When Dehumanization Becomes Policy

Image by Igor Rodrigues.

When the most powerful person in the world uses dehumanizing language, it is never just rhetoric. It is instruction.

In late November, Donald Trump publicly referred to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as “seriously retarded” while attacking Walz’s leadership. When questioned afterward, Trump did not retract the slur. He doubled down, saying there was “something wrong with him.” This was not a stray insult or an offhand remark. It was a deliberate statement, delivered...