How Far Is Going Too Far With The Donald Trump Hate?

nighttimer · May 31, 2017

In full disclosure, as the 45th President of the United States, I'm not a fan of Donald Trump. Duh.

I am also not a fan of the comedian, Kathy Griffin. What we have in common are we are not fans of Donald Trump. I spew my invective and disdain for Trump on message boards and in private conversation, not in professional settings or public places.

Kathy Griffin isn't similarly restrained and her contempt for Trump went somewhere she wasn't prepared for it to go. Here's the backstory.

After initially defending a picture from her photo shoot with controversial celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, Kathy Griffin has issued a public apology for the image. The photo, which was originally published by TMZ, depicted the comedian with a stoic face holding a bloody head resembling President Trump. It was a piece of shock performance art that many on social media — including fans, celebrities, and politicians on both sides of the aisle — were decidedly not laughing at.

“I sincerely apologize,” Griffin said in a video posted on Twitter. “I went way too far. The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people, it wasn’t funny, I get it.” She added that she was taking down her posts of the image and that she was asking Shields to do the same.

Earlier in the afternoon, Griffin shared the picture on her own social-media account and offered the caption “There was blood coming out of his eyes, blood coming out of his … wherever,” a reference to Trump’s comments about Megyn Kelly during campaign season.

Reaction to Griffin's "joke" was swift.

Trump tweeted: "Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!"

Donald Trump, Jr. tweeted: "Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS."

Melania Trump released a statement: "As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it."

The condemnation of Griffin went beyond the Trump family and included her former co-host of CNN's New Year's Eve programming, Anderson Cooper who said, he was "appalled" by the "clearly disgusting" photograph.

I say "former" co-host because CNN fired Griffin today and to add insult to injury she was also dumped by one of her sponsors, Squatty Potty.

Damn. It's not a good sign for your career prospects when even Squatty Potty drops you.

The larger issue here is Griffin's bad taste did something I didn't think possible. She actually made Donald Trump a sympathetic figure.

There is a certain amount of deference due to the president no matter what you think of the president. Daddy Trump has accrued a long and ugly record of saying and doing things which 11-year-old Barron should have a really hard time with. I know I'm having a really hard time dealing with it.

Yet, if it's wrong when Barack Obama was depicted as a monkey, a witch doctor, Black Hitler, and worse, then it has to be wrong when a D-list comedian holds a bloody, severed head tricked out to look like Donald Trump. Only ISIS could find that funny.

AW Admin · May 31, 2017

nighttimer said:
Yet, if it's wrong when Barack Obama was depicted as a monkey, a witch doctor, Black Hitler, and worse, then it has to be wrong when a D-list comedian holds a bloody, severed head tricked out to look like Donald Trump. Only ISIS could find that funny.

Yep. This. I do not respect # 45 as a person.

But I do respect the office. Moreover, #45 has a family, including a minor child. So yeah, absolutely not ok.

cbenoi1 · May 31, 2017

This. Watching an old lady stumble and fall on an icy patch is a comedy when watched from afar. It becomes a drama when you are close enough to hear the bone crunch and realize what the remainder of her life is going to be with a hip fracture at a ripe old age.

I expect professional comedians to know the difference.

-cb

regdog · May 31, 2017

I have never been a fan of Kathy Griffin or seen her appeal and this has done nothing to change that. It was crass, and completely uncalled for, regardless of what kind of person or president Trump is.

RedRajah · May 31, 2017

I don't like her, don't find her funny and she got fired for it. That being said, she's quicker with the apology than a bunch of assholes with their bullshit "jokes" about lynching Obama and shooting Clinton.

vsrenard · May 31, 2017

I've never been a fan of hers and her art was not to my taste. That isn't to say she shouldn't be free to design whatever photo shoot she wants, but I think her firing and the public distaste for her efforts are fair responses.

Myrealana · May 31, 2017

nighttimer said:
Trump tweeted: "Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!"

The man who invited Ted Nugent to the White House doesn't like it when he's the target. Big surprise.

Griffin isn't funny. The picture wasn't funny. The reaction to this is pretty universal.

Conservatives are condemning the photo.
Liberals are condemning the photo.
Conservatives are condemning liberals for existing in the same universe as Kathy Griffin.

Pretty much business as usual.

Chris P · May 31, 2017

I didn't know who she was before this, I haven't seen the ad and I don't want to. The ad was not okay. At best, it accomplished nothing to shed light on Trumps's bad policies, the damage he's doing to our security, relationships and image around the world, or the problems his policies are doing here at home. I halfway agree with Trump Jr except that this is silocial media political discourse today, on both sides, by a select few who think shock accomplishes something substantive.

MaeZe · May 31, 2017

She has admitted it was a mistake and apologized. I agree with her, we all do stupid things from time to time and it was stupid.

It's unfortunate this has given Trump yet another distraction he can use to avoid his failures as POTUS, and it has given the news cycle one more time-wasting story we can all manufacture outrage over. While granted it spread on social media, if it wasn't in the news, more than a few people would never have seen it.

shakeysix · May 31, 2017

Too far. Waaay too far. --s6

ap123 · May 31, 2017

I detest all that 45 stands for, I've never been a Griffin fan, and I still think it was too far.

CWatts · May 31, 2017

I voted "Meh". Mind you, what Kathy Griffin did was tasteless as all get out, but that's kind of her schtick (and why she's on the D-list).

However I think a much bigger deal is the fact that Trump has repeatedly praised dictatorial regimes (Putin, Duterte) where instead of being fired from her job, she'd be facing a firing squad.

ShaunHorton · May 31, 2017

I voted "Meh" as well. It is completely tasteless and disturbing. (I saw one report which said Trump's son thought it was real when he saw it on the news. Probably shows what kind of father Trump is.)

At the same time, Trump is praising dictators who advocate the slaughter of people in the streets with nothing more than an accusation, and have laws to imprison and even kill protesters and journalists. He's trying to pass a healthcare bill which will basically kill hundreds of thousands of people, not to mention a budget which will leave even more to starve. On top of that, now he's advocating the GOP to go nuclear on legislation, an action which would literally leave the majority of the country without a voice in their government until the next election cycle comes around.

And lets not forget the increase in hate and racially-motivated crimes, based on Trump's own campaign of hate, misogyny, and racism. For example the double-murder over the weekend in Portland of two men who stepped up in defense of two Muslim women who likely would've been killed instead, by a white supremacist.

Meanwhile, did anyone lose their jobs over the burning of effigies of Obama? What about Trump's buddy Ted Nugent who advocated his assassination? What about all the supporters of Trump that he egged on at rallies where he ranted about what a criminal Clinton was and the treatment she deserved?

What Griffin did was tasteless and disturbing, but it's no less than Trump deserves. You reap what you sow and all that.

blacbird · May 31, 2017

MaeZe said:
She has admitted it was a mistake and apologized. I agree with her, we all do stupid things from time to time and it was stupid..

Not THAT stupid. How would you like to be Griffin's agent right now? This could be a career-ender. It was not only jawdroppingly offensive, it also wasn't the least bit funny. How she didn't realize the public reaction just baffles me.

At least CNN did exactly the right thing, ASAP. As opposed to how tardy Fox News was in dealing with Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly.

caw

William Haskins · May 31, 2017

i think it's instructive to decouple the (admittedly sophomoric) political act from its capitalist repercussions.

i don't have a problem with depicting the severed head of a political figure. it's not how i would choose to express contempt for a politician, but it's not tantamount to a threat in and of itself.

as for her career (such as it is), she'll suffer the same backlash that anyone who has corporate money behind her would - and not (necessarily) because of any genuine objection, but because this level of controversy is not good for business.

i'm sure she will eventually book stand up clubs, and the market can decide whether to support her, ignore her or shun her.

Chrissy · May 31, 2017

If I thought Griffin was otherwise funny, witty, or relevant in any way, I might defend her. If I could see any sort of an actual political statement in that photo, I might even applaud it. But all I see is a lame attempt at an attention grab.

So though I loathe Trump with each and every fibre of my being, I'm in the Go Home, Kathy, You're Dumb camp.

Which is a meh. I think.

Snitchcat · May 31, 2017

"Meh" camp here, too.

There are no words to describe my loathing of 45. On the other hand, I'd like to think I'm not a crass person and have enough taste to leave things like that behind closed doors.

Beanie5 · May 31, 2017

It doesn't even have the redeeming feature of being vaugely funny. Why?
The culture of deliberate division in american societey is extremely disturbing,
even your opponents deserve the respect of common decency, even if it is not reciprocated.

p.s. I have NO respect for DT this is about respecting yourself

Celia Cyanide · May 31, 2017

She said it was a reference to "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her whatever," which was a disgusting comment and completely over the top in response to Megyn Kelly. And Kathy Griffin had a year to think about that...sit on it...and then decide, "Yeah, I'm gonna need to do this!" I can understand saying something stupid in the moment, but to plan out something this monumentally stupid? Didn't anyone think to tell her it was a bad idea? Did the photographer hate her?

Alpha Echo · Jun 1, 2017

I used to like Kathy Griffin, years ago. I haven't been much of a fan in more recent years. Regardless of my hatred for Trump, I was appalled when I saw the images of her photo shoot. Nasty. Disrespectful of the title of President.

But what really, really angers me is that it gives the Right one more reason to make the Left into the Evil Progressives they think we are. They have been generalizing all over the place, making Griffin representative of everyone on the Left. "This is the Left," they say.

No. No it's really not. I haven't heard one person on either side justify her actions. It wasn't funny. It was gross and creepy.

But still, Fox News gets to use this to further their agenda against the Democrats.

What further pisses me off is hearing, "If this had happened to Obama..."

You know what? It did. Sure, the actions were different. The insults were different. But they were there. And it should never have happened to him either.

Frankie007 · Jun 1, 2017

it doesn't matter if you like trump or not. but he is a human being....and even joking about killing someone...is just WRONG.

i never liked ANY of the presidents of my lifetime....but i would never wish them harm. ok...so maybe i did like the 90s saxophone playing Clinton just a little....but it seems to me that every president that was....always had a bit of corruption. we've never had a perfect president.

by the way.... there's all this hate and flack on Kathy but what about the photographer? surely someone that stupid to actually agree to take pics of this? where is Tyler's apology?

Cindyt · Jun 1, 2017

AW Admin said:
Yep. This. I do not respect # 45 as a person.

But I do respect the office. Moreover, #45 has a family, including a minor child. So yeah, absolutely not ok.

Exactly. I don't like him. I want him out of office. But I don't want him assassinated. Geez.

kneedeepinthedoomed · Jun 1, 2017

nighttimer said:
Yet, if it's wrong when Barack Obama was depicted as a monkey, a witch doctor, Black Hitler, and worse, then it has to be wrong when a D-list comedian holds a bloody, severed head tricked out to look like Donald Trump.

No. Not the same thing. The former is racist, the latter is not. And Trump is not Obama. It's not the same context.
The artist is saying, in pictures, "off with his head". It's just a gradual escalation of Trump's own "Lock her up". Obama never said anything like that, Obama didn't campaign on hate, Obama never discredited the country like Trump did, all kinds of differences.

Saying in earnest, "off with his head", would be hate speech, but the context matters. The context here was clearly political satire and it wasn't intended as a call for murder. Intention and context matter.

Trump's own "lock her up" was NOT intended as satire, and actually doing it would be just as criminal and only marginally less cruel than beheadings. This here is intended as satire, and inspired by a man who himself is one of the biggest hate preachers.

Apples and oranges.

KTC · Jun 1, 2017

I voted NO not too far. When I see what the other side has done in the past, I'm shocked that they would look at what she did as going too far. I never ever realized I could hate a person as much as I hate Donald Trump, so I'm probably a bad judge. Plus two wrongs don't make a right and all that. I just want somebody to drag his ass out of the white house and send him on his selfish meaningless lazy crazyassed way.

Scribhneoir · Jun 1, 2017

I voted "meh" because I really can't work myself up into giving a damn one way or the other. I don't think it's funny, but I also don't care if it upset Trump and family.

How Far Is Going Too Far With The Donald Trump Hate?

Did Kathy Griffin Go Too Far With the Severed Head of Trump?

Yes. Way Too Far.

No. Not Too Far.

Meh. What's the Big Deal?

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