Republicans the party of white racial grievance
Let me summarize the Republican platform for the coming election:
We are the party of white racial grievance. We believe those marching in Black Lives Matter protests are “thugs.” We see the term “systemic racism” as an unfair attack on white people. We support keeping Confederate monuments on their pedestals, and we have no idea why anyone would consider Confederate flags a problem. We are equal- opportunity racists. We see Latino immigrants as “bad hombres.”
And believe that using the racist term “Kung flu” to describe COVID19 is hilarious, not least becausewe are convinced that the COVID- 19 pandemic is basically over, anyway. Who cares what pointy- headed “experts” might say - we knowin our hearts that patriotic Americans don’t wear masks.
Those are some of the views Republicans endorse by uncritically embracing and supporting President Donald Trump. He is leading his party down a sewer of unabashed racism and willful ignorance, and all who follow him— and I mean all — deserve to feel the mighty wrath of voters in November.
I’m talking to you, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. And you, Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado. And you, Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Martha McSally of Arizona, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Steve Daines of Montana, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and John Cornyn of Texas. And while those of you in deep- red states whose reelection ordinarily would be seen as a mere formality may not see the giant millstones you’ve hung around your necks as a real risk, think again.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and even Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, you should look at the numbers and realize you are putting your Senate seats - and the slim GOP majority - in dire jeopardy.
You can run and hide from reporters asking you about Trump’s latest statements or tweets. You can pretend not to hear shouted questions as you hurry down Capitol hallways. You can take out your cell phones and feign being engrossed in a terribly important call. Ultimately, you’re going to have to answer to voters - and in the mean time you have decided to let Trump speak for you. Best of luck with that.
It is not really surprising that Trump, with his poll numbers falling and his reelection in serious jeopardy, would decide to use race and public health as wedge issues to inflame his loyal base. That’s all he knows how to do.
Most politicians would see plunging poll numbers as a warning to try a different approach; Trump takes them as a sign to domore of the same - more racebaiting, more authoritarian “law and order” posturing, more see noevil denial of a raging pandemic that has cost more than 120,000 American lives.
Racism is a feature of the Trump shtick, not a bug. He sees the nationwide protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd as an opportunity not to heal and reform, but to stir anger and resentment among his overwhelmingly white voting base. Trump wants no part of the reckoning with history the country seems to crave.
This week, city officials in Charleston, South Carolina - the place where the Civil War began - took down a statue of John C. Calhoun, a leading 19th century politician and fierce defender of slavery, from its 115- foot tall column in Marion Square and hauled it away to a warehouse. Also this week, Trump reportedly demanded that the Washington monument to Confederate Gen. Albert Pike, toppled last week by protestors, be cleaned up and reinstalled exactly as it was.
Trump went to Arizona not just to falsely claim great progress on building his promised border wall, intended to keep out the “hombres,” but also to delight fervent young supporters by referring to COVID- 19 as “Kung flu.” Weeks ago, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said that racist term was clearly offensive and unacceptable.
But since Trump hasmade it into a red- meat applause line, Conway now apparently thinks it’s a perfectly legitimate way to identify the virus’s country of origin.
All the other Republicans who fail to speak up while Trump runs themost nakedly racist presidential campaign since George Wallace in 1968 shouldn’t kid themselves. Their silence amounts to agreement. Perhaps there’s enough white bitterness out there to carry the Republican Party to another narrow win.
But that’s not what the polls say.
T rump’s antics are self- defeating. He’ll put on a racist show for a shrinking audience, but he won’t wear the masks that could allow the economic reopening he desperately. He may be able to avoid reality, but the Republican governors - including Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron De Santis of Florida - scrambling desperately to contain new outbreaks cannot.
It’s almost as if Trump is determined to destroy the Republican Party. Let’s give him his wish.