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Trump, “Miss Piggy,” and How To Lose Your Soul

Trump, “Miss Piggy,” and How To Lose Your Soul

Last updated on: September 29, 2016 at 10:03 am by Adam Ericksen

Trump, “Miss Piggy,” and How To Lose Your Soul 2016-09-29T10:03:57-05:00 Adam Ericksen

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I do care who you vote for this November. I care because so much is at stake. In fact, your very soul is at risk.

I’m not endorsing a particular candidate. Vote for whomever you want. But if you vote for Trump, you may lose your soul.

Sound too dramatic? I’m afraid not. Donald Trump has a long history of demonizing the weak and the vulnerable. Anyone who supports that kind of behavior in anyone, let alone a president, risks losing their soul.

And Trump needs to be called out.

That’s exactly what Hillary Clinton did during Monday’s debate. She called him out for comments he made 20 years ago about Alicia Machado, who was crowned Miss Universe in 1996. Clinton confronted Trump for calling Machado “Miss Piggy,” “’Miss Housekeeping’ because she was Latina,” and “fat.”

Machado claims that she gained 15 pounds after winning Miss Universe. Apparently, gaining 15 pounds after starving herself to win the pageant was too much for Trump, so he shamed her into losing those 15 pounds. “You look ugly,” Trump told her. “You look fat.” In addition, for winning the pageant, Machado’s contract stated that she would earn 10% of all commercial work she completed. She was never paid.

I must admit that when Clinton referred to Trump’s 20-year-old comments during the debate, I rolled my eyes. “Really?” I thought. “You’re going to drag up something from 20 years ago?”

But I was wrong. Trump appeared on Fox and Friends to talk about the controversy. Instead of apologizing for those comments made 20 years ago, he doubled down on them. “She was the winner and she gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem.” Trump did say that she had a bad “attitude” during the contest, but gave no specifics about her attitude. Her bad attitude was apparently not bad enough to stop her from winning the pageant. The only “real problem” Trump gave was that she “gained a massive amount of weight.”

In response, Machado stated, “This is a man who doesn’t realize the damage he causes.”

Indeed. And neither does anyone realize the damages they might cause by voting for him this November.

I have three children who look up to people like the President of the United States. Of course they do. All children look up to the President. The fact is that the President is one of the most important models for our children, many of whom aspire to become like the President.

We will lose our soul, and we will lose our future, if we give Donald Trump the presidency.

He will inspire our children to be bullies. He will normalize bullies who call girls “Miss Piggy.” And you know how those bullies will respond? With some form of, “Oh, I said it for her own good! She needs to lose weight. I just want her to be healthy!” All the while those bullies, like Donald Trump and all adults who allow such behavior, lose their souls.

Many of you reading this know that I talk a lot about scapegoating. So, you may be thinking, “Adam, I think you are scapegoating Donald Trump and his voters.”

It’s an important point, but I have to disagree. There’s a difference between scapegoating and truth. We need to let Trump’s words speak for themselves, which is what Clinton’s most effective campaign ads have done. And when we hear him say nasty things, we need to call him out for the damage that he causes. I’m thankful for those people who have called me out when I have done and said stupid things in my life. We’ve all been there. We’ve all needed someone to call us out so that we can repent.

The problem with Trump is that he says obviously hurtful things about the disabled and Latinos and women and people whom he thinks are fat. But when he’s called out on it, he doesn’t repent. He doubles down.

And he loses his soul every time.

I’m no fan of Hillary Clinton. I’ve called her out for calling a group of people “deplorable.” But her email “controversy” is nowhere near the moral equivalent of Trumps constant animosity toward minority groups. In fact, despite the fact that other Secretaries of State did the same thing with their emails, she has apologized for the mistake. I’m not excited about her, but I might vote for her. Or, I might vote for one of the other two candidates.

But there’s no way I’m voting for someone who’s statements routinely cause damage to people who are already marginalized. I don’t want a middle school bully for a President.

We know who Donald Trump is. And a vote for him may cost you your soul.

Image: Screenshot from YouTube.

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