The founder of a progressive pro-immigrant organization was roundly mocked on social media over the weekend after claiming she continued to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder because of Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the 2016 presidential election.
Sayu Bhojwani, a democracy activist who served as New York City’s first commissioner of immigrant affairs, tweeted out a message of support for Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Sunday that included her diagnosis of the psychological factors dampening the public’s enthusiasm for the 2020 hopeful.
3/5 She's smart, compassionate, a fighter. Her racial justice lens is stronger than any candidate we have to choose from. Her cabinet will be thoughtful, qualified & experienced. The energy & determination she would approach her first 100 days will make our heads spin.
— Sayu Bhojwani (@SayuBhojwani) February 23, 2020
FLASHBACK: Obama tried to make Trump a punchline at 2011 dinner before rise stunned Washington
Trump cancels Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Pakistan for Iran negotiations
U.S. Government Monitors as British Authorities Prosecute Christian Pastor Who Quoted John 3:16
Fetterman backs Wicker’s call to restart attacks in Iran
Trump to headline 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner for the first time as president
Rat Poison Found in Baby Food Jars Leads to Total Recall
Barricaded suspect faces murder charges after 2 doctoral students vanished from campus, 1 body remains missing
Father recalls horror after son murdered his 5 grandchildren: ‘I knew he killed them’
My Brother’s Teacher Told Him to ‘Draw What Brings You Most Joy’: Since His Answer Was the Cross, It Wasn’t Allowed
Parents in Bronx neighborhood plead for NYPD guard as Mamdani cuts cops, halts hires: ‘Horrible situation’
British Christian Nurse Accused of ‘Misgendering’ a Patient Cleared of Consequences
Radical activist groups circle wagons around Southern Poverty Law Center amid federal charges
US turns to drones after retiring minesweepers to reopen Strait of Hormuz amid Iran crisis
Russia’s Communists channel their ancestors, evoke 1917 in warning to Putin over economy
Michigan governor hopeful pressed on past SPLC work after DOJ indictment: ‘What did Jocelyn know?’
“A lot of us saw our hopes for a strong, competent woman president dashed in 2016 and we still have PTSD. I think that’s holding us back from supporting @ewarren publicly,” she said.
“I’ve been in so many rooms where women are saying they love @ewarren but they’re cautious & guarded. Of course. We had our hearts broken in 2016 & are scared of another heartbreak.”
The president and founder of New American Leaders, an organization that trains immigrants to run for office, continued advocating for Warren in a series of additional tweets.
Warren’s “racial justice lens is stronger than any candidate we have to choose from,” Bhojwani declared.
“Her cabinet will be thoughtful, qualified & experienced. The energy & determination she would approach her first 100 days will make our heads spin,” she tweeted, before urging those who back Warren behind close doors to go public with their support.
Bhojwani’s attempt to get voters excited about Warren ginned up a social media crowd — but not for the reason she likely expected.
Numerous users criticized Bhojwani, who appears on her organization’s website in a photo with militant progressive congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, for elevating her disappointment with the 2016 election to the level of PTSD, a debilitating condition often associated with survivors of war and sexual and physical abuse.
FLASHBACK: Obama tried to make Trump a punchline at 2011 dinner before rise stunned Washington
Trump cancels Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Pakistan for Iran negotiations
U.S. Government Monitors as British Authorities Prosecute Christian Pastor Who Quoted John 3:16
Fetterman backs Wicker’s call to restart attacks in Iran
Trump to headline 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner for the first time as president
Rat Poison Found in Baby Food Jars Leads to Total Recall
Barricaded suspect faces murder charges after 2 doctoral students vanished from campus, 1 body remains missing
Father recalls horror after son murdered his 5 grandchildren: ‘I knew he killed them’
My Brother’s Teacher Told Him to ‘Draw What Brings You Most Joy’: Since His Answer Was the Cross, It Wasn’t Allowed
Parents in Bronx neighborhood plead for NYPD guard as Mamdani cuts cops, halts hires: ‘Horrible situation’
British Christian Nurse Accused of ‘Misgendering’ a Patient Cleared of Consequences
Radical activist groups circle wagons around Southern Poverty Law Center amid federal charges
US turns to drones after retiring minesweepers to reopen Strait of Hormuz amid Iran crisis
Russia’s Communists channel their ancestors, evoke 1917 in warning to Putin over economy
Michigan governor hopeful pressed on past SPLC work after DOJ indictment: ‘What did Jocelyn know?’
Some PTSD sufferers replied to Bhojwani:
I have PTSD from years of severe physical abuse at the hands of my ex-husband who I was forced to stay with b/c I couldn't afford healthcare, childcare, and would become homeless with my 3 children if I left. And, yes, all of that happened when I finally did.
But go off, I guess https://t.co/AxDTXDzdrp
— This handle kills fascist rats (@BethLynch2020) February 24, 2020
“How is it possible that there are so many Warren supporters on this site who have no regard for survivors of abuse/trauma?” tweeted writer Cari Hernandez. “You DO NOT have PTSD from seeing a woman lose an election. THAT’S NOT WHAT PTSD IS.”
One Twitter user’s response to Bhojwani’s remarks went viral on Sunday, garnering nearly 20,000 likes.
“Imagine being so far removed from reality that you have the gall to compare your disappointment at your preferred candidate’s loss to *checks notes* the crippling trauma that abuse victims and people living in war-torn countries endure every day,” tweeted another commenter.
FLASHBACK: Obama tried to make Trump a punchline at 2011 dinner before rise stunned Washington
Trump cancels Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Pakistan for Iran negotiations
U.S. Government Monitors as British Authorities Prosecute Christian Pastor Who Quoted John 3:16
Fetterman backs Wicker’s call to restart attacks in Iran
Trump to headline 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner for the first time as president
Rat Poison Found in Baby Food Jars Leads to Total Recall
Barricaded suspect faces murder charges after 2 doctoral students vanished from campus, 1 body remains missing
Father recalls horror after son murdered his 5 grandchildren: ‘I knew he killed them’
My Brother’s Teacher Told Him to ‘Draw What Brings You Most Joy’: Since His Answer Was the Cross, It Wasn’t Allowed
Parents in Bronx neighborhood plead for NYPD guard as Mamdani cuts cops, halts hires: ‘Horrible situation’
British Christian Nurse Accused of ‘Misgendering’ a Patient Cleared of Consequences
Radical activist groups circle wagons around Southern Poverty Law Center amid federal charges
US turns to drones after retiring minesweepers to reopen Strait of Hormuz amid Iran crisis
Russia’s Communists channel their ancestors, evoke 1917 in warning to Putin over economy
Michigan governor hopeful pressed on past SPLC work after DOJ indictment: ‘What did Jocelyn know?’
I have PTSD. It causes extreme bouts of memory loss for me, physical pain that I deal with constantly, a sense of paranoia in close relationships, and it causes me to feel intense dissociation/separation from my body. https://t.co/PNVWVbYSvD
— K (@sheabutterfemme) February 24, 2020
Bhojwani, for her part, appeared to concede that she could have chosen her words “more carefully, ” as one commenter suggested on Twitter.
Fair critique.
— Sayu Bhojwani (@SayuBhojwani) February 23, 2020
Trump derangement syndrome
FLASHBACK: Obama tried to make Trump a punchline at 2011 dinner before rise stunned Washington
Trump cancels Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Pakistan for Iran negotiations
U.S. Government Monitors as British Authorities Prosecute Christian Pastor Who Quoted John 3:16
Fetterman backs Wicker’s call to restart attacks in Iran
Trump to headline 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner for the first time as president
Rat Poison Found in Baby Food Jars Leads to Total Recall
Barricaded suspect faces murder charges after 2 doctoral students vanished from campus, 1 body remains missing
Father recalls horror after son murdered his 5 grandchildren: ‘I knew he killed them’
My Brother’s Teacher Told Him to ‘Draw What Brings You Most Joy’: Since His Answer Was the Cross, It Wasn’t Allowed
Parents in Bronx neighborhood plead for NYPD guard as Mamdani cuts cops, halts hires: ‘Horrible situation’
British Christian Nurse Accused of ‘Misgendering’ a Patient Cleared of Consequences
Radical activist groups circle wagons around Southern Poverty Law Center amid federal charges
US turns to drones after retiring minesweepers to reopen Strait of Hormuz amid Iran crisis
Russia’s Communists channel their ancestors, evoke 1917 in warning to Putin over economy
Michigan governor hopeful pressed on past SPLC work after DOJ indictment: ‘What did Jocelyn know?’
Ill-chosen as Bhojwani’s words may have been, there is some evidence that the deleterious effects of so-called “Trump derangement syndrome” are real.
In 2018, therapists indicated a rise in what they unofficially diagnosed as “Trump Anxiety Disorder.”
Clinical psychologist Jennifer Panning – who is credited with originally coining the term – described the symptoms of “Trump Anxiety disorder” in a 2017 essay as worrying about the state of the country, feeling helpless and out of control, and spending too much time on social media.
Story cited here.
