discussion on Facebook over at Americans For Sanity!
