There is no denying that hate and doubt have followed President Trump and his administration since he took the Oval Office. From attacking his family to wishing for impeachment, the White House has seen it all. Well, most. An image of stand-up comedian Kathy Griffin holding a decapitated head of President Trump went viral on social media earlier this week. The image caused rage from the President and his supporters and was eventually forced to be taken down. Outrage from thousands sparked a chain of unfortunate events for Griffin, who has had five of her scheduled shows cancelled and was fired by CNN. Soon after, Griffin posted an apology video pointing out the wrongfulness of her actions.
Griffin’s apology did not do much for her career. Since then, the comedian has mentioned how the future of her career looks very doubtful. The 56 year old went quickly from apologetic to hateful, making sure to publicize her commitment to continue criticizing the President. As the days went on, Griffin began calling herself the victim and blaming President Trump for ruining her life, a response which received more backlash. Griffin’s actions were not as surprising as some would imagine, for she is not shy when it comes to attacking politicians. In fact, Griffin had previously been in a tangle with the former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin.
The gruel picture reached much farther than social media. On Friday the California Republican Party began asking for donations to help fight the left’s “blatant disrespect”. This week’s events, however, brought controversy between threats towards Trump and threats towards former President Obama. For example, one particular argument focuses on the hypocrisy of Republicans becoming furious over Griffin’s image. Said group was also considered to be responsible for the racist images and threats towards Obama during his eight-year presidency. These include photoshopping monkey faces onto the Obamas, joking about lynching, and–the most well known–attempting to prove he was not born a US citizen. Whatever your opinion, both acts towards the two were wrong and hateful.
US citizens are grateful for the freedom of speech the Bill of Rights grants them, but drawing a line for something so problematic is challenging. This definitely is not the first time attacks targeting the President have blown up, and it will definitely not be the last. With that being said, there are still three and a half more years for the Trump administration to figure it out.