I’m not often at a loss for words, but this is probably the first time I actually have no comment on a statement issued by an athlete regarding the political state of our nation. Not because I disagree, but because one man has made a statement so shocking yet hard to argue with, that this is probably the extent of what I’ll say about it. Oh, and that man? That man is former Strikeforce champion and UFC fighter Jake Shields.
Where’s the Lie?
On Tuesday morning, Shields shared a screenshot of an article from the Guardian discussing Mar Glacierán, a Spanish parliamentarian who has Downs syndrome. I’m not going to pretend to know anything about the party politics of Spain or what Mar Glacierán stands for, but that certainly didn’t stop Shields from opining.
“Our country is being run by crooks so I feel like Retards would be a move in the right direction,” he posted along with the screenshot of the article.
Let’s just stand back and think about this one for a second.
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According to Pew Research who did a report on public trust in government in 2023:
Public trust in the federal government, which has been low for decades, has returned to near record lows following a modest uptick in 2020 and 2021. Currently, fewer than two-in-ten Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (1%) or “most of the time” (15%). This is among the lowest trust measures in nearly seven decades of polling. Last year, 20% said they trusted the government just about always or most of the time.
Pew Research also shows that as far as favorability goes, Americans largely aren’t too happy with Congress either:
Opinions about Congress are largely negative; just 26% of U.S. adults have a favorable view of Congress, while 72% have an unfavorable view.
So yes, Shields’ remark at the expense of this Spanish politician with Downs syndrome might be crass, inappropriate, and making an accurate point at the expense of someone else’s disability, but as far as his assessment goes regarding the general sentiment of the common man towards our political establishment, he’s not far off.
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Jake Shields Wasn’t the Only One
Just scrolling through the replies to his post on X, it seems more people agreed with the former MMA fighter than most would assume.
“I’m being very serious when I say I would prefer her to 90% of politicians in the world,” said conservative social media influencer @AdamMedia. “Maybe even 95%”
Leave your thoughts, comments, criticism, whatever you want in the comments below and across social media, or don’t if you wanna stay far, far away from even approaching the vicinity of this topic.
