Remembered: Trump's Disturbing Aggression Toward a Baby

Two years ago, then-candidate Donald Trump was in the middle of a rally in Loudon County, Virginia, when a baby in the crowd started crying. His reaction was troubling even then, but is even more unsettling now within the context of a nativist agenda in which infants are being imprisoned.


In the middle of his boasting about a Chinese bank being one of his tenants, a baby begins to cry. He interrupts himself to say, "Don't worry about that baby — I love babies." The crowd begins to laugh and cheer. He continues, without a shred of mirth: "I love babies. I hear that baby crying — I like it. I like it! What a baby! What a beautiful baby. Don't worry; don't worry. The mom's running around, like, don't worry about it, you know? It's young and beautiful and healthy and that's what we want."

He continues to speak, and, later, the baby is heard crying again. He stops mid-sentence, lowers his voice, and glowers in the direction of the baby. "Actually, I was only kidding — you can get the baby out of here," he says, hooking his thumb over his shoulder and smirking. Again, the audience laughs. "That's all right; don't worry. I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I'm speaking. That's okay. People don't understand. That's okay."

In that rare moment of agitated honesty, Trump acknowledges that he was lying when he said he loved babies and it was okay for babies, who sometimes cry, to be in attendance at his speech.

We should all remember that. The President of the United States was angry at a baby for being somewhere he didn't believe s/he belonged.

This clip is also worth revisiting because it reveals what how profoundly devoid of empathy Trump is — something to which many of us called attention after this moment and many others along the campaign trail. And ever since.

Most mammals have instinctive reactions to the sound of baby mammals in distress. In our worst moments, humans may feel slightly annoyed by it, but that's because we feel our instinctual obligation to do something to help. That's not what Trump is expressing here. He loathes that baby. The baby is taking attention away from him, and he wants it eliminated.

Remember my tweet about my dogs reacting to the audio of migrant children crying for their parents? If you look at the responses, lots of people say their dogs, cats, etc. reacted the same way.

Trump doesn't. He hears a baby crying in that clip and reacts with hostility. Aggression toward a wailing infant is a deeply disturbing trait.

We have to understand that we are dealing with someone cruel in a way to which most of us cannot relate, unless we have been victimized by a similarly sinister malice.

And we must proceed accordingly with that truth about Trump in mind. Policy change is not enough. Regime change is required. Immediately.

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Credit to Sarah Kendzior for the above clip, who sent it to me asking for advice on identifying precisely why it was so disturbing. When I gave her my input, she encouraged me to write about it, and here we are.