Morbid Allies: Anti-Trump Mob Roots for the Grim Reaper
Despite unsuccessful assassination attempts and a failed impeachment, Donald Trump’s adversaries now seem to rally behind a rather morbid ally – the Grim Reaper. From the looks of it, it appears Trump’s detractors are desperately engaged in makeshift medical examinations – their new-found hope stemming from the most unlikely premise.
Their theory originates from some recent photos of Trump’s hands layered in uneven makeup. The self-proclaimed detectives on social media have speculated that the makeup was intended to conceal bruises. Further, they enhance and manipulate these photos to investigate signs of IV punctures, theorizing potential illnesses, including heart failure.
Supporters of this hypothesis also bring into focus pictures of his swollen ankles, colloquially referred to as ‘cankles.’ They’ve been surface-level investigating whether these ‘cankles’ expand and contract over time and, if indeed they do, theorizes about Trump’s remaining time, both in office and beyond.
The White House publicly acknowledged Trump’s ‘chronic venous insufficiency,’ explaining the apparent bruising and swelling. However, speculation didn’t stop there. During a UFC event earlier in the year, the glare of the spotlight was focused on an odd area – Trump’s lower body – with some internet theorists suggesting the use of a catheter.
One could wonder, why is the collective obsessing over such trivialities in the first place? Perhaps it’s because political gossip and wild speculation provide an accessible entry point for those who prefer not to grapple with complicated policy and issue discussions. Efforts to unseat someone from power require work, but it seems they’re banking on a more morbid solution.
While assassinations and impeachment attempts have proved futile, they now seem to place all their chips on the Grim Reaper to discharge Trump from his duties. Yet, this seems to be a strange shift in allegiance, apparently favoring death over even their own candidates, Kamala Harris or Joe Biden.
Interestingly, this group has a significant overlap with those engrossed in every minor health-related rumor about Russian President Vladimir Putin. Over the years, these speculative reports have suggested everything from strokes, Parkinson’s, ‘terminal’ pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, and even leprosy.
These speculators seize on every Trump’s interaction with Putin as a potential sign of his decline. They interpret everything from Trump’s not-so-straight walking pattern going down the runway to welcome Putin, to Putin shifting his weight during a conversation, as undeniable ‘evidence’ of impending doom.
However, this behavior reflects more a displacement of anxiety than any substantial analysis. Rather than tackling the reasons for a political leader’s popularity or influence, they redirect their unease into scrutinizing slight movements, coughs, or missteps.
Diving into such baseless speculation and pointless obsession over every minuscule aspect seems to be their response to discomfort. Not even posture, hands, ankles, or the lower body appear to be off-limits for their scrutiny.
But what’s truly odd is their need to seek solace in such red-herring conjectures. This represents an almost effortless attempt to gain power, often based on a mistaken belief that what comes next will better suit their preferences.
They seem to expect that the biological decline of a leader will trigger seismic shifts in the political landscape. However, history is seldom generous in providing such cases.
Even if Trump were to exit the scene, the ideological movement he spearheaded, ‘Trumpism,’ wouldn’t just automatically fade away. The growing demand for reforming Washington’s institutions wouldn’t just disappear either.
Thus, what’s their game plan? Start anew with a deathwatch on another figure like J.D. Vance? Maybe they should invest in developing an app for real-time tracking of ankle swelling and gait changes. Because if they’re incapable or too uninspired to claim victory, they might as well get a thrill out of micro-monitoring their opponent’s every move.
In the grand scheme of things, their obsession leaves one to wonder if they are doomed to repeat this process indefinitely, forever stuck in a loop of hope and despair, built on insubstantial and trivial conjectures, all while more pressing and complex political issues fall by the wayside.