Call it what it is: President is a racist

Bill Press says there’s a dangerous movement underway in the country, but not the one President Trump claims.

Donald Trump’s half-right when he says there’s a dangerous movement underway in the country.

There’s a dangerous movement underway, all right. It’s just not the one he claims. It’s not, as he claims, the “Black Lives Matter Movement” and, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, urgent efforts to expose, tackle and end systemic racism in this country.

No, it’s the attempt by a vocal minority of Americans to condemn the Black Lives Matter movement, deny the existence of racism, celebrate slave owners, legitimize white supremacism, and brand anybody who dares raise the issue of racism as anarchist, fascist or just plain un-American. It’s a dangerous movement, which glorifies the very worst of our past — and it’s led by Donald Trump.

On no other issue has Trump shown himself to be more out of touch with the American people or more unfit to be president.

This is a defining moment for America. It’s sad that it took the death of George Floyd to spark it, but the majority of Americans today not only acknowledge the persistent underbelly of racism in our police departments, schools, corporate headquarters, newsrooms, sports and Hollywood, but — and here’s what makes the Black Lives Matter Movement so unique and so powerful — demand change.

And, while it’ll take a long time to reverse centuries of builtin racism, change is already happening. In many cities, brutal police tactics have been banned and police officers have been charged with crimes. Editors and publishers have lost their jobs. Bands and sport teams have changed their offensive names (hopefully, Washington’s football team is next). NASCAR has banned the Confederate flag from its events. Many statues of Confederate generals have been torn down and more will follow. According to a new report by Civis Analytics, 15 million to 26 million Americans participated in mostly peaceful demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, which makes Black Lives Matter the largest movement in history.

This is a proud moment for America. And what’s Donald Trump doing about it? He’s leading the charge in the opposite direction. He’s not trying to end racism; he’s fanning the flames of racism and making it worse. Which is no surprise, because that’s who he is. He is now, and always has been, a flat-out white supremacist. He’s David Duke with orange hair. And, no more pussyfooting around, the media must start identifying him as such.

What more proof do you need? Before running for president, Trump was charged by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to black Americans. He took out full-page ads in the New York Times demanding the death penalty for the “Central Park Five,” even after charges against them had been dropped. For five years, he led the “Birther” movement denying the legitimacy of our first African American president. And he launched his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants “criminals and rapists.”

What more proof do you need? As president, he urged NFL owners to “fire the bastards,” referring to those African American players who took a knee to protest police brutality. He said we didn’t need any more people of color from “sh—hole countries.” He routinely humiliates women of color reporters at the White House and told four congresswomen of color to go back where they came from.

What more proof do you need? In just the last few weeks, he called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate” and compared protesters to “Nazis, terrorists and anarchists.” He retweeted the video of a supporter shouting “White power!” He defended the Confederate flag and falsely accused Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only full-time African-American driver, of faking a hate crime. He announced plans to gut fair housing regulations, which will make it harder for black families to own homes. Breaking with bipartisan tradition, he’s refused to unveil the official White House portrait of his predecessor, President Barack Obama. And this week he tweeted out: “The silent majority is stronger than ever before” — confirming his plans to run for reelection as a combination Richard Nixon/George Wallace, dividing the country and whipping up racial hatred.

So, this is nothing new for Donald Trump. As Anderson Cooper remarked on CNN, “He’s just leaning full into the racist he’s long been; he’s just letting us see it more clearly now than ever before.”

Since Trump doesn’t try to hide his racism, it’s time the media stopped using weasel words like “racially tinged” or “racially charged” to describe him. No longer. Call it what it is. Don’t mince words. Say it: Donald Trump is a racist.