From a linguistic standpoint — this is terrifying. Trump’s presidency as it was already showed the power of language, but his choice of words here is particularity harrowing. Not only does the term ’child abuse' invoke powerful emotional imagery, it serves to push CRT as far as possible out of the realm of discourse. Trump didn’t just want his rabid base of followers to ignore CRT — he wanted them to demonize, hate, and dismiss it outright — he wanted them to absolutely despise CRT as one would a child abuser. Most importantly, this strong choice of words helps his supporters decide what to think; those who would support a demagogue are easily swayed by such linguistic tactics. In short, Trump told them that even if they don’t know what CRT is, hate it with all your might. And they have.