SETH MICHAEL MEYER
Assistant News Editor
This year’s Thanksgiving has reportedly been more brutal than usual as many self-proclaimed social justice warriors squared up against their “MAGA” hat-wearing uncles in heated debates.
The arguments over the holiday had a political theme with topics such as healthcare, the GOP tax plan and why the Trumps love shooting elephants, coincidentally the symbol of the Republican Party.
When the back-and-forth banter was not enough for the battling parties, fisticuffs were thrown and, as CNN’s Anderson Cooper puts it, “Thanksgiving turned into a bloody mess.”
On a more light-hearted episode of “Anderson Cooper 360,” Cooper announced reports of over 400 incidents around the country in which people were taken to the hospital after arguments during Thanksgiving dinner. Cases ranged from black eyes to second-degree gravy burns. Cooper laughs these situations off by saying, “that’s a poor waste of gravy. They should have used the green bean casserole.”
To some it may be a joke, but when these kinds of incidents hit close to home, they can be scary.
Many students noticed that junior women and gender studies major Tracy Dwellington was not at her classes coming back from Thanksgiving break. When she did come back a week later, she was walking with crutches, suffering from a broken leg and a concussion.
Holding back tears, Dwellington recounts the events that happened on Thanksgiving Day, “My uncle Mike was complaining about the kneeling football players and said, ‘Trump will put an end to it.’ So I said, ‘maybe Trump should worry about the pedophiles that are making their way into Congress.’”
Dwellington claims to not remember anything after that, but her mom alludes to “a lot of beer bottles being chucked from every which way.”
Attempts were made to reach out to Dwellington’s uncle who was reported to have gone to the hospital after the event occurred. His only coherent response was “fake news” and “lock her up.”
Traumatic events like Dwellington’s have caused quite a stir in the nation’s capital. A tweet from President Donald Trump at 2:30 Friday morning read, “. . . there were many fine people on both sides,” while Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont blamed the violence on the Walmart owning Walton family, yet failing to explain their involvement.
Some congressmen from both sides of the aisle believe these events demand a legislative response.
“I think hospitals should have to ask for political affiliations before treatment,” said Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House, in a brief press conference.
Many are now criticizing his comments, believing this call to action to be a ploy to strip healthcare away from millions of Americans.
“We cannot let these Republicans get away with discrimination in our healthcare system,” said House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.
Despite the heated debate in Congress over
the events that happened
this Thanksgiving, many
affected by these household skirmishes are growing weary of politics. In a Pew Poll, 64 percent of Americans wished government didn’t exist and over 1.1 million people have deleted their Facebook apps since Thanksgiving, trying to avoid politically-inspired Facebook arguments.