On the evening of August 15th, Robert Trump, the younger brother of President Donald Trump, died in a New York hospital at the age of 71. President Trump announced his brother’s passing in a statement, saying:
"It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight. He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace."
We live in undeniably divisive political times. Friendships, relationships, and families have been torn apart over seemingly petty ideological disagreements. While such divisions occur on both sides of the aisle, there is a pattern of utter immorality and despicable callousness which exists solely on the mainstream Left. This is demonstrated in the form of celebration when anyone on the political Right passes away.
Following Robert Trump’s death, the hashtag #WrongTrump trended on Twitter. “Bishop” Talbert Swan – who is president of the Springfield, Massachusetts branch of the NAACP tweeted “Dear Grim Reaper, You took the #wrongtrump,” while journalist David Leavitt tweeted “What did he promise the devil for the Grim Reaper to take the #wrong trump???”
It’s important to carefully distinguish between general Twitter and mainstream Twitter. General Twitter is a garbage heap of attention-seeking hot-takes and depraved idiocy. Mainstream Twitter is supposed to provide us with an immediate insight into the minds of those in the political mainstream. What is shocking about #WrongTrump is not that it was used, but that it was spread by those who claim to occupy the serious and mainstream section of the Twitter-verse.
When we make this distinction, it becomes damningly clear that this style of mainstream celebration is unique to the Left. The appalling reaction to Robert Trump’s passing was not the first time a person’s physical downfall was celebrated as a political victory. When David Koch – the American businessman, philanthropist, political activist, and chemical engineer – died on August 23rd 2019, applause erupted from the Left. Bill Maher even hoped that David Koch suffered. When Hermain Cain – the American business executive, writer, and Tea Party activist – died last July from COVID-19, his death was leveraged as a political attack on both his views of COVID-19 and the Republican Party generally. Ben Shapiro described this perverse attitude aptly: "This is the rationale for many on the left...because obviously if somebody whose politics you don't like dies of COVID, then you get to dunk on them ... that's basically the way our garbage world works."
The fact is that such reactions never occur amongst the mainstream Right when a member of the Left falls ill or dies. Even relating to those on the Left whose health is under constant scrutiny and whose demise would be deeply politically impactful, the conservative reaction from mainstream figures is usually rooted in prayer and compassion, not celebration. Every time Justice and outspoken Leftist Ruth Bader Ginsburg is hospitalized, where are the Tweets from mainstream conservatives praying for her death so that Trump can fill another “conservative” Supreme Court seat? Moreover, if such a reaction did occur, would the mainstream media forgive conservatives as they do Leftists?
When we are as politically divided as we are now, it becomes ever more important to maintain the understanding that we are all mortal beings with equal moral value. Our political ideas do not define our philosophical worth, and this value should outweigh the impact of any political disagreements.
The fact that the Left clearly disagrees with this assessment is shocking enough. What is unforgivable is that they celebrate the downfall of their enemies while continuing to claim moral superiority as the party of tolerance and compassion. One only needs to look to Twitter to discover that such self-definition is far from the truth.