‘Racist,’ ‘socialist’ lines drawn for 2020
Trump, Democrats set raw contours
WASHINGTON — With tweets and a vote, President Donald Trump and House Democrats established the sharp and emotionally raw contours of the 2020 election campaigns.
In the process, they have created a fraught political frame: “racists” vs. “socialists.”
Trump’s aggressive condemnation of women of color in Congress has allowed House Democrats to mend, for now, their own political divisions as they put the president on record with a resolution condemning his words as racist.
But by pushing the House majority into the arms of the squad of liberal freshman women, Trump also adds to his narrative that Democrats have a “socialist” agenda, a line he started to focus on during the State of the Union address.
Political triumphs are being claimed on all sides. Yet it’s unclear whether either approach is what’s needed to sway independent-minded voters who typically determine congressional and presidential elections. And at a time when polling shows Americans sense a worsening of racial attitudes, the searing attacks are tapping potentially explosive emotions.
“I do think I’m winning the political fight,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “I’m winning a lot.”
Whoever is “winning,” there was no cooling off on Wednesday. Trump jetted off to a campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, while the House voted on a resolution on impeachment. A majority of Democrats joined united Republicans in killing the measure.
In all, the current state of affairs offers “a very clear choice,” said Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.
“The Democrat party is now a socialist party, and these four women have become the de facto speakers of the Democrat House,” she said on Fox. “So he’s saying, do you want socialism or do you want what we’re delivering with higher jobs, higher wages, more jobs, a strong economy.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that Americans have already heard enough from Trump, with his “disgusting” remarks.
“The president knows the arguments that are being made against him and he wants to distract from them,” Pelosi said. “Let’s not waste time on that,” she said. “We’re talking about what we’re going to do to help the American people.”
The four freshmen, in their own appearance together, portrayed the president as a bully who wants to “vilify” not only immigrants, but all people of color. They’re fighting for their priorities to lower health care costs, pass a Green New Deal addressing climate change, while his thundering attacks are a distraction and tear at the core of America values.
“America has always been about the triumph of people who fight for everyone versus those who want to preserve rights for just a select few,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
The women, Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, all were born in the U.S. except for Omar, who became a U.S. citizen after fleeing Somalia with her family.