Trump Masks His Real Racism Under False Patriotism
President Donald J. Trump is introduced on stage Saturday, March 2, 2019, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)
Moments like these require unrelenting truthtelling. We take pride in being reader-funded. If you like our work, support our journalism.
On Sunday, President Trump retweeted a video clip of one of his supporters yelling, “White power!” Trump thanked and praised the supporter who was shown at the Villages retirement community in Florida.
A few hours later, after millions had already watched the video, Trump deleted his tweet, and the White House coughed up this weak pablum of an excuse for him:
“President Trump is a big fan of The Villages. He did not hear the one statement made on the video. What he did see was tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.”
But Trump has not condemned the “white power” statement or disavowed the sentiment. The racist violence Trump foments is indelible and unmistakable, despicable and dangerous.
In the wake of George Floyd’s brutal murder by now-former police officers, and the surge of the Black Lives Matter movement, Trump continues to weaponize false patriotism while cementing his role as Racist-in-Chief.
Earlier this month, Trump tweeted a familiar refrain about National Football League players who take a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice: “if they don’t stand for our National Anthem and our Great American Flag, I won’t be watching!!!”
Trump has steadfastly excoriated athletes who take a knee during the anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality against Black people. But all his flag hugging is a thinly disguised ruse: New reporting shows Trump is anything but loyal to our country.
The New York Times dropped a bombshell on Friday, reporting that Trump was briefed in March about Russia paying bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Multiple news outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal have corroborated The Times’ reporting.
The Trump administration hasn’t censured Russia or taken any punitive action in response to intelligence officials’ reports of cash offers for killing American active duty service members. On the contrary. In May, Trump said he wanted to invite Russia to the G7 Summit and is now reportedly planning to withdraw troops from Germany – a move that would help Russia. This is in line with President Trump’s history of unpatriotic capitulation to Russia.
President Trump, who has made over 19,000 false or misleading statements, has denied that he was briefed.
While he has refused to criticize Russia or Vladimir Putin, Trump’s racist rants about preserving Confederate monuments have been deafening. On Saturday, he signed an executive order calling for criminal prosecution of protesters who tear down monuments that celebrate slave owners.
President Trump has been calling Black Lives Matter protestors thugs, terrorists, anarchists, and accused them of treason. Trump unleashed military police on peaceful protestors outside of the White House for the purpose of staging a church photo op. Trump spent some of this weekend tweeting wanted posters of Black Lives Matter protestors.
Trump is feeding the malignancy of racist hatred. He is whitewashing and perpetuating our country’s 400-year-old history of violence against Black people, using fake patriotism as a sword and shield.
Looking to make a difference? Consider signing one of these sponsored petitions: *Rantt Media may receive compensation from the partners we feature on our site. However, this in no way affects our news coverage, analysis, or political 101's.
