Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.

Donald Trump isn't funny anymore

Trump has consistently shown himself to be a danger to our well-being, and for too long I laughed about it

Illustration published on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016.

Illustration published on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016.


The first time I went to Las Vegas, I had the time of my life. Two or three days (I don’t really remember exactly) of stumbling around Sin City, laughing and drinking with my best pals until the early morning hours.

On the last day of my first Vegas trip, I woke up with around $30 to my name. I felt soulless: partially from the guilt of the weekend and partially from a hangover that comes from a diet of Jack Daniels and casino buffet crab.

Empty, dazed and filled with a sense of regret for the things I did but didn’t remember, my buddy and I started the long drive through the high desert back to Camp Pendleton, wondering how we let the weekend get to that point. I got in touch with my friend from that ride back from Vegas, Matt Grundish. I told him about the premise for this column, and asked his opinion on everything.

"This campaign is like a trip to Vegas. You spend your time taking in each sides rhetoric like so many cigarettes and cheap drinks. Like most trips to Vegas, it seems like the house is going to win and my friends and I are going home broke, hungover, and wondering what the hell happened."

I had to tell that story in order to explain how I feel about Donald Trump.

At the beginning, it was funny. A man mostly famous for real estate and reality television announced his candidacy by saying that Mexico willingly sends rapists and drug dealers through the border into the United States and I thought, “Wow, that’s so bad it’s hilarious.”

However, I now know that first controversial Trump comment was the sample of crack the street dealer gives away for free; they know you’ll love it and come back to buy some. I was hooked on Trump.

I couldn’t get enough, I began paying for this sick, shameful addiction with hours of my sleep, staying up late to hear what crazy and offensive thing he said, wondering if this would be the thing that finally killed his campaign. He started talking about building this glorious wall between the U.S. and Mexico and I kept on laughing.

Soon, though, I would start my long spiral towards rock bottom, as I began realizing that not only was the Trump campaign serious, but I was part of the problem by not taking it seriously.

My first moment of clarity came when Trump insulted the prisoner of war status of John McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona who lived as a captive in Vietnam for over five years. Trump said he didn’t like him because “He likes people who weren’t captured.” The veteran inside of me rumbled a bit, and suddenly, this taste of Trump didn’t feel as good as the last one. I was starting to realize I was ruining my life with my addiction.

I needed help, I needed to get clean and get on with my life but there was no treatment available. On every street corner was another news outlet catcalling me with offers of new, offensive Trump clips and soundbites.

So I kept going back for more, and all of a sudden I lost track of time. Days, weeks, months … I don’t remember how long I let the Trump addiction run my life. I began to resemble a zombie moving from offensive statement and subsequent outrage to offensive statement and subsequent outrage.

I watched Trump:

I have woken up. I have learned that the first step is admitting you have a problem.

My name is Chris Wood, and I’m an addict. I spent several months over the past year-and-a-half obsessed with Donald Trump coverage. It took me too long to wake up, but unfortunately it took a majority of the media even longer.

Donald Trump isn’t funny anymore. Like my Vegas trip, the beginning was great and the middle was a wild, reckless romp through the grayest areas of morality. The end, though, is a cold and lonely affair.

Trump is absolutely the most dangerous, unprepared, irresponsible and unskilled candidate for President this country has ever seen. How we allowed this creature, this personification of all of our nastiest emotions get to this point should shame all of us.

I hope we never chase this dragon again.


Reach the columnist at cjwood3@asu.edu or follow @chriswood_311 on Twitter.

Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.

Want to join the conversation? Send an email to opiniondesk.statepress@gmail.com. Keep letters under 300 words and be sure to include your university affiliation. Anonymity will not be granted.

Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.


Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.

Subscribe to Pressing Matters



×

Notice

This website uses cookies to make your experience better and easier. By using this website you consent to our use of cookies. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.