By Aaron Miller-
Trump official, Carl Paladino,- a co-chair of President-elect Donald Trump’s New York campaign, is under fire over crude remarks he made about Barack and Michelle Obama.
When asked by a newspaper what he would like to happen in 2017, Mr Paladino said he hoped President Obama would die from mad cow disease and the first lady would “return to being a male”. In his exact words, he said he hoped the president catches mad cow disease after being caught having relations with a cow and would die and be buried ‘’in a cow pasture’’. In relation to Mrs. Obama, he said I’d like her to return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla’’.
Paladino later said his answer was intended to be humorous, but But New York Governor Andrew Cuomo , rightly said the comments were “racist” and “ugly”.One Parent Teacher Organisation in the city of Buffalo called on Mr Paladino resignation from the school board. A horrified tweeter user said ‘’there was something deeply and horribly wrong with him’’Paladino was a Republican candidate of for the New York State governorship in 2010, but was unsuccessful in his bid for the post. Paladino was cheeky to eventually add: “Merry Christmas and tough luck if you don’t like my answer.”
His shocking comments will be viewed by many as confirmation that President-elect Trump surrounds himself with racists, although Paladino is not officially a member of president elect- Trump’s administration. However, he is at least a close associate and president-elect Trump should publicly rebuke Paladino for his awful judgement.
Trump Official’s Comments Are Shocking
The sheer audacity of Paladino’s unrestrained and extreme comments is so shocking that wider condemnation will be expected from highly placed members of America. It will be interesting to see whether President-elect Trump himself offer a few sentence of rebuke for those comments. If comments like those are a joke to him, it does not take much stretch of imagination what words he would utter in anger. Paladino knew his words were going to reach the furthest end of the country and perhaps the world because he he was being interviewed by a media outlet. He knew it would cause controversy and stir up emotions, but he was a willing party to whatever effect his words would have. This may just be his way of bluntly speaking his mind and calling it a joke, unless the is consciously setting a standard for public figures to express their thoughts unashamedly to the world and use such platforms to command attention unto themselves. His comments were in bad taste and most despicable coming out from the mouth of a former governorship candidate.
At a time when unity is most important following a very divisive election campaign in America, it is sad and unfortunate that some people choose to deliberately utter these kind of words. Perhaps he has something strong against the Obama’s and this was just his way of venting his anger on them in public. It doesn’t make it any less offensive, but provi