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Serious or not, Trump's 'jokes' have an impact

Lawyer Jason Steed gives a long Twitter lesson on why Trump's 'joke' was not OK.

Colin Daileda

on August 10, 2016

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Donald Trump quipped at a rally on Tuesday that, "If [Hillary Clinton] gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. Although the Second Amendment people maybe there is, I don't know."

Many took the comment to be a vague threat against Clinton or the Supreme Court justices she would nominate. Others, including former Trump campaign manager and current CNN talking head Corey Lewandowski, said Trump was just joking.

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And while plenty of people were appalled that the Republican presidential candidate would "joke" about political violence, none explained why Trump's comment was dangerous quite like lawyer and former English professor Jason Steed.

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2. You're never "just joking." Nobody is ever "just joking." Humor is a social act that performs a social function (always).
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

3. To say humor is social act is to say it is always in social context; we don't joke alone. Humor is a way we relate/interact with others.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

4. Which is to say, humor is a way we construct identity - who we are in relation to others. We use humor to form groups...
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

5. ...and to find our individual place in or out of those groups. In short, joking/humor is one tool by which we assimilate or alienate.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

6. IOW, we use humor to bring people into - or keep them out of - our social groups. This is what humor *does.* What it's for.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

7. Consequently, how we use humor is tied up with ethics - who do we embrace, who do we shun, and how/why?
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

8. And the assimilating/alienating function of humor works not only only people but also on *ideas.* This is important.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

9. This is why, e.g., racist "jokes" are bad. Not just because they serve to alienate certain people, but also because...
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

10. ...they serve to assimilate the idea of racism (the idea of alienating people based on their race). And so we come to Trump.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

11. A racist joke sends a message to the in-group that racism is acceptable. (If you don't find it acceptable, you're in the out-group.)
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

12. The racist joke teller might say "just joking" - but this is a *defense* to the out-group. He doesn't have to say this to the in-group.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

13. This is why we're never "just joking." To the in-group, no defense of the joke is needed; the idea conveyed is accepted/acceptable.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

14. So, when Trump jokes about assassination or armed revolt, he's asking the in-group to assimilate/accept that idea. That's what jokes do.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

15. And when he says "just joking," that's a defense offered to the out-group who was never meant to assimilate the idea in the first place.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

16. Indeed, circling back to the start, the joke *itself* is a way to define in-group and out-group, through assimilation & alienation.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

17. If you're willing to accept "just joking" as defense, you're willing to enter in-group where idea conveyed by the joke is acceptable.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

18. IOW, if "just joking" excuses racist jokes, then in-group has accepted idea of racism as part of being in-group.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

19. Same goes for "jokes" about armed revolt or assassinating Hillary Clinton. They cannot be accepted as "just joking."
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

20. Now, a big caveat: humor (like all language) is complicated and always a matter of interpretation. For example, we might have...
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

21. ...racist humor that is, in fact, designed to alienate (rather than assimilate) the idea of racism. (Think satire or parody.)
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

22. But I think it's pretty clear Trump was not engaging in some complex satirical form of humor. He was "just joking." In the worst sense.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

23. Bottom line: don't accept "just joking" as excuse for what Trump said today. The in-group for that joke should be tiny. Like his hands.
— Jason P. Steed (@5thCircAppeals) August 9, 2016

The Secret Service also took note, and had a word with the Trump campaign about the candidate's comments.

Topics Donald Trump Elections President

Colin Daileda

Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.