It was about a month ago when Axios reported that in a possible second term for donald trump, his team intends to “drastically change the government’s interpretation of civil rights-era laws to focus on ‘anti-white racism’ rather than discrimination against people of color.” When asked for comment, the Republican’s campaign didn’t exactly deny its interest in reversing policies designed to address systemic racism.
The former president, his spokesman said, “is committed to eliminating discriminatory programs and racist ideology throughout the federal government.”
A Washington Post analysis Shortly thereafter he explained that, in context, “discriminatory programs” referred to “those that attempt to address systemic racial disadvantages.” “It is an evolution of the idea that affirmative action policies intended to eliminate these imbalances are, in fact, racist against whites.”
It was in this context that Eric Cortellessa, of Time magazine, Trump asked directly. If you agree with his followers who believe that “racism against white people now represents a bigger problem in the country than racism against black people.” He didn’t exactly answer the question, at least not initially, preferring to complain about anonymous Biden administration officials.
““They are against Catholics,” the presumptive Republican candidate saying. “They are against a lot of different people. “They don’t really even know what they’re against, but they’re against a lot of things.”
I understand. The Catholic president has hired a team of officials who are not Catholic and they have lost track of who they don’t like the most. Thank goodness we have Trump to explain these complex issues so clearly.
But as part of the same exchange, the former president went on to say, “I think there’s definitely anti-white sentiment in this country and that can’t be allowed either.” When asked how he would approach this from the White House, Trump added:
Or put another way, Trump isn’t entirely sure what he would do, but he’s still sure there is a “problem” related to “anti-white bias.”
Returning to our previous coverageOn the surface, the rhetoric wasn’t exactly a surprise. The idea that white people in America are victims of systemic discrimination is ridiculous and offensive, but it is an element of the MAGA worldview.
What is surprising is the electoral risk that Trump apparently feels comfortable taking.
there is some evidence that many black voters are willing to give Trump a second look before the 2024 election. To be sure, there are many public opinion analysts who believe that Trump’s support among black voters in recent polls is largely a mirage and the data should be viewed with great skepticism, but the former president and his team are likely excited by the mere prospect of making gains in one of the Democratic Party coalition’s most important constituencies.
Let’s say, for the sake of conversation, that the recent polls are correct and that a significant number of black voters are actually willing to overlook Trump’s many failures and long record of overt racism.
If that’s the case, shouldn’t the Republican at least try to keep these voters in favor? Why would Trump tell black communities in an election year that he is deeply concerned about the “problem” of “anti-white bias” as his team prepares to shift the federal government’s focus toward protection of whites from discrimination?
This post updates our Related Previous Coverage.
This article was originally published in MSNBC.com
