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Because of course it can …

The thing I like about The Conversation is that its contributors actually believe they’re offering something profound.

The reality is the content is largely left-wing/Democrat talking points that have long been debunked, are pure propaganda, or fly in the face of reality.

Like the transgender female professor at Roanoke College and Washington & Lee University who asserted GOP lawmakers “did not back up their claims” that new Delaware (trans-female) Representative Sarah McBride is actually a man.

Or the UCLA prof who believes Donald Trump’s “violent rhetoric” needs to be “closely monitored.” (Hillary Clinton’s, though? That’s just part of her “toughness as a female politician confronting stereotypes.”)

Or the USC scholars who tried to claim that the “division of household labor is [an] often overlooked driver of global gender inequity.” Women bear the brunt of it, you see — the “only” things men do are take out the garbage and home maintenance (as if home maintenance is a single task).

One of the site’s editors even claimed conservative commentator Ann Coulter “serv[ed] in political leadership” (she only officially “worked” in politics with the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 90s).

Now, along comes Trinity College’s David Sterling Brown. He claims Shakespeare’s circa-1592 work “Richard III” reminds him of Donald Trump, especially after the (only) debate with President Biden (shortly before the latter turned the reins over to Kamala Harris).

Brown (pictured) says the play “highlights the flawed character of a man who wanted to be, in modern terms, a dictator, someone who could do whatever he pleased without any consequences.”

Richard III’s two-year reign in the late 1400s was marked by “chaos, confusion and corruption,” and “fueled civil conflict in England,” he notes. (Be sure to check those links to see the “case” Brown attempts to build … the last goes to Wikipedia’s entry on the January 6 Capitol riot.)

MORE: Boston College professor to reinterpret ‘identity’ in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’

For the unfamiliar, here’s Shakespeare.org.uk’s summary of “Richard III”:

“Jealous and crippled, Richard of Gloucester wants to be King of England and uses manipulation and deceit to achieve his goal. He murders his brothers, nephews, and any opposition to become King Richard III.”

But Brown says “While the details of Trump’s and Richard’s lives differ in many ways, there are some similarities.” (Hey — just like Hitler, right?)

“Much like Trump during his first term, Shakespeare’s Richard did not lead with morals, ethics or integrity. Richard lied compulsively to everyone, as his soliloquys [sic] that contain his innermost thoughts make clear,” Brown adds.

“Like Trump, Richard used empty rhetoric to persuade people with ‘sugared words’ – he was not interested in speaking or promoting truth. Moreover, Shakespeare’s Richard was a sexist and misogynist who verbally and physically disrespected women, including his wife and mother.”

Some of Trump’s other transgressions include calling Hillary Clinton “the devil,” referring to Nancy Pelosi as “crazy,” and not pronouncing Kamala Harris’ name correctly, Brown says.

Lastly, like Richard, Trump “used religion to manipulate and confuse public perception of his amoral image.” Brown’s evidence? Trump’s 2020 “photo op” at St. John’s Church from which “police in riot gear used tear gas to force protesters away.” Except this wasn’t actually the case. Even NBC News debunked it.

Unsurprisingly, aside from Shakespeare Brown’s expertise lies in the field of critical race studies. “By discussing critical issues such as power, class, sexuality, gender and race in the classroom, he enables his students to identify ways in which the past intrudes into and informs the present,” his faculty bio reads.

Brown’s past essays include “Baldwin, Shakespeare, Whiteness, and (Anti)Fandom: ‘What’s love got to do with it?'” “‘Shake thou to look on’t’: Shakespearean White Hands,” “‘Blanched with Fear’: Reading the Racialized Soundscape in Macbeth,” and “Code Black: Whiteness and Unmanliness in Hamlet.”

MORE: ‘Cancel Shakespeare’ course offered by premodern critical race studies professor

IMAGE: David Sterling Brown/Facebook; Can We Take a Joke?/YouTube

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