# Democrats Who Wouldn't Honor A 13 Year Old with Brain Cancer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [March 7, 2025, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230 "2025-03-07T04:01:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Culling\_The\_Herd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Culling\_The\_Herd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Culling_The_Herd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/1 "2025-03-07T04:01:49Z")
How do we feel about the Democrats who wouldn’t stand or applaud when 13 year old brain cancer survivor Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel was made an honorary Secret Service agent during Trump’s address to Congress? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/2 "2025-03-07T04:12:42Z")
If we stand and applaud during all his publicity stunts, he’ll catch on damn quick, fill his speeches with them and have the Democrats by the short hairs all the time. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/3 "2025-03-07T04:18:09Z")
I feel they saw it for the contrived stunt that it was. Fuck Trump and his using real victims for his shit show. I hope it was a thrill of a lifetime for young DJ and that he never knows he was used as a pawn. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/4 "2025-03-07T04:21:59Z")
I feel that every single Democrat in the room should have either walked out or forced Mike Johnson to expel them all one by one when Al Green got kicked out. Was that before or after the PR stunt? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/5 "2025-03-07T04:26:12Z")
Politically, those Democrats who the OP is talking about made a mistake. They had a good reason for making the mistake (applauding the child could not be done without seeming to applaud a corrupt wannabe dictator), but Trump did, unfortunately, own a few libs there. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/6 "2025-03-07T04:31:07Z")
The first thing the DNC should have done the next day is create a TV ad highlighting the cuts to cancer research that Elon and his merry band of idiots have illegally done. That is going to have a much more deleterious effect on the nation than some Dem reps sitting on their hands during one of Trump’s manipulative stunts. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/7 "2025-03-07T04:43:09Z")
Not to mention, the Republicans weren’t standing or applauding for the kid. They were standing and applauding for the guy who gave him a trophy with one hand and slashing funds for cancer research with the other. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/8 "2025-03-07T05:11:41Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > but Trump did, unfortunately, own a few libs there. Which he would have done anyway if they _had_ jumped through his hoop. Would you happen to have any _non_"no win situation" solutions to this dilemma? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/9 "2025-03-07T05:41:52Z")
If you look up “weak sauce” in the dictionary, you’ll find the definition pointing to this thread. This is so mild you should take it to the “stupid democrat idea of the day” pit thread. If we created a new thread for every item brought up in the “stupid republican idea of the day” thread, it would probably break Discourse. Seriously though, others have brought up reasons. And, it’s weak sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/10 "2025-03-07T06:10:08Z")
How do we feel? We feel the same as with any other cheap, manipulative, chain-yanking bullshit stunt. It’s cheap, manipulative, chain-yanking bullshit, and we can see that because we are not stupid. Was this supposed to be some sort of clever gotcha question? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/11 "2025-03-07T07:08:23Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > How do we feel? We feel the same as with any other cheap, manipulative, chain-yanking bullshit stunt. It’s cheap, manipulative, chain-yanking bullshit, and we can see that because we are not stupid. Indeed, this stunt could only appeal to the extremely stupid. Trump has exactly as much empathy for his fellow humans as a cockroach. You can almost hear him saying “I prefer kids who **don’t** have brain cancer, like my own superior offspring, especially Ivanka (wink wink!)” The man is absolute scum. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/12 "2025-03-07T07:11:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Trump has exactly as much empathy for his fellow humans as a cockroach. Exactly. He wasn’t honoring the young man because he was personally touched by his story; he did it because he was using the young man as a political prop, for his own gains. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/13 "2025-03-07T12:17:00Z")
> **[August 24 - On this day: 32 years since Saddam Hussein's TV stunt](https://www.express.co.uk/news/history/1659766/on-this-day-saddam-hussein-tv-stunt-amelia-earhart-getulio-dornelles-vargas)** > > 32 years ago (1990) We revealed how Saddam Hussein used British children in Kuwait in a "grotesque" propaganda film to send a warning to the West that he would surround himself with human shields if the Allies launched an attack on Iraq. _Saddam Hussein’s TV stunt_ “32 years ago (1990) We revealed how Saddam Hussein used British children in Kuwait in a ‘grotesque’ propaganda film to send a warning to the West that he would surround himself with human shields if the Allies launched an attack on Iraq.” – _Daily Express_ ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/14 "2025-03-07T12:23:47Z")
> [@Culling\_The\_Herd](#): > > How do we feel about the Democrats who wouldn’t stand or applaud when 13 year old brain cancer survivor Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel was made an honorary Secret Service agent during Trump’s address to Congress? How do we feel about Trump using a child with brain cancer as the political equivalent of a human-shield? I feel that’s pretty shitty, and shouldn’t be rewarded with applause. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/15 "2025-03-07T12:32:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Would you happen to have any _non_"no win situation" solutions to this dilemma? I do not see the dilemma. The Democrats, with a few exceptions, are the adult party. The Republicans, with a few exceptions, are the corrupt party. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/16 "2025-03-07T13:24:44Z")
_“Was appointing this kid to the Secret Service really the best way to get him much needed health care coverage? Wouldn’t it have been better NOT to cut all the funding for research into treatments and cures FOR childhood cancer in the first place? Also: if we’re really trying to protect kids, what about their leading cause of death – firearms??”_ No, that doesn’t fit on a sign, but it’s what you can say to the cameras after the speech (read: rant) has finally ended. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/17 "2025-03-07T13:34:23Z")
Say to the cameras? Compare the numbers of “cameras” (all the media that broadcast Trump live) to the number of “cameras” that would have broadcast such a message…eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/18 "2025-03-07T13:46:08Z")
The liberal base expects elected Democrats to publicly expose Trumps’ clownish act as counter to the Constitution and beneath the dignity of his office. Maintaining the high ground as they observe the dismantling of the ‘shining city on the hill’ is an abandonment of their oath of office. Had the Democrats chanted ‘cancer research’ until Johnson attempted to remove the entire group from the chamber they would have attracted media attention and the opportunity to dissect Trumps’ fantasies word by word. Instead their failure to applaud has gone largely unnoticed and Trump again dominates the news. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/19 "2025-03-07T13:50:31Z")
Perhaps, or perhaps the mass removal of a political party on live television _with their microphones cut off during the removal_ would have given Trump the excuse to proceed without them. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230/20 "2025-03-07T13:52:15Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > How do we feel? We feel the same as with any other cheap, manipulative, chain-yanking bullshit stunt. It’s cheap, manipulative, chain-yanking bullshit, and we can see that because we are not stupid. > > Was this supposed to be some sort of clever gotcha question? But most people are stupid so they easily fall for such manipulative tactics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-who-wouldnt-honor-a-13-year-old-with-brain-cancer/1015230.md?page=2)