WAS RACISM THE FUEL FOR TRUMP'S PRESIDENTIAL RUN?

 

Yes, I told a friend recently that I felt that Barack Obama's gentle chiding of Donald Trump at the 2011 Correspondents Dinner had been the impetus for Trump to run for president.

Indeed, my memory is slipping a bit.  I'd completely forgotten about the relentless "birther campaign" via Donald Trump, an attempt to discredit or call into question Obama's qualification to serve.

So, now I suspect that the root of Trump's decision is the 2008 election of a Black man to the presidency.

So, Barton, you're calling Trump a racist?

Absolutely!  Who, but a racist, would announce for that office by declaring Mexicans to be "rapists," but sometimes "good people?"

Who but a racist would characterize, as Trump did at Charlottesville, white nationalists as "good people?"

Stephen Miller

Who, but a racist, would hire as an advisor the fear-mongering, xenophobic, anti-immigrant Stephen Miller, purported to be the author of the Trump administration's Muslim ban?

As I see it, Donald J. Trump will be an integral part of American history textbooks in our schools going forward, not a mere footnote, but an entire chapter or two.

Trump's story won't be limited to his alleged criminality, provable lies or even racism, but it will also include his skillset in persuading so many Americans that he actually had their collective backs and that he could "Make America Great Again!"

A few days ago, I watched Trump's entire hour and fifteen minute campaign stop at Erie, PA.  

Trump captivated his audience, even while repeating familiar lines, doing "voices," including his own, mocking the "fake media," declaring Joe Biden "the worst president in our history" and getting "Amens" from the entire throng.

Yes, it was a con job, but you had to admire the excellent con artistry.  

That's the real Trump story for me, the duping of so many Americans, those now flying "Let's Go Brandon" flags on their front lawn with the acronym FJB on the flag image.

It's my contention, though, to be "perfectly clear", as Richard "Tricky Dicky" Nixon used to say, that Trump's run for office was rooted in racism.

He initiated his campaign with it and it is the glue that holds much of his base together.

His followers are still under his spell, rejecting reality.