In the 2020 presidential debate Trump brought up Biden's son (Hunter) and his battle with drug addiction. It was a heartless attack that had nothing to do with the debate. Like millions of others that have watched someone battle drug addiction I saw Trump's immaturity more than ever in that moment.
As a child and teenager I watched several of my family members battle addiction. As a child I remember thinking they were worthless, they hurt me, they chose drugs over our family. This is the easiest way to think. It's hard to understand why someone you love could chose drugs over the love and support of their family. There are 2 paths you can take while watching a loved one battle addiction. Path 1: You can be angry and feel like they did this on purpose. You can watch them struggle and mock them when they miss Christmas or don't have the money to go to dinner. You can ridicule them for the mistakes they've made like Trump would do. Path 2: You can love them and support them, you can research ways to help, you can do exactly what Biden had to do on stage last night, which was, tell everyone that you are proud of them. To my family members that are still struggling every day with addiction, I want you to know that I am proud of how far you have came. I am happy you're still here and you are loved by many.
Trump showed that he has never felt empathy for anyone besides himself in that moment of the debate. He put a bad stigma on drug addiction because he simply does not have the capacity to understand something that doesn't directly relate to him. Trump has a fairly tale thought in his mind that if we teach youth that drugs are bad then they just won't do them. This tactic he is attempting clearly is not working. The opioid crisis is rising in this country. Covid-19 has caused people to relapse and with a president like Trump they could feel like they did to battle it alone. There is no reason a drug addict should not be able to get help and not feel like a failure for it. I want you to think about this when you're voting for our next president.
