Democrats have taken a new approach in their approach to handling the political persona of Donald Trump. Rather than creating an atmosphere of alarm surrounding him, they have recently begun to utilize humor as a tactic. Over the past four years, under Biden’s leadership, the Democrat Party portrayed Trump as a remarkably sturdy adversary, nearly invincible, much like an unyielding character from a comic strip. However, things started to turn a different direction during the Democratic Party’s convention in Chicago, where delegates adopted humor as their weapon of choice, attacking Trump with relentless and hearty laughter.
Democrats realized that they could turn one of Trump’s known weak spots to their advantage. It is common knowledge that Trump hates being ridiculed. During the convention, Michelle Obama, the former First Lady who is famed for saying, ‘When they go low, we go high,’ employed humor as a means to critique Trump. In a brilliantly playful manner, she poked fun at Trump, who was born into wealth, for benefitting from ‘the generational wealth form of affirmative action.’ Obama delighted in her moment.
She lampooned Trump, saying he tried to create fear of Black people because ‘his worldview felt threatened by the existence of two ambitious, highly educated individuals who were also Black.’ But then came the snappy remark: ‘Who is going to tell him that the position he is currently seeking may well be characterized as a Black job?’ Not only did she mock his attempts at attracting Black votes, stating immigrants were taking away ‘Black jobs.’, she also goaded him about potentially losing the position to a Black woman.
It was her spouse who dealt the final blow, humorously pointing out that Trump, a 78-year-old billionaire, has never ceased to moan about his problems since he surfaced in politics nine years prior. Obama elaborated on Trump’s rather eccentric tendencies, from the peculiar monikers he conjures up, to his unending fascination with the size of the crowds that attend his campaigns, demonstrated by holding his fingers together in close proximity.
There was mirth and laughter directed at Trump, who has been the Democrats’ greatest perceived threat to democracy and the future of America. It seems that humour became the Democrats’ most powerful tool in their arsenal against him.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Obama were not the only ones who made light of the situation on the podium or within the party’s demographic. Republicans of the Trump era were depicted as somewhat odd, even before Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota was selected as Kamala Harris’s running mate. Yet, it was unsurprising when the Obamas seemed to foot the bill for the evening.
The Obamas have had their fair share of grief from Trump, starting with Trump’s persistent questioning of Mr. Obama’s birthplace and his legitimacy as a true American. To this day, some Trump enthusiasts engage in bizarre and harmful conspiracy theories about Michelle Obama.
For years, Ms. Obama maintained a high moral stance, while President Obama expressed his exasperation as Trump and his followers continued to insinuate an investigation that would reveal a ‘long-form birth certificate’ to substantiate claims that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya or Indonesia. During the White House Correspondents Association Dinner in 2011, with Trump in attendance, Obama decided to change his approach.
Mr. Obama made a bold move by confirming that the state of Hawaii indeed released his long-form birth certificate, and subsequently used the opportunity to roast Trump, with the camera catching an embarrassed Trump in the audience. As Mr. Trump was ridiculed, the focus shifted to other absurdities like the moon landing being faked, and the mysteries around the deaths of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.
The humiliation that Mr. Trump experienced at the hands of Mr. Obama played an undeniable role in spring-boarding him towards politics. He sought to have the last laugh by attempting to dismantle Mr. Obama’s legislative achievements, constantly boasting about his own vast political rallies, economic triumphs and influential political movement, in spite of being defeated ultimately by Joseph R. Biden Jr.
However, despite Trump’s incessant resilience, President Biden found no humor in it. The contrast between the tones chosen by the Obamas during their speeches and the stringent warnings given by Mr. Biden the previous night was quite striking.
The Obamas and others relished the opportunity to playfully ruffle Trump’s feathers. Governor JB Pritzker, an actual billionaire and heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, made a subtle swipe at one of Trump’s most cherished and closely guarded elements: his wealth. ‘From someone who’s truly a billionaire, Trump is rich in stupidity alone,’ quipped Pritzker.
Overall, the night overflowed with humor directed at Trump. Republicans, however, did not take these jokes lightly. The Trump campaign retaliated by sticking to their claim that ‘Kamala Harris is pro-criminal radical.’
Interestingly, even prior to Mr. Obama’s speech, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Whatley, had preemptively criticized Democrats for being dangerously liberal. This, however, did not anticipate the jovial tone that Obama was going to set with his speech.
Stepping out of their traditional role, the roles reversed, it was now the Republicans warning about the dangers a Democratic victory could harbor, while Democrats seemed to derive a sense of amusement.