Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty
It has come down to BDE (Big Dick Energy) vs. BFD (Big Fucking Deal). That’s American politics today in a nutshell.
Last weekend, the former local television anchor turned cringe Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake praised both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for their BDE—a reference to the online discourse describing comedian Pete Davidson’s perceived “big dick energy” (as well as a popular 2021 song by the rapper Latto).
Lake said it is what she wants to see in every leader, characterizing it as a reference to “backbone of steel.” It was a special avert-your-eyes moment in GOP politics, which traditionally is something you don’t want your kids to watch because of violence, criminality or stupidity rather than the raunch. But sooner or later when referring to the “grab ‘em by the pussy” president, we were bound to get back to this particular kind of sleaze, and, in a way, we should reluctantly be grateful to Lake for taking us there.