A very *ahem* interesting depiction of President Joe Biden is circulating after being shared by former President Donald Trump.
The image in question depicted Biden bound at his hands and feet laying in the back of a pick-up truck.
Former President Trump posted a video to Truth Social on Friday in which the image, put on the back of a tailgate, is clearly visible.
Predictably, sharing this post drew much criticism as left-wing X felt the need to call out the implications it saw being made by Trump.
Political commentator and podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen’s post regarding Trump’s sharing of the video said, “This is the MAGA violence he is promoting.”
Trump just posted a video of a pickup truck on Truth Social that has a giant image of President Biden bound with rope and laying, apparently kidnapped.
This is the MAGA violence he is promoting. https://t.co/WFiXIFWU7R pic.twitter.com/Cm4M0QeoKs
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) March 29, 2024
The image in question is certainly in poor taste. Regardless of one’s view of President Biden, implying that you have bound and kidnapped the president of the United States of America is not a great look if you’re the former president or one of his supporters.
Which is worse: Griffin’s severed Trump head or this pickup owner’s Biden tailgate?
But let’s not forget, leftists have been depicting Trump and other Republican politicians in an even worse light for a long time.
Who could forget when Kathy Griffin posed with the severed head of Trump, posting it on her then-Twitter account? That imagery did not imply a violent act against Trump. It was unambiguously violent, and Griffin was forced to issue an apology after losing out on jobs and being investigated by Secret Service.
The truck depicting President Biden was actually headed (no pun intended) to a protest of her stand up special in Long Island, New York.
Trump supporters showed up to protest Kathy Griffin’s “My Life On PTSD-List” in Huntington Long Island “Kathy Griffin you suck” BTW concert was HILARIOUS pic.twitter.com/8GAkHGQuai
— RealSandiBachom 📹 (@realsandibachom) March 25, 2024
Then there’s the Guardian columnist Charlie Brooker. Brooker, in 2004, asked, “John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr., where are you now that we need you?” calling for the assassination of then-President George W. Bush. The Guardian was forced to issue an apology.
Another time, Maurice Sendak spoke of fantasizing about tying a bomb to his shirt and visiting the White House during Bush’s presidency to “have a big hug with the vice president, definitely. And his wife, and the president, and his wife, and anybody else that can fit into the love hug.”
HBO also depicted Bush’s severed head on a pike.
Given how recent Griffin’s depiction was and the fact that the truck in question was on its way to her stand-up special, which one do you think is worse? It’s ironic that the leftists who are condemning this pick-up truck and Trump for giving it the spotlight don’t seem to care much about Griffin’s actions.
For those like me, you find all political discourse concerning violent depictions of sitting or former presidents to be unnerving and anxiety inducing when looking to the future of our country.
That is to say, it’s all pretty bad.
I’m reminded of a quote by Thomas Jefferson from 1819 when he looked back at his victory over John Adams in the election of 1800.
Jefferson called his election the “Revolution of 1800,” a peaceful transfer of power between the outgoing Federalists and the incoming Democratic-Republicans, “not effected indeed by the sword … but by the rational and peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage of the people.”
Our nation is great for that exact reason.
The peaceful transfer of power has been the norm no matter the differences between candidates and parties. While either side can say the other are currently setting the standard lower, sinking lower still only dishonors Jefferson and our founding principles.
