The past decade of American politics has been characterized by, as Gen Z might call it, unseriousness. And I’m not saying that it all started when Donald Trump entered the political arena in 2016, but the problem seems to have worsened ever since then.
What do I mean when I say ‘unserious?’ I’m not talking about former President Barack Obama’s dad jokes at his last turkey pardon in 2016. Those were pretty funny.
I’m talking about the lack of respect and decorum that American politicians embody these days. And it’s not just contained to one political party. Both sides of the aisle seem infected with this unseriousness epidemic.
Politicians used to be respectable. If you’ve watched any of the most recent presidential or vice presidential debates, you may know what I’m talking about. In their June 2024 debate, President Trump and former President Joe Biden were hurling insults and name-calling. How much substantive political debate actually happened? I couldn’t tell you. They were too busy ignoring policy questions to disparage each other, audibly scoffing, or peddling straight-up lies. Even now, watching it back, I can listen to either candidate and still have no idea what they were talking about.
Trump and Biden didn’t even shake hands at the beginning and end of their debate, as is traditional. But when then-Vice President Kamala Harris debated Trump in Sept. 2024, she made sure she got a handshake. Trump didn’t attempt to return the favor at the end.
However, it wasn’t always this way. If you watch older presidential debates, you’ll find behavior that is foreign to today’s American political landscape.
In their 1992 debate, former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton shook hands, asked how the other was doing, and spoke respectfully to each other. You won’t find this kind of behavior today, and I’m not sure that we’ll ever see it again.
It’s laughable, really, that this is what it has come to. Why do we tolerate this?
Why was it acceptable for President Trump to drop the f-bomb in an official news conference? And again, when talking to reporters about Iran-Israel relations? There should have been more people upset about this.
There’s also the issue of Trump’s tendency for name-calling, mocking, and peddling conspiracy theories. At a rally in 2015, Trump mimicked a reporter who had a disability. He had reportedly called deceased and captured American service members “losers and suckers.” His false claims that Tylenol use during pregnancy causes autism were preceded by a blustered attempt at pronouncing ‘acetaminophen.’
During his debate with Harris, he even claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating people’s pets. I couldn’t stop laughing when I heard this. It was just so absurd and, you guessed it, unserious.
And don’t even get me started on social media accounts. Trump’s accounts have repeatedly used AI-generated images and videos to mock opponents and rally supporters. In October, he posted an AI video depicting himself flying a fighter jet, dumping what looked like poop onto ‘No Kings’ protestors to his Truth Social account.
Further, the official Democratic Party TikTok account routinely uploads posts making fun of Republicans, such as a recent edit of clips of Trump seemingly doing and saying sexual things. You’ll just have to watch it for yourself. Another one comments on the number of American jobs during Trump’s administration with AI dancing cats, unicorns running across the screen, and Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ playing in the background.
And why are they posting a relationship edit of Barack Obama and Harry Styles? Someone please tell me what is going on!
If this is their attempt at attracting younger voters, it might be working, but at a cost. Such ‘brainrot’ is only making them lose respect and decorum.
I have a theory about why this is happening. Feel free to disagree with me. Trump entered the political spotlight during his 2016 presidential campaign, and his tactics and behavior immediately attracted attention. His success was unrivaled.
When Democrats and other politicians couldn’t keep up, they decided to adopt some of Trump’s tactics. It somewhat worked, at least to the point of getting attention.
And now? Now, we have the heightened problem of extremely rude and disrespectful politicians who are willing to mock, insult, and employ absurd strategies to get to the top.
Respect and decorum are extinct. They’re boring anyway. Nobody pays attention to respectable and serious politicians. Do you know what isn’t boring? Rudeness and ridiculousness.
I’m willing to make the claim that this phenomenon will continue long after Donald Trump leaves office. The level of political polarization we’re seeing today is unprecedented and seemingly irreversible, to the point that nobody may be willing to go back to the way it was a decade ago.
Can we overcome our differences? As a generation of young, intelligent students, maybe we can start by reintroducing seriousness and respectability into our smaller political spheres. I challenge all of us to be better than those who came before us and set the example for the generations after us.
