It's difficult to debate those remarks calmly, especially since it sounds as if Watkins is being offensive and inflammatory intentionally. he's correct that Donald Trump has used Adolf Hitler's infamous Big Lie tactic and other fascist methods to make a cult of personality around himself, particularly after losing the 2020 election. But Watkins is offensively and dangerously wrong when he argues that autism had anything to try to do with Chansley's actions. Implying otherwise furthers the harmful stigma that folks with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities are more likely to be criminals when they're more likely to be victims of crimes. (Watkins' use of slurs like "retarded" and terms like "short-bus people" definitely doesn't help.) Even worse, it reinforces the notion that folks who are neurodiverse are somehow "less than" in comparison to neurotypical people — that we aren't merely different but also "damaged."
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