Donald Trump Jr. Further Victimizes Amber Heard to Get Back at Johnny Depp

Donald Trump Jr.'s sudden interest in tweeting about domestic violence in regard to Johnny Depp's alleged abuse of his ex-wife, Amber Heard, would be laudable if it weren't entirely transparently about Depp's recent ill-advised "joke" about the possibility of assassinating Donald Trump. Trump Jr., who's shown support for the GOP health care bill before and after House Republicans included domestic abuse as a preexisting condition, has no more interest in halting domestic violence than he does in quelling sexual assault, or else he would have spoken out about his father's admission of grabbing and kissing women without consent. And he wouldn't have further victimized Heard by using her to help get back at Depp for remarks against his father.

Last week, while speaking at the Glastonbury Arts Festival in the United Kingdom, Depp said, "When was the last time an actor assassinated a president? ... It's been a while, and maybe it's time," according to The Washington Post. Of course, his joke, which referred to John Wilkes Booth's assassination of Abraham Lincoln, went viral, and conservatives ran with it as proof that liberals are prone to inciting violence as if they'd forgotten that on the campaign trail, the elder Trump called for Second Amendment gun advocate to "deal" with Hillary Clinton.

But unlike the backlash against Madonna, who remarked about blowing up the White House the day after Trump took office, or Kathy Griffin, who posed with a bloodied Trump head, and were taken to task for their actions and remarks, Trump Jr. chose to co-opt Heard's abuse and pain for his own purposes. Showing more concern for embarrassing Depp and humiliating liberals as a group, he tweeted pictures of Heard, bruised and battered, allegedly at the hands of her then-husband.

"Depp is another stellar left wing spokesman," Trump Jr. tweeted with photos and a link to a story about recent court documents Depp's former business manager filed that corroborate Heard's prior accusations of abuse. In the documents that People obtained, Depp's former manager Joel Mandel supported reports that Depp beat Heard on several occasions, citing one incident specifically during which the Pirates of the Caribbean star "violently kicked" her.

Already a victim and a part of a population that is often a target of violence, Trump Jr.'s tweets amount to bullying and further abuse. As a bisexual, Heard is among a group of women most susceptible to domestic abuse and assault, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that 61 percent of bisexual women have experienced abuse as opposed to 44 percent of lesbians and 35 percent of straight women.

Depp should absolutely be held accountable for his actions against Heard. But Trump Jr.'s faux concern is an egregious exercise in hypocrisy considering he chose to further victimize her by blasting out photos of abuse while simultaneously supporting a health care bill that, if passed, would make it difficult, if not impossible, for anyone who'd filed charges of domestic abuse to obtain insurance.

Meanwhile, Depp has since apologized for statements he made about killing Trump, saying, "I was only trying to amuse," according to the Post. Now it's time for Trump Jr. to apologize to Heard for using her to further his agenda.