Politicians love to rag on video games. Over the years, games have wound up as the scapegoat for countless problems and tragedies. From sexism to school shootings to lazy kids to literal loss of limbs, politicians of all persuasions love to blame the games.
So which presidential candidate could be the standard bearer of an industry so many Americans love and want protected? Who will stand up to the censors and let games be games?
Well, let’s look and see.
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Bernie
Bernie is so hip and cool. He’s all the rage with millennials, so of course he’d be down with their favorite hobby.
Uh, oh. Nevermind.
In a 2012 interview, Bernie trotted out the old, tired argument that video games cause mass shootings in response to the Sandy Hook shooting. (At the very least, he seems to think video games are more suspect than gun manufacturers.)
Maybe he’s not the cool socialist grandpa in all those internet memes, after all. Maybe he’s just another pro-censorship sensationalist like the rest of his generation.
Hillary
What about Hil? Look, here she’s playing a Game Boy in the ’90s, she must get it.
Just kidding. Of course Hillary’s a game hater (that is, until the latest opinion polling says she shouldn’t be).
In 2005, Hillary waged a legislative war on violent games, drumming up a scare that the youth would turn into desensitized killing machines.
“These violent video games are stealing the innocence of our children — and it is certainly making the job of being a parent even more difficult,” she said.
Hil and her colleagues tried and failed to pass a bill that would increase the penalty for selling M-rated games to underage kids. Too bad the rating system was already enforced and the bill was nothing more than unwarranted parental nagging at a federal level.
Trump
What about Trump, he absolutely cherishes the Second Amendment, so why would he have problems with violent video games?
Video game violence & glorification must be stopped—it is creating monsters!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2012
Whelp, turns out he’s pro-nanny state, too. The tweet above was made right after the Sandy Hook shooting as a way to jump on the game-blaming wagon. How could you Donald?! Your Tycoon game was so yuge and classy. 
Maybe it does makes sense that Trump would hate games considering his short stubby fingers can’t fit all the way around a controller.
So there you have it, kids. Don’t vote. Unless you want someone in the White House trying to censor your games and drumming up false panic for the sake of the children. Just put your head down and play your games for the next 4-8 years. It’s probably for the best.
Follow me on Twitter @William__Hicks.
