Graphic by Lexi Marcellino

When Donald Trump during the Fox News GOP Debate was confronted for calling women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and slobbering animals,” keyboard activists were on the move. On blogs and newspapers across the country, writers and pundits wrote at red-hot speed, typing up lengthy columns on the disgusting personality of Trump and his followers.

“Trump has been a pig as long as he’s been in the public eye,” Salon writer Amanda Marcotte wrote.

However, in the furious backlash against Trump, those who espoused political correctness forgot about it the moment they pressed their fingertips on their keyboards.

In my most recent article of The Muse, I called Trump “a half-orangutan, half-human caricature.” After thinking heavily about the media’s reaction to the rise of Trump, I realized calling Trump a pig, or anything not human, is not going to do anything. By calling Trump these names, society continues to show the public that calling people animals and other derogatory terms is okay. The confusing part was that saying Trump is a pig only goes against the principles espoused in the article.

Sure, Trump might have said things that offended people. However, that still is not a reason to dehumanize a person. The most important part we are missing in this frenzy is not that Trump is offensive – people knew that long before the 2016 presidential campaign. It is the poll numbers. Time and time again, there were no repercussions for Trump’s actions. Never after Trump said something derogatory to Mexicans or women did his support fall, as most analysts predicted it would. Instead, these crude accusations and bold comments caused his approval ratings to go up. Trump was, and still is, at the top of the polls in every single state. The fact that his slurs and his comments towards women resonate with a large portion of voters only shows our prejudice.

Racism, the dark shadow in society, the one word used fervently by some and religiously eschewed by others, is still deeply ingrained in American society. Xenophobic comments by Trump have only showed that racism may have a stronger hold than otherwise known before. While those who are racists or misogynist usually hide their feelings, Trump has left it bare in the wind. It is time to show that a bigot should not even be in the running for the President of the United States.