On Monday, August 18th, 2020, Michelle Obama gave one of the most straightforward and clear speeches that she ever has before when she spoke at the Virtual Democratic National Convention. Her no-nonsense approach while talking about the state of our country was outstanding.
As the former First Lady stares straight into the camera and talks, you actually feel everything that she says. It’s even hard for republicans to disagree with her that the current U.S. President isn’t fit for the office, especially the ones who the New York Times say are not going to support Trump, which include George W. Bush and Mitt Romney.
In Michelle’s description of him and his performance as president, some of the quotes that stood out the most were “unable to meet the moment” and “He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.” But, as Vanity Fair pointed out in a recent article following the speech, the specific words Michelle used that probably stung Donald Trump the most were “It is what it is.”
These five words were the words Trump used in response to Jonathan Swan on HBO in his recent Axios Interview. If you didn’t see it, the conversation went like this:
Swan: I’ve gone to your rallies. I’ve talked to your people. They love you. They listen to you. They listen to every word you say. They hang on your every word…and so when they hear you say, ‘everything’s under control. Don’t worry about wearing masks,’ I mean, these are people – many of them are older people.
Trump: Well, what’s your definition of control I think it’s under control.
Swan: How? 1,000 Americans are dying a day?!
Trump: They are dying. That’s true… it is what it is…
Trump’s Response to Michelle’s Words
In a twilight Tweeting temper tantrum during the wee hours of the morning that followed her awesome DNC speech, Trump did all he could to rebuttal Michelle’s argument (that he’s just not good enough for the job) over Twitter. The timed sequence of them went like this on the morning of Tuesday, August 18th, 2020:
4 am: “Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren’t for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama. Biden was merely an afterthought, a good reason for that very late & unenthusiastic endorsement………My Administration and I built the greatest economy in history, of any country, turned it off, saved millions of lives, and now am building an even greater economy than it was before. Jobs are flowing, NASDAQ is already at a record high, the rest to follow. Sit back & watch!”
4:10 am: “Looking back into history, the response by the ObamaBiden team to the H1N1 Swine Flu was considered a weak and pathetic one. Check out the polling, it’s really bad. The big difference is that they got a free pass from the Corrupt Fake News Media!”
4:16 am: “The ObamaBiden Administration was the most corrupt in history, including the fact that they got caught SPYING ON MY CAMPAIGN, the biggest political scandal in the history of our Country. It’s called Treason, and more. Thanks for your very kind words Michelle!”
What ‘It Is What It Is’ Means In the Movies
In the movie The Irishman (2019), there’s a scene when Russel Bufalino (played by Joe Pesci) is telling Frank Sheeran (played by Robert De Niro) that he needed to tell Jimmy Hoffa (played by Al Pacino) that they (the mob) were having too many problems out of Hoffa. And, when it came to the outspoken labor leader, it had gotten to the point where they (the mob) felt that “It is what it is…” when it came to Hoffa’s life.
Basically, Frank was supposed to tell Jimmy that if he didn’t calm down, the mob was gonna kill him. Although this movie is based on real life, this coronavirus pandemic actually is real life, and it’s taking thousands of lives as the days go on.
In conclusion, as President of the United States (or anyone else for that matter), to casually use a phrase such as “It is what it is…” when referring to the deaths of so many people is showing that they don’t genuinely care about whether or not people are dying (or are going to die). It also shows that they don’t really care about paying attention to the deadly problem that’s causing all these deaths, nor do they care about doing anything to try to fix, contain, and/or eliminate it.
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