Remember 2012, when some of us thought the world would end because of some ancient Mayan calendar mumbo-jumbo? We stockpiled canned beans, invested in underground bunkers, and then… nothing happened. Well, nothing except for the internet exploding over a photo featuring Donald Trump Jr. posing triumphantly next to a dead elephant.
If the Mayans had seen that coming, they probably would have just gone ahead and called it quits. The photo surfaced in 2012, although the actual event took place in 2011. Don Jr., being the avid sportsman that he is (and I use that term loosely), decided to take a little jaunt to Zimbabwe with his brother, Eric, to engage in some good old-fashioned trophy hunting. The photo shows Donald Jr. posing proudly next to the corpse of an unfortunate elephant and holding its tail like a trophy. Other photos were also leaked which depicted the brothers with various kills, including a leopard, a buffalo, and other big game animals.
Of course, this is the Trump family we’re talking about here ⏤ a clan so perpetually out of touch that they probably think the appropriate response to global outrage is to double down on the douchebaggery. Under the Obama administration, there were efforts to tighten restrictions on the import of elephant trophies from some African countries, citing concerns over conservation and the status of elephant populations. However, in 2017, the Trump administration initially moved to reverse these restrictions, particularly regarding trophies from elephants hunted in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Now, in the interest of fairness, let’s acknowledge that trophy hunting is a controversial topic, with arguments on both sides. Proponents argue that it brings in revenue for conservation efforts and supports local communities. Critics, on the other hand, find it hard to swallow the idea that killing animals is a viable way to protect them. It’s kind of like saying you’re going to save the forests by printing more paper.
Regardless of where one stands, it’s hard to deny the disturbing optics of posing with a knife next to the remains of an endangered animal. This is the same Donald Trump Jr. who compared Syrian refugees to Skittles and who met with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign in hopes of getting dirt on Hillary Clinton. Tact and sensitivity have never been his strong suits.
But Don Jr. is hardly the first rich guy with a fragile ego to compensate by playing the great white hunter. Ernest Hemingway famously did the same thing, although he had the good sense to write some halfway decent books to balance out his more boorish tendencies. No such luck with Trump the Younger, unless you count his literary masterpiece Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us. If there’s one silver lining, it’s that at least he’s not actually running the country. Oh wait, his dad did for four years. Well, shoot. Looks like the joke’s on us.