Donald Trump speaks in Hershey, PennsylvaniaI don't like writing about Donald Trump, and I definitely don't want to write about his damn diapers, but one of the most widely circulated (possible) pieces of misinformation this week involves the former president's Pampers, so I'm going to dig. ( retches )
According to reports from actual news sources like Sky News and MSN, as well as thousands of Twitter/X accounts, fans of Donald Trump have embraced their idol's supposed incontinence and wearing of vile diapers and claims that "real men wear diapers" ” merchandise walked around the rally, “Diaper Don” and “Diapers Over Democrats.” But do they really do this? For that matter, did Donald Trump wear diapers first? Well, it depends. (See what I did there?)
The Origin Story of Von Sh*tzinPantz
The first widely circulated claim about Donald Trump wearing diapers came from stand-up comedian Noel Cusler. Cussler, who worked on Trump's reality show "The Apprentice" back in 2018, claimed that Trump "constantly soiled himself on the set." Is Kasler telling the truth? Hard to say. This isn't the kind of scoop a top reporter would lower themselves to pursue, so we're not going to get any help, but it's worth noting that as far as I know, no one else involved with The Apprentice has come forward and said, "Yeah, It happened,” despite Cussler claiming it was common knowledge on the set. Trump, on the other hand, is famous for his employee nondisclosure agreements, and who wants to risk a run-in with a powerful, litigious lunatic like Trump? Donald Trump, on the other hand, always looks like he's taking a shit. But ultimately, Diaper Don's claims have not been proven.
Rumors that Trump wears diapers and poops on his own are indeed widely believed. This week, Michael Cohen tweeted that Trump was "Von ShitzInPantz," a phrase that entered the official court transcript of Trump's criminal trial in New York. So there is fragrance in the air, so to speak. But it's questionable whether Trump fans actually responded to the rumors by wearing diapers and shirts that said "Diaper Don." Yes, there are pictures, and yes, everyone I know believes it, but I don’t – it’s too perfect.
Exhibit 1: Photos
We all know that the photos themselves don't provide any evidence - they could be posed, photoshopped or created by artificial intelligence - but their provenance gives us some clues. So far, all the photos of people wearing diaper-centric Donald Trump gear have come from the same place: Dispatches from Trumpland, a blog that appears to have launched in December and purports to be a pro-Trump Pu's website.
If Dispatches is truly a pro-Trump blog, it’s a lazy one. It contains a total of five non-diaper-related posts, mostly fair articles dealing with the Republican primary. They looked like AI writing to me, so I ran the article through three AI writing detection services, and they all returned clear "This is AI" results. Post about diapers, although returned as "human".
Unlike the boring main article, the diaper post is vague on the details. The first did not provide a location for a photo of a Trump supporter wearing diaper gear, but mentioned "a shopping cart in a Michigan news story" without providing a link. (If this story exists, I can't find it.) A second diaper post said the photos were taken at "Trump's latest event in rural Pennsylvania," but made no mention of where or when the event took place .
All of this combined strongly suggests that the site is an astroturf, a political smear site that exists solely to disseminate photos. Everything else on the site seems designed to provide a semblance of plausibility (as long as you don't spend 10 minutes looking at it).
Evidence 2: The psychology of Trump supporters and opponents
Another data point: If we know anything about Trump supporters, we know they take pride in what they do (no matter how onerous). So why don’t we have any verified Trump supporters posting diaper photos? If anyone really believes that wearing "Real Men Wear Diapers" merchandise will trigger liberal tears, why isn't your damn uncle wearing that t-shirt right now? Trump supporters missed the chance to have their freedoms, pushing credibility past breaking point.
They also don't seem to accept what is seen as a weakness and blame it on their friend Donny. They want Trump to be seen as a strong man, not a decrepit old guy. Taking back an insult is a liberal thing to do.
Trump supporters, on the other hand, try to play "Dark Brandon" but only succeed in making themselves look even more ridiculous, which is exactly what you send to your friend group and post on the topic with the title " Get “What the hell are these bastards doing now! "It's so shot. It's so perfect. It's so obviously pandering to the prejudices of a certain group.
I respect the busyness, but seeing the way the sausage is made makes me a little nauseous. Of course, this is valid propaganda and there is no "unfairness" in a democracy, so I see the political wisdom in shaming Trump supporters and giving late night comedians plenty of "they write their own" jokes, but the idealist in me The author wants to say, "Shouldn't we be doing better? Do we really need to invent the ridiculous things Trump supporters do?"
We may never know if this was grassroots or Astor Turf
Now, you can buy a variety of "Real Men Wear Diapers" T-shirts at online stores like TeePublic, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence that these T-shirts preceded Trumpland's April 11th post where the first diaper sightings were posted Has been sold. No doubt we'll see this kind of merchandise in the wild soon, either from Trump fans who believe in it or Trump haters who scoff at it. Trump’s self-deprecation will undoubtedly be a theme of this nightmare election year, repeated as often as “Hillary Clinton is dying.” That was in 2016. Remember that time?
Seriously, this whole thing is disgusting.
Wallowing in the mud may be necessary to win the 2024 election, but the more I think about this specific smear, the uglier it seems. Not because of Trump (fuck him) or his supporters (fuck them too), but because real men do wear diapers. Real women wear diapers. Not being able to control your bowel movements is not a sign of weakness, nor is it particularly fun. It’s an unfair insult that happens to both great and terrible people.
I know the bigger point here is to make fun of Trump fans’ slavishness and strange devotion to their idol, but, at the risk of being a party pooper, use adult diapers as a vehicle for ridicule for those who are incontinent. Ageism is a form of discrimination like any other, and if you imagine using the same tactic against some other marginalized group, pointing at Trump and saying "Ha! Von Shitshispants" is less fun.
