Don Lemon is the host of The Don Lemon Show on YouTube.

Rome didn’t fall in a day. It collapsed over time, hollowed out by greed, distraction, corruption and ego. If America falls, it won’t be from war, disease or even an insurrection. It will be because one man couldn’t take a joke.

I remember the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner vividly. I didn’t attend that year; I anchored live coverage for CNN. That night, President Barack Obama stood before a ballroom full of journalists and lawmakers and delivered—as was tradition—a few barbs.

One was aimed squarely at Donald J. Trump.

Trump had, at that time, spent years promoting a racist lie that Obama wasn’t born in the United States. In his speech, Obama exposed the divisive absurdity with his trademark calm and wit.

“No one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than ‘The Donald,’” Obama said. “And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter: Like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?”

“All kidding aside,” he continued, addressing Trump directly, “We all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. For example, just recently, in an episode of (The) Celebrity Apprentice, at the steakhouse, the men’s cooking team did not impress the judges from Omaha Steaks. There was a lot of blame to go around, but you recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership. So ultimately, you didn’t blame Lil Jon or Meat Loaf. You fired Gary Busey. And these are the kinds of decisions that would keep me up at night.”

The laughter came fast and full. Not cruel, but cleansing. The way truth feels when it’s finally said aloud. The room saw it. Obama saw it. And Trump felt it.

He didn’t laugh. He didn’t blink. He sat frozen, jaw clenched. Seething.

Something had shifted. Not in the room. In him. The moment didn’t just bruise his ego. It cracked something open.

It wasn’t the joke that broke him. It was the realization that the world was laughing. Not with him, but at him. And that the man commanding that laughter was Black.

What we’re witnessing now, this slow collapse of democratic norms and personal vendetta masquerading as........

© The Daily Beast