‘NO MASKS’ Trump screeches, despite MAGAs wearing masks at protests of their own
Donald Trump saying something hypocritical? At least he’s consistent with one thing.
Trump has gone on a tear about school protestors. He posted on the Truth Social app that “All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests.” He made sure to explicitly state “NO MASKS!” in his post.
Though he did not specify what exactly constituted an illegal protest–or any parameters, really–the post follows an announcement that the administration could pull funding from Columbia University over their “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students.”
No masks is certainly an interesting choice, as X (formerly Twitter) user Will Stancil points out, saying “Also, remember that Trump pardoned the January 6 rioters under the guise of protecting protests, many of whom not only ‘wore masks’ but who violently smashed their way into the U.S. Capitol to overturn an election.”
Other users were quick to point out that other groups such as the Patriot Front also wore masks to protests.
“Does that mean no masks for Nazis, too?” asked another, posting a collection of photos showing several different protestors wearing gators and masks to hide their identities.
“No masks? No exceptions right?” another user said, with another photo of members of the Patriot Front.
Double standards? Groundbreaking
It’s expected that Trump will find excuses for all of these groups. The “no mask” mandate only applies to the people he and his administration do not agree with. It is, as Stancil pointed out in his post, tyranny, plain and simple. Trump allegedly loves fear-mongering and targeting people. Even if he does not have the upper hand, he will try to bully people into giving it to him.
However, Trump’s administration also fear people having power against them. Trump can’t stand the idea of not being able to immediately identify and persecute detractors. When it was his own supporters, and people he agrees with, of course masks are all right.
It is also worth noting that this goes against the First Amendment, which protects freedom of assembly–and, along with it, the right to protest the government. Will that matter to Trump? Probably not. He has never truly cared about the things that make America what it is. He assumedly would rather focus on whitewashed, idealized version of American history without acknowledging the darker truths of it, or the people of color who also helped build this country.
What is an illegal protest, anyways?
We also must circle back to his statement of “illegal protests.” What does that mean? Under the aforementioned Amendment, people are allowed to convene together in public spaces for “peaceable protests.” There are no restrictions there, and no right for the government to decide what is and is not a protestable right.
Neither Trump or his administration have clarified, and that is because they don’t have any clarification. They want to shut down any and all backlash against them by any means necessary. The more it mounts up, the more extreme the measures they will take.
We can’t forget, these were the people who encouraged, cheered on, and even participated in the January 6 insurrection. Now that wasn’t a peaceful protest, was it?
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