Basket of deplorables. That’s what the nazis and other white supremacists are to us. And that’s what we think everybody else thinks too. That’s why, when Charlottesville had a protest, that looked an awful lot like it was entirely nazis on one side, shouting “Heil Trump” and other slogans that are all too reminiscent of 1939 Germany, when those protesters showed up on our televisions and in our social media feeds, that’s why we all assumed the nation would agree that these were clearly the villains in the story that was unfolding. Trump came out and denounced the hatred “on all sides”… surely *this* would do the trick, surely the nation would see Trump the way the left-of-center had seen him this entire time, as a repugnant racist, or at least someone who would be willing to play to repugnant racists and embolden them beyond what should be considered reasonable in 1950, never mind 2017.
But here’s what the media and many of my friends are forgetting…. this already happened… not only had it happened, but it had happened in a number of different ways throughout the campaign.
Trump announced his candidacy by suggesting, essentially, that immigrants were the problem we were facing and that those crossing our southern border were nearly all (if not all) criminals of a particularly unsavory type. “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.” It doesn’t take much to unpack this and it matches his style entirely. He isn’t saying everybody that crosses the souther border is a criminal, that’s just what he’s heard about, right? He’s not saying something bad about a rival GOP candidate for President, he’s heard other people saying it, but he’s not saying it, he would never, but you’ve heard about it, right? But I digress… many understood that he was calling Mexican’s criminals and lowlife scum. Many thought he was a joke after that speech… but he wasn’t… and his supporters backed him.
Trump later called for a ban on Muslims entering the country. We had thought you couldn’t get more blatant with your racism but there it was. Subtly hidden within the fear that Muslims coming to our shores might be terrorists… that they are a great threat that must be dealt with. Nevermind that a vast majority of terrorist attacks on US soil since 2002 have been perpetrated by US born citizens, and that you’re hard pressed to find any non-US born perpetrators who came here after they were 10 years old. Nevermind that the terrorist attacks since 9/11/2001 are dwarfed in their number of victims by mass killings determined not to be terrorism. No, these Muslim immigrants are the problem. Many on the Left were shocked and enraged and thought, surely, surely this would indicate to the rest of the country that he couldn’t possibly be fit for the Presidency and the candidacy would falter… but it didn’t… and his supporters backed him.
Weeks before the general election, a tape came out that many on the left believed would be his downfall. In it, Trump can be heard discussing his behavior toward women, which the left critiqued as sexual assault and his supporters considered “locker room talk” and the thought of the actions described as, while not necessarily appropriate, also not terribly wrong either. Yep, the media and the left thought this was the end… but it wasn’t… and his supporters backed him.
Bill O’Reilly (I’m sorry, let’s take a moment to consider this came from O’Reilly… how far do you have to be from the beaten path of conservatism to have O’Reilly try to take you down) took his stab at Trump in early February 2017, pointing out that Putin is a killer and questioning the President’s respect for Russia’s leader. Trump’s response was “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?” At this, media and the left thought, surely, surely now people will understand the concerns we raised about his ties to Russia… But they didn’t… no, his supporters backed him.
That’s why, upon brief consideration, I was neither surprised nor particularly disheartened when I heard the comments made by our President in response to what popular culture considers the ubiquitous villain… nor was I surprised when the media attacked him and called for the denouncement of white supremacists as an obvious move that should have been taken… nor will I be surprised if his supporters continue to back him.
The Republican leadership in the House and Senate called for a stronger response, but they have called for him to behave differently in the past, they have backed away somewhat on their support for him and then come back to his side. The attack on President Trump surprised me, but within minutes of hearing about it, it made sense and it fit the narrative we’ve had for the last year.
The emboldening of racists, of nazis, the villain we love to see our heroes go up against, this has been coming for a long time. Our President has helped it along substantially and given this enemy aid and comfort. But none of this is particularly new to the equation and so I don’t believe this will have a true impact on Trump’s presidency. It will, however, have a real impact on the citizens who have to live in the midst of this crop of racists…. but that’s a post for another time.
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