(4-minute read)
Debank in a sentence.
I went to de bank to make a de posit. (Sorry, I just couldn’t pass it up.)
However, debanking is a thing.[1] No matter how many red lines my word processor puts red lines underneath the word telling me that it isn’t a word. It’s a word.[2] (My end note is to a link to Wiktionary but it’s defined in other places as well.)
Here’s what it means.
To deprive a person or organization of banking services, especially for political reasons.
It’s a thing.
Snippets
Donald Rapist Trump is getting called out by some people over his use of the word “debank” at a New Hampshire rally.[3]
“We’re also going to place strong protections to stop banks and regulators from trying to debank you from your, your political beliefs. What they do. They want to debank you and we’re going to debank, think of this. They want to take away rights. They want to take away your country.”
Trump’s staccato delivery and conversational turns on a dime can make things a tad difficult to follow. He should have used the word ‘for’ instead of ‘from’ and although that may seem like a minor point it makes a big difference in meaning. What is being called out is his rambling self-aggrandizement, disjointed delivery, incomplete sentences, and prolific lying.
It would have been easy to just assume that Trump misread his teleprompter, saying “debank” when he actually meant to say a word more commonly known, “debunk”. I nearly made that mistake, but as I often do when I see a video snippet, I searched out more of the video to see what came before and after. Over the years I have caught myself unintentionally passing along an untruth based on misunderstanding and that aggravates me. But it happens. It’s why media outlets will sometimes put forth retractions or clarifications.
I’m NOT news media.
Gaffes
People giving speeches make gaffes, or misstatements at some time or other. It isn’t unusual. Some make fewer. Some make more. Trump is not an orator. Neither is President Biden. Biden’s way better than Trump. Obama, both of the Bushes, and Carter all gave good speeches but they weren’t orators.[4] Not like presidents Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton.
Trump just isn’t as knowledgeable as all the other Presidents that I mentioned. His grasp on reality is tenuous at best. He riffs. His speeches are more like shtick. Trump is doing a standup routine for a supportive crowd that responds positively to anything that he says.
But all the above aside Trump’s rally speeches are getting worse. Trump does make major blunders like when he talked about the Continental Army taking over airports during the American Revolutionary War.[5] That’s more than a simple gaffe.
It’s always good to keep in mind that Trump has said that he makes stuff up like he did when talking with Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau.[6] (His comments were recorded at a fundraiser.) It’s obvious in his speeches especially when he says things like everybody knows something as he spews out more lies.
At Trump’s rallies he just talks singsong gibberish at times but since his audience laughs or applauds, he just does more of the same. The crowd’s positive response to his lack of speaking in complete sentences just reinforces his belief that he’s an incredible speaker.
Trump isn’t.
Back to de bank.
The issue is complicated and technical and as best I can explain it without writing a treatise is that banks have the right to refuse service to individuals or organizations that might cause them financial or reputational harm. In footnote 1 I referenced a more extremist site as a source presenting a one-sided view of debanking.
Extremist organizations often have finances and require banks in order to do something as basic as paying bills. Let’s say you’re a financial institution and have as a client a Nazi or racist organization. The information goes public and people start moving their assets to another financial institution resulting in a loss of business.
Products can get involved in these kinds of issues as well. For another example, during the period of apartheid in South Africa the aerospace company Boeing came under fire for selling airplanes to the South Africans. Boeing’s response was that they as a corporation were against apartheid but for selling airplanes. There are no easy solutions for these kinds of issues.
Trump could have done a much better job of dealing with the issue of debanking, but he didn’t. He wandered mentally to the point where it’s not at all unfeasible that he meant debunk instead of debank. In all probability he doesn’t have anything close to an understanding of debanking. Trump would do a much better job if he ever actually bothered to learn about issues instead of randomly spewing talking points given to him by others.
Instead he spends hours rage posting.
https://yadayadayadablahblah.blogspot.com/
[2] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/debank
[3] Comments at 40s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UPEbQjGLj8&t=146s
[4] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orator
[6] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/03/15/transcript-of-trumps-remarks-at-fundraiser-in-missouri-on-march-14/