Arizona Politician Ruins ‘BDE’ for All of Us by Saying Trump and DeSantis Have It

Sunday’s speech was, of course, a stupid piece of political theater. But Lake used it to gas up DeSantis—a man whose popularity among grassroots Republicans was meant to inspire Arizona’s ultra-conservative voters to turn out—thereby killing the concept of BDE. “That guy has a backbone made of steel. I’ll tell you what he’s got—I don’t know if you’ve heard of this—but he’s got BDE. Anybody know what that means?” she said to muted applause. “Ask your kids about it later. I call it Big DeSantis Energy. He’s got the same type of BDE that President Trump has. And frankly, he has the same BDE that we want all of our leaders to have.” If I could remove my ears and let them marinate in a bucket of sanitizer for a week after hearing this, I would.

Like “social justice warrior” and “woke,” BDE had a pretty good run with its proper definition. The concept initially sprung out of the love between Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson—a whirlwind affair held together by tattoos and tabloid coverage. But since Davidson’s latest relationship has given away to yet another possible fling, the concept was probably on its way out anyway. Lake just drowned it.

After her speech made the rounds and was mocked quite a bit, Lake tweeted a defense of her BDE take. “Uh-oh! Twitter is on first because I said President Trump & Gov. Ron DeSantis both have ‘BDE.’ I stand by what I said.” For what it’s worth, that response is some very weak BDE.

Politicians should really know to stay away from internet slang but, if they absolutely cannot resist, they really shouldn’t try to rebrand a concept like Big Dick Energy into Big DeSantis Energy just to suck up to another shitty politician. They only embarrass themselves and ruin the fun for the rest of us. Before Lake can whine that “the site for ladies says I’m old and out of touch because I wanted to praise our men,” let me say, yes; that is what we are saying.

BDE had a good run, but this deeply embarrassing speech means we must push it out to pasture. BDE is no longer a quick way to signify someone is cool and has a big penis. Instead, it’s being used to describe Trump and a man whose state government is intent on attacking trans people. The (sadly) natural evolution of slang means we have to say goodbye to some things. Would it have been nice to keep the BDE shorthand around while we watch Davidson court whoever is next? Yes! But that’s a different world, a world we don’t live in.

So let’s pour one out for all the people whose big-dick-emanating energy can no longer be their primary personality trait. It’s time to put BDE on ice.

Maybe then we’ll be able to save it.