When Donald Trump Jr. Used the Super Bowl to Attack Former First Lady Michelle Obama

Donald Trump Jr. once sparked widespread outrage by using the Super Bowl as an opportunity to attack former First Lady Michelle Obama. It was a distasteful and offensive joke. Trump Jr. posted an old photo of former NFL linebacker Levon Kirkland to his Instagram, overlaying it with the caption "I found this rare Michelle Obama rookie card."

The post promoted a baseless conspiracy theory that Obama is a transgender woman. Trump Jr. seemed to initially try to pass off the insensitive post as harmless humor, writing in the caption, "Just a little Super Bowl nostalgia. LOL."

However, he then appeared to cast doubt on whether it was actually a joke by adding "Deer fact checkers I’m told that this is a joke, so please treat it accordingly though I personally am not 100% sure." The post drew immediate and intense backlash across social media. Journalist Aaron Rupar blasted the "insane levels of racist misogyny" on display on Trump Jr.'s Instagram.

One commenter declared, "What a pathetic loser Don Jr. truly is. Racist and misogynistic beyond belief. I hope he is as miserable as he is racist," echoing tennis legend Martina Navratilova's dismissal of him as "just like his father, embarrassing." Others simply deemed the post "Disgusting mean behavior" and "So low," as per Newsweek.

The unfounded conspiracy theory that Obama is a transgender woman or secretly, a man has circulated in far-right circles for years. It has been promoted by fringe figures like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, as per HuffPost.

According to expert Mike Rothschild, the transphobic trope is "huge" within the QAnon movement, reflecting QAnon's overall "anti-trans" ideology.

Professor C. Riley Snorton of the University of Chicago highlighted the disturbing implications, stating, "To insinuate that Michelle Obama is a transwoman is another example of how Black people's genders are scrutinized and policed on anti-trans terms where trans people are rendered as punchlines." The post exemplified the intersection of racism, misogyny, and transphobia.

Trump Jr. claimed it was merely "Super Bowl nostalgia." The backlash demonstrated how the post was clearly understood as perpetuating an offensive and denigrating conspiracy theory towards a respected public figure like Obama.

It tapped into dehumanizing her based on her race, gender, and a baseless lie. The backlash intensified, echoing the sentiment like father, like son. With this, Donald Trump's own history of racist comments cannot be overlooked.

Despite his claims of being "the least racist person," Trump has a well-documented record of making explicitly racist remarks, as per The Guardian.

From derogatory comments about Mexican immigrants to questioning the eligibility of a judge based solely on his Mexican heritage, and from stereotyping a Black reporter to using racially charged terms like "Chinese virus," Trump's actions consistently reflect a pattern of bigotry that extends throughout his career and presidency.