My previous post about Kaylee McEnany prompted some responses, one of which was to answer back my point about how Kaylee always rattles off the same list of Trump's anti-racist remarks whenever she is confronted with Trump's obvious dog-whistle racism. This particular response came in the form of another YouTube video which cobbles together all (or nearly all) of the times Trump has decried racism or racists - a total of 17 times according to the video.
I'm no chicken, so here's the video for you to see yourself, right here.
Indeed, the video does show Trump denouncing racism quite a number of times. But immediately, I noticed two things:
1) Just about all of these took place back in 2016, when he was trying desperately to win, and nobody expected he would win, even him. During that period, Trump decried racism occasionally, because he had no choice. But after he was elected, it seems as though he simply said, "Fuck it!" And only decried racism after that point if he absolutely had to. (More on that, later.)
2) A huge portion of these denunciations were not of racism as a whole, but of one racist in particular, David Duke. It's relatively easy to denounce one person who also happens to be a failed politician. It's a little more difficult to denounce something that alienates a major element of your base when you're trying to win over the moderate center.
Take away the David Duke comments, and Trump's denouncements are slashed from 17 down to 9.
If we add up all the times Trump has denounced racism after 2016, the list drops down to 2.
Include the post-2016 incidents not listed in this video, and you get 4 at the most, including the first "debate" with Joe Biden, in which he said, "sure, I will" when asked if he would denounce white supremacists, but then didn't! He then turned around and said of the Proud Boyz, "Stand back and stand by." Now, the Proud Boyz are fascist, not racist, but that doesn't earn Trump any extra points in my book! I do very much think that "stand back and stand by" completely wipes out "sure, I will." Trump fans might wish to count that one, but I'm not willing to grant that kind of latitude. No way!
The following day, when Trump was asked why he didn't denounce white supremacy, he responded, "I've always denounced any form of that."
Of that! He can't even bring himself to say it. He has to play the pronoun game. No, fuck that shit. That one doesn't count, either.
That brings the total post-2016 number down to 3. Just three. And these are the three McEnany quotes the most in her press briefings.
I'd like to take a good look at those three. But first, it's helpful to note the many times Trump has said racist shit before and after this point.
1) Trump took out a full page ad in the New York Times calling for the execution of the "Central Park Five." Those five young black men turned out to be innocent.
2) According to the 1991 book by John O'Donnell called "Trumped," Donald once said "laziness is a trait in blacks."
3) Trump spent years promoting the "birtherism" conspiracy theory regarding Barack Obama. There is very little which could be more racist than that.
4) How can we ever forget Trump's comments when he first began his 2016 campaign? “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
5) Followed by his next big racist hit, "We're going to build a wall!" An anti-Latino platform if we ever heard it! "And Mexico is going to pay for it!" Of course, no wall was built aside of some wall segments being re-built, and Mexico didn't pay for jack shit!
6) Who could forget Trump's rally in June of 2016 when he pointed at one, lone black supporter and said, "Look at my African American over there."
6) Trump called the 1619 project "ideological poison" and that teaching it was a "form of child abuse in the truest sense of those words."
7) Trump referred to immigrants coming into California, "You wouldn’t believe how bad these people are. These aren’t people. These are animals."
8) Trump referred to the nations of El Salvador, Haiti and certain African nations as "shithole countries."
9) An ad the Trump campaign ran during the 2018 midterms was so racist even Fox News refused to air it.
10) In October 2019, Trump described his impeachment probe as a "lynching." He was utterly insensitive as to that word or its implications.
11) In May of 2020, Trump Tweeted, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." An old racist phrase dating back to the days of segregation in the Deep South.
12) He used phrases like "China virus" and "kung flu."
13) Referring to the four congresswomen known as "The Squad," Trump said they should "go back to the crime infested places from which they came." This, even though three of those four came from the U.S.
14) He referred to Senator Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas."
15) Regarding the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, NC, Trump said there were "very fine people on both sides."
16) Trump retweeted a video of a supporter yelling "white power!" He deleted it, but the fact that he shared it at all speaks volumes.
17) Trump tweeted that low income housing would "invade the neighborhood" of suburban housewives.
18) The number of racist tweets and re-tweets Trump has made over the last five years are too numerous to count.
19) Trump NEVER apologized for ANY of the items above! Not once!
Now, after that recap, we can finally take a good look at the three, measly examples that McEnany continually cites in her press conferences:
August 2019, "In one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and
white supremacy."
This one sounds good, at first. But this statement took place after two mass shootings happened, one in El Paso, Texas, and the other one in Dayton, Ohio. The El Paso shooter posted a manifesto online which was filled with racist hatred. Oh yeah, AND unwavering support for Donald Trump! After that, if Trump didn't issue a statement condemning racism and hatred, he was toast. So, left with no choice, he read it off the teleprompter. He never singled out the shooter by name and condemned his actions.
April of 2019, "We have no tolerance for those who disrupt this peace and we condemn all hate and violence, especially in our places of worship."
This statement was made on the "National Day of Prayer," but fell short of outright condemning racism. The phrase, "all hate and violence," sounds like it covers all the bases, but given this president's history, that's not enough. McEnany might like to include it in the list she rattles off during press briefings, but it simply doesn't count.
In August of 2017, 'Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups."
McEnany's quote from 2017 is precisely when Trump infamously said that there was bad behavior "on both sides." The part where he said racism was evil was read off a statement prepared in advance by a staff member. But when speaking off the cuff, and from the heart, he equated neo-Nazis with their protesters! That, as we all should know by now, is complete bullshit!
And this ties into what I pointed out earlier: Trump has only ever decried racism when he absolutely has to - such as when his back was against the wall in 2016, or when some major atrocity forced him to make a statement. And when he made a racist or dog-whistle remark, he never retracted it, never apologized for it, and never acknowledged that it was a wrong thing to say in the first place! Trump's supporters try to claim that those instances where Trump decried racism are when he showed his true colors, but I think we can all see that Trump's true colors were actually shown when he uttered racist remarks!
And THIS is why the KKK, and the neo-Nazis, and David Duke love him! They can read the tea leaves! The Right-Wing Media Cult, apparently, cannot.
So that's the best Trump supporters can come up with, eh?
Let's put this one to bed once and for all: Trump IS the most racist president we've ever had!
And what's more, we knew so all along.
Eric
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