Let’s talk about why Michael Moore thought my Trump satire video was real

Last week, just before I left my home to vote, I posted a satirical video. In it, I pretended to be a Trump supporter left stranded in the cold following his Omaha, Nebraska rally. “I’m having a great time — I can’t feel my body, but I don’t really need my body. This is about Trump’s body,” I said in the video. “I think he did this to teach us a lesson, I really do. What was that lesson? Well, that’s not really for me to know.”

"I would walk 750 miles in below-zero temperatures, nip-nude, just to hear [Trump] speak," I continued. I didn’t expect anyone who saw my comedic take on MAGA supporters seriously; after all, I’ve been posting satire about Donald Trump for a pretty long time.

Little did I know that documentary filmmaker Michael Moore would soon share my video as an example of why Trump won the 2016 election — and why he just might win again. According to Moore, Trump's victory was all due to the "commitment of his voters,” such as my comedic character who didn’t care about her body and learned lessons she couldn’t understand. Moore juxtaposed my fake Trump voter with Democrats who, he said, would never “walk 750 miles in below-zero temperatures, nip-nude” to hear Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden speak. He seemed to be implying that those of us vehemently against a Trump win in 2020 simply aren't committed enough to the cause.

As I watched the dancer twirl her flag in the heat of a Georgia afternoon and urge passersby to vote when I went to the ballot box; as the volunteer poll worker encouraged us to chin up, cheer up, and dance — over and over again — without ever losing a drop of her own enthusiasm; as I thought about the voters who stood in line for 10 hours during the first few days of early voting, adamant on defeating the blatant voter suppression which seeks to wear them down, I couldn't help but think that Michael Moore is, well, wrong. If you ask Moore, people like us aren't dedicated enough to ensuring and rebuilding a democracy that works for all. But then again, if you ask Moore, my video was from an actual news broadcast, so perhaps he isn't the most reliable source of information, eh?

Georgia doesn't have time to entertain this kind of cynicism, because Georgia is busy. We're busy voting. We're busy encouraging. We're busy staying active and engaged. As Stacey Abrams has demanded, we've turned our apathy into action.

Following Brian Kemp's win in Georgia's 2018 gubernatorial race, Democratic nominee Abrams addressed Georgians in a powerful speech of acknowledgement — not concession. Rewatch the speech today, and it's impossible not to feel as if she is speaking directly to voters lining up to cast their ballots in the presidential election — voters who were forced to decide between voting in-person in the midst of a global pandemic, or mailing in their ballots and losing sleep over whether they'd even be counted. Voters who are no longer sure their votes will even matter if they are counted. Voters who were no longer voters at all.

"I implore each of you to not give in to that anger or apathy but instead turn to action," Abrams said. "Because the antidote to injustice is progress. The cure to this malpractice is a fight for fairness in every election held – in every law passed – in every decision made."

In other words: Don't you dare start feeling sorry for yourselves now; we've got work to do.

For background: Georgians had watched as Brian Kemp ran against Abrams in the state's gubernatorial race while also holding the office of the Secretary of State. Despite calls from former President Jimmy Carter, the NAACP, and concerned citizens for Kemp to resign from his position as Secretary of State, he insisted he had every right to stay in office and oversee the election in which he was a candidate. When it was all said and done, Kemp was accused of wrongfully purging over 300,000 voters from the voter rolls, and delaying over 53,000 voter registrations — many of which came from largely Black communities. Still, he was declared the winner, having a lead on Abrams consisting of approximately 55,000 votes. Less than 48 hours later, he officially resigned from his position as Secretary of State, having apparently completed the job he set out to do. To witness it all was, in a word, maddening.

Abrams' words played in my mind as I arrived at my polling place last Thursday. In the voter line, which was wrapped around the library, a jovial volunteer addressed the growing number of us every five minutes or so, reminding us to have our photo IDs ready, encouraging us to be excited. "On Thursdays, we welcome cheering," she said. "Dance, clap, sing, whatever you want to do. I'll do it, too."

Here's the thing: Presidential election aside, Georgia has no room for inaction, no time for wallowing. For the first time in a long time, Georgia is a battleground state considered by many to be a key swing state. This year, our state is in the rare position of having not one, but two US Senate seats up for election. Democrat Jon Ossoff is facing off against incumbent Senator David Perdue, while Reverend Raphael Warnock has emerged as the clear frontrunner among a long list of candidates seeking to unseat Republican Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed by Governor Kemp following Senator Johnny Isakson's resignation. Last week, Joe Biden acknowledged just how crucial these Senate races are, saying "there's no state more consequential than Georgia" when it comes to flipping the US Senate.

Georgia is going to change the course of the country, and everyone here can feel it. It's in the air; it's electric.  Against all odds, we're relentlessly hopeful for a better tomorrow, and we won't stop fighting until it comes. Michael Moore should get to know us a little better, because the character in my videos will never be more committed than the real person behind them.