If you rolled your eyes at all those "we're going to die" jokes yesterday, it may have been premature. Now that Donald Trump has officially been sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America, his campaign to diminish human rights came swifter than we expected. With the former reality star's team assuming control of WhiteHouse.gov, part of the presidential transition has been wiping the website of any mentions of civil rights, climate change, and healthcare. (In comparison, the site had "issues" tabs devoted to these topics under Barack Obama's team.)
Want information about climate change? Well too bad, because our new president thinks it's a conspiracy created by the Chinese government.
Trump's White House website has removed all mentions of the phrase "climate change" pic.twitter.com/H501ML98Uo
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) January 20, 2017
Looking for healthcare? LOL good luck with that.
No more ACA WH website https://t.co/Fg3zP9UlIs
— Jackie Kucinich (@JFKucinich) January 20, 2017
Interested in learning about civil rights? Not from the billionaire who trash-talked Georgia Rep. and prominent Civil Rights leader John Lewis.
Not to belabor the point ... but civil rights section of the WH website, also gone https://t.co/20zIOymMAQ
— Jackie Kucinich (@JFKucinich) January 20, 2017
Want to learn what Trump thinks of immigration besides wanting to build a "yuge" wall and making Mexico pay for it? Sorry, too bad.
There isn't even an immigration page on Trump's https://t.co/KHn13z8XyG https://t.co/3ANsXyRWQM pic.twitter.com/hHJwJcKDbG
— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) January 20, 2017
Want to know what Trump thinks about the issues facing the LGBT community? At least you can look forward to a "healing" dance with Caitlyn Jenner.
So, https://t.co/SfCG8bPfKt is gone.
— Claire Landsbaum (@landsbaumshell) January 20, 2017
As some have noted, the new site is poorly written and researched, as well as underdeveloped, so it's possible that these scrubs are an oversight—plus, it's standard protocol for incoming administrations to delete all existing materials on the official site. But given Trump's divisive and inflammatory stances, it feels like the first step toward a distinctively less great America.