On 9/11/2025 — the day after Charlie Kirk got shot — I came across some memes online. Some of them were targeting Trump, saying he looked like he had a stroke. Others were making fun of Kirk getting shot. And I just sat there, staring at my screen, and felt sick.
I gotta say something about this.
Because this shit is messed up.
Whether Trump did or didn’t have a stroke, the memes mocking him for it are ableist as hell. They’re cruel. They diminish the very real suffering of people who actually experience strokes and have to live with the long, difficult aftermath. Strokes kill people. Strokes disable people. Strokes are traumatic for families. They are not a punchline. They are not something we should ever use to score political points.
Making fun of Trump in that way doesn’t just hurt him. It hurts stroke survivors. It tells people who’ve gone through that pain that their suffering is something to laugh at. It trivializes what is often a life-changing medical event. That’s not clever satire. That’s not comedy. That’s cruelty. It’s punching down on vulnerable people.
And then there’s Charlie Kirk. Look — I don’t agree with him. He has said and done things that I think are harmful. But he was the victim of a shooting. And when I saw people making jokes about his shooting, as if it was funny or deserved, I felt the same disgust.
Because making fun of someone being shot doesn’t just “dunk” on that one person. It diminishes every single shooting victim. It trivializes the grief of families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. It erases the trauma of survivors who live with PTSD, physical scars, and emotional wounds.
I don’t care if you think it’s justified because you don’t like them. It’s not.
By laughing at their suffering, you are also laughing at the suffering of countless innocent people who’ve been through the same experiences. You’re normalizing cruelty. You’re turning human suffering into entertainment. And the cycle of dehumanization grows deeper.
And that’s the problem.
We live in a political culture right now that thrives on cruelty. Both sides want to score points. Both sides want to “own” the other. And in the process, we’ve lost something crucial — compassion. We’ve lost the ability to say, “Hey, no matter who this person is, this type of suffering is not something to joke about.”
Criticize Trump’s policies? Absolutely. Criticize Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric? For sure. Hold them accountable for the things they’ve said and done? Yes. But mocking strokes and shootings is not accountability. It’s not activism. It’s not justice.
It’s just cruelty.
And cruelty corrodes us. It eats away at our humanity. Every time we normalize mocking suffering, we make it easier to dismiss other people’s pain. We build a culture where empathy is optional, where compassion is weakness, and where suffering is something to laugh at instead of something to take seriously.
Think about it. When we laugh at Trump potentially having a stroke, what are we really saying to stroke survivors? That their pain is funny? That their disability is something we can use as a punchline when it’s politically convenient? When we laugh at Charlie Kirk being shot, what are we really saying to the countless victims of shootings in this country? That their trauma doesn’t matter? That gun violence is just another memeable moment?
We can’t have it both ways. We can’t demand justice, compassion, and accountability in some areas, while turning around and being cruel when it suits our politics. That’s hypocrisy.
And honestly, it doesn’t make us better than the people we criticize. If we’re cruel when they’re suffering, then we’re just mirroring the very behavior we claim to be against. What does that say about us? That we’re so caught up in “winning” that we’ve abandoned our basic humanity?
I know people will say, “But they caused harm. They deserve it.” And yeah, people should be held accountable for harm. But accountability isn’t laughing at someone’s stroke or shooting. Accountability is about challenging their ideas, pushing back on their actions, and creating systems that prevent future harm. It’s not about piling on cruelty in moments of vulnerability.
Because here’s the truth: cruelty doesn’t liberate anyone. It doesn’t heal anything. It doesn’t create justice. All it does is deepen divides and cause more harm.
And I’m tired of it.
We need to build a culture where compassion is the default — even toward people we dislike. Where we recognize that illness, disability, and violence are not political tools to wield against our enemies. Where we understand that mocking suffering doesn’t make us righteous; it just makes us cruel.
If we really want to fight for justice, then we have to start by rejecting cruelty. All cruelty. Even when it feels tempting. Even when it feels deserved. Because justice without compassion is just vengeance. And vengeance doesn’t build a better world.
So yeah. I saw those memes. And I was disgusted. I’m not here to police anyone’s humor, but I am here to say: if your joke depends on mocking strokes or shootings, it’s not funny. It’s not edgy. It’s not progressive. It’s just messed up.
We can be better than that. We have to be better than that.
Because every time we choose cruelty, we diminish the impact of real victims. We tell them their suffering is something to laugh at. And that’s something I refuse to be okay with.