Content Warning: Donald Trump.
I remember sitting in class on Tuesday, the day of the election, considering what I was going to write for my Odyssey article this week. My first thought: it sure as hell isn’t going to be on the election. As it turns out: I was full of sh*t.
According to an article published on October 21st by Business Insider, Joe Biden implied he would fight Trump "Behind the Gym" in response to perverted comments made by Trump.
The video can be found here:
The day following the election, I was filled with such a terrible anxiety. At first, it was difficult for me to put words to what I was feeling. When they eventually started to come to me, I realized that I was scared. My sense of security was disrupted.
Joe Biden is the reason I don’t want to avoid the election in this week’s article. That is because he has verbalized what I have been struggling to say for the past few days:
"He said ‘because I’m famous, because I’m a star, because I’m a billionaire I can do things other people can’t. What a disgusting assertion for anyone to make.... The press always ask me don’t I wish I were debating him? No, I wish we were in high school I could take him behind the gym — that’s what I wish.”
And I do, too. I want to take Donald Trump “behind the gym.” As much as I appreciate Joe Biden’s support and his ability to articulate what I was feeling, I want to be the one to take Donald Trump behind the gym. I want him to understand what it was like for the hundreds of thousands of women who’ve been sexually assaulted to hear him brag, to listen to him rebrand it as “locker room talk.” I want him to feel how it felt for me to realize that all of the lewd comments, all of the hate filled speeches, the divisiveness… none of it would be enough to mar half of this country’s opinion of Trump.
There are many people out there criticizing the people choosing to protest Donald Trump’s presidency. I say that they can go ahead and keep on criticizing all they want. Those of us expressing our dismay will not be invalidated by such short-sighted quips. I will not stand by and allow my equally frightened peers to feel alone, uncared for, or invalidated.
I want to fight Donald Trump because I want him to feel the fear and betrayal felt by many marginalized people across this country, right now. Of course, I realize that at 5’2” and approximately 115 pounds, I am not the most threatening of forces. However, the point is not to be threatening, but rather to be heard.
Living in California (a liberal haven, as described by some) has been a privilege, but it disillusioned me. I thought the US was moving along a more progressive and socially conscious path, as a whole. However, this election has shown that not to be entirely true.
So now what? As American Jewish Rock musician Dan Nichols suggests, "Its time to get to work."
