A former vice president threatens to beat up the current president—or at least fantasizes about doing so back when the two septuagenarians were back in high school and buffed out like teenage jocks.
So the current president fires back, saying the former vice-president would lose and "go down hard and fast."
But what are these two grown men fighting over?
Women, of course. One threatening to defend the dignity of women from a man intent on assaulting them. And the other defending, it seems, his right to sexually assault women.
But pay attention, because whoever wins the fight over these women, might just be the man to win the 2020 presidential election.
This all comes from the latest comments by former vice president Joe Biden, who on Wednesday repeated the idea that, if given the chance back in high school, "I'd take [Trump] behind the gym and beat the hell out of him."
Compelled to respond on Twitter Thursday morning, Trump declared:
Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy. Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault. He doesn’t know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don’t threaten people Joe!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2018
While no feminist has argued that Trump's abusive attitude towards women has been healthy—and while more than a dozen women still have outstanding accusations against him for sexual harassment or assault—Biden's instinct to respond to Trump with macho threats of violence is also drawing fire.
"No one doubts the former veep’s heart and commitment," wrote Erin Keane for Salon Wednesday evening following Biden's latest comments. "But his macho posturing is ugly and counterproductive."
"Can we declare a moratorium on glorifying violence, on celebrating the patriarchal ideal of man as enforcer and protector, and on equating (even in the inverse) athletic prowess with good character?" Keane continues. "Because these ingrained cultural habits have historically not been kind to women and girls."
Bipartisan toxic masculinity https://t.co/gmHHiRCh49
— Adam Smith (@asmith83) March 22, 2018
Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Joe Biden - but there were several areas of his speech that were terribly problematic. This whole toxic masculinity thing has to die. We’re over it.
— Hillary (@hillcardoza) March 22, 2018
And as notes Eugene Scott at the Washington Post notes, "Biden's words could cost him some votes from women who are tired of seeing stereotypical expressions of manhood offered as a solution to the very real problem of sexual assault of women."
