Sean Duffy’s – Sean Duffy, a Trump campaign surrogate, used a slur that blends “liberal” and “retard” during an event he was warming up, insulting musical acts that declined to perform after realizing the event would be partisan. The remarks were made while he stood next to
When Sean Duffy stepped onto the stage to warm up a crowd for President Donald Trump, the moment was supposed to be celebratory. He quickly turned it into a fight—directing anger at a group of musical acts that had declined to perform once they realized the event would be partisan.
“ I think we have to give a big round of applause for our military band and singers,” Duffy told the crowd. Then he went after the performers who had canceled. “Way better than those libtards that canceled on us. So much better. Thank you, guys. President Trump will make you famous.”
The insult Duffy used combines “liberal” and “retard,” and it was met with immediate backlash on social media. A major part of why the reaction was so fierce was where the remark landed: Duffy made the comment while standing beside his youngest daughter, Valentina, who has Down syndrome.
HuffPost reached out to Duffy for a response to the attention his choice of words received. His reply was sharply defensive and shifted the focus from the slur itself to a cultural and political argument.
“I will not be lectured by the same people who want to abort babies with special needs,” Duffy said. “Rather than policing language. maybe liberals should spend time with these beautiful children. acknowledge their humanity. and while they’re at it. try loving their country more than they hate President Trump.”.
The back-and-forth that followed wasn’t just about one crowd-line. Duffy’s message tied an attack on “partisan” performers to a broader dispute over language and disability—two themes that collided in real time with the presence of his daughter, Valentina, during the remarks.
Sean Duffy Donald Trump libtard Down syndrome Valentina disability political remarks campaign surrogate language backlash
damn that’s disgusting, who says that in front of kids?
So he called musicians “libtards” but then blamed liberals for “abort babies”?? Like how is that even related. People cancel stuff all the time, just say sorry and move on.
I’m not defending the word, but isn’t the real issue that the performers didn’t want to be at a Trump thing. Also you can’t expect everyone to be PC 24/7, the whole media turns every clip into a circus.
He’s standing there with his daughter like “oh look special needs family” and then he does that slur… that just feels evil to me. And his response about aborting babies with special needs is like—what, he jumped straight to that like it was some gotcha? I don’t even think about political parties when I listen to music, I just want people to be decent.