Another day, another racist comment. Whether he’s retweeting or making his own racist remarks, Donald Trump apparently is aiming to be the most racist man in America.
Every day he seems to be one-upping himself as to how much he can offend people with his views. Like the crazy uncle, who ruins Thanksgiving dinner with his rolling commentary about “the good old days when people knew their place”, Trump is an example of the rabid racism that is enthralling his base but embarrassing the rest of the country.
Trump’s racism should come as no surprise. From the moment he announced his campaign to his defense of white supremacists in Charlottesville to this most recent proclamation, Trump has refused to hide his racism, or apologize for his comments. And while former President Obama is the most frequent target of his attacks, he never misses the opportunity to put his racism on full display.
This week alone he retweeted, and even thanked, a protestor who was chanting “White power!”. The video remained on his Twitter page for several hours because Trump was golfing and did not have his cell phone. Trump aides tried to defend the post by claiming Trump never heard the comment, but only retweeted the offensive video because of the signs showing support for him.
Next, Trump shared a video of a white couple pointing their guns at Black Lives Matter protestors who were walking to the home of the St. Louis mayor. The couple claimed they felt threatened even though none of the protesters came near their home.
And then there was the tweet calling the proposed Black Lives Matter mural across from Trump Tower in New York City “a symbol of hate”. He even went so far as to suggest NYC police officers block the painting. This follows the activists painting the words “Black Lives Matter” on the road leading to the White House.
Then there is the continuing saga of his defense of Confederate monuments and Confederate leaders. There has been a growing backlash against statues commemorating members of the Confederacy as well as those who mistreated Native Americans. States have been voluntarily removing these monuments, but they were not moving fast enough for protestors, so they began toppling the statues themselves. Declaring them a part of American history, and ignoring that the people honored by the statues were traitors, Trump signed an Executive Order making the penalty for damaging them even harsher.
When Congress, in a rare show of bipartisanship, proposed renaming certain army bases that bore the names of Confederate generals, there was immediate backlash. Like the statues, Trump claimed these names “honored” their namesakes. Never mind that they took up arms against the United States.
Trump has threatened to veto vital military funding if it includes renaming these military bases. Particularly rankling Trump is the fact the bill bears the name of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Of course he attacked her with his typical racist nickname.
Each of these moves, along with his angry tweet that NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag are nothing more than the actions of someone who no longer cares to hide his racism.
Early in his administration, Trump claimed to be “the least racist person in the world”. His recent actions indicates he's just the opposite.