‘Teen Vogue’ Blasts Donald Trump For Gaslighting America, Internet Goes Wild

Lauren Duca’s op-ed accuses the president-elect of “psychologically manipulating” the country

Teen Vogue
Teen Vogue

Some critics have claimed the media hasn’t done enough to hold Donald Trump’s feet to the fire, but “Teen Vogue” just brought the flames.

In a blistering Saturday op-ed, writer Lauren Duca accused the president-elect of gaslighting America — manipulating people into doubting their own lucidness and memory by playing games with actual facts.

“Trump won the Presidency by gas light,” Duca wrote. “His rise to power has awakened a force of bigotry by condoning and encouraging hatred, but also by normalizing deception. Civil rights are now on trial, though before we can fight to reassert the march toward equality, we must regain control of the truth. If that seems melodramatic, I would encourage you to dump a bucket of ice over your head while listening to ‘Duel of the Fates.’ Donald Trump is our President now; it’s time to wake up.”

Duca went into a history of gaslighting — which got its name from a 1938 Victorian play — and explained how Trump was using the method to undermine facts.

“To gas light is to psychologically manipulate a person to the point where they question their own sanity, and that’s precisely what Trump is doing to this country,” she wrote. “He gained traction in the election by swearing off the lies of politicians, while constantly contradicting himself, often without bothering to conceal the conflicts within his own sound bites. He lied to us over and over again, then took all accusations of his falsehoods and spun them into evidence of bias.”

She cited facts contradictory to Trump’s claims as “a long list of receipts” concerning his lies, and took aim at Trump’s continued, post-election criticisms of established media outlets like the New York Times, calling it a “deliberate attempt to destabilize journalism as a check on the power of government.”

“Trump took advantage of the things that divide this country, pitting us against one another, while lying his way to the Oval Office,” Duca wrote. “Yes, everything is painfully clear in hindsight, but let’s make sure Trump’s win was the Lasik eye surgery we all so desperately needed.”

Naturally, the internet ate it up:

https://twitter.com/youngsinick/status/807651289840685057

https://twitter.com/helenbholmes/status/807683653115449344

https://twitter.com/theonlyadult/status/807695129117069312

Read the article here.

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