When Joe Biden reportedly calls Trump a “sick f**k” he is correct in a way he likely does not intend — and one that has a much more profound meaning than some harsh truth-telling about a political rival. Trumpism, the MAGA movement and the larger neofascist project — and today’s right-wing and “conservative” movement more broadly — have had a demonstrably profound negative impact(s) on the literal health of the American people.
As Politico recently reported, Biden is less than “presidential” when he discusses Trump in private. Biden’s candor is good and necessary — and there needs to be much more of it in public if he is to win re-election. But it is not just that Trump is a “sick f**k." Trump the individual is of little importance; he is more a signifier and symbol than a human being. What he represents and has enabled across American society is a type of collective pathology.
