The political discourse in this country, especially for those in the presence of Donald Trump, continues to reach new lows. A United States Senator told a crowd, with Trump present, “I mean no disrespect but it must suck to be so dumb.”

The culture of Trumpism has so stained our country that now anything is permissible to say as long as it inflates Trump’s ego or slights his opponents. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told CNN:

 

“He (Kennedy) seems to have more principles than that, he plays to the crowd. I guess, when you stand next to Donald Trump and you have that kind of crowd reaction, you play to it. I’m disappointed because I like John and for him to say that about Nancy Pelosi is so off the mark… She is probably, even more than Lyndon Johnson, the best leader of a political party in either House in this Congress in 100 years.” 

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough adds:

“He actually does mean disrespect and he has degraded himself. By the way, Senator, guess what? No matter what you do the rest of your life, that’s your moment when you die. Your bio 30, 40 years from now, whenever it have that’s your moment. Congratulations, you did it for a man who committed crimes. You did it for a man who may be driven out of office. You did it for a man who actually was willing to sell out the United States of America for some dirt on Joe Biden. You did it for a man who, again, has destroyed the conservative movement.”

 “In my neck of the woods, Senator, parents don’t teach their sons to talk about women or men that way. But maybe you’re comfortable with that. Whatever goes.”

“I just wonder how low these people are going to go. How much they’re going to degrade themselves…. A United States senator said, a childhood taunt towards Nancy Pelosi in a little bit. But you just look at them and you certainly — I feel so sorry for them that they’re allowing themselves to be degraded by Donald Trump, a guy that won’t return a favor.”

This post contains analysis and commentary