Articles Feature

The Day It Became Easier to Say He’s Racist

by richard2 1554

President Crudely Insults El Salvador, Haiti, Africa

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Friday's Daily News in New York
Friday’s Daily News in New York

President Crudely Insults El Salvador, Haiti, Africa

The three television network evening news programs led Thursday with President Trump’s reported statement calling Haiti, El Salvador and African nations “shithole” countries and saying the United States should instead bring in more people from countries such as Norway.

From there the outrage grew in online commentary, in print and on cable talk shows, as well as among newsmakers.

Responding to the furor on Friday, Trump said on Twitter that his language was ‘‘tough,’’ but ‘‘this was not the language used.’’ He did not specifically deny using the word ‘‘shithole.’’

On the “CBS Evening News,” White House reporter Major Garrett said that CBS would not repeat Trump’s vulgarity, but quoted from a statement by Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, who tweeted, “@realDonaldTrump’s ‘shithole’ comments are further proof that his Make America Great Again agenda is really a Make America White Again agenda.”

Only four months ago, media were debating whether it was appropriate for ESPN’s Jemele Hill to use social media to call Trump a white supremacist.

Hill was suspended after agreeing with her bosses that her comment was out of line.

But Thursday night, news stories were recounting Trump’s history of such remarks. Another tweet quoted April Ryan on CNN: “This is a slap in the face of minority Americans…This is a very, very serious statement from the president of the United States of America.” Ryan tweeted the link to a 2012 article from the Center for American Progress, “5 Fast Facts About Black Immigrants in the United States.”

Don Lemon’s first sentence on “CNN Tonight” was “the president of the United States is racist,” CNN’s Brian Stelter reported in his “Reliable Sources” newsletter. “He repeated it: ‘He is a racist.’ And he said ‘a lot of us already knew that.’ He said viewers should look up Adam Serwer’s piece ‘The Nationalist’s Delusion…’

“Was this day a turning point?

“I’m not sure yet. But it might have been. Lemon was far from the only person who described Trump’s remark as ‘racist.’ Rachel Maddow said he’s an ‘openly racist president.’ Meanwhile, the top talking point on Fox was that ‘this doesn’t move the needle at all’ (Jesse Watters) and Trump supporters won’t leave him (Joe Concha)…”

On the Fox News website, for most of Thursday night the lead story was the nonjudgmentally headlined “Trump’s Immigration Anger: President laments entry from ‘s—hole countries’ during Oval Office negotiations.” But below it, “Pelosi mocks ‘white guys’ leading DACA talks, prompting Hoyer outrage” was tagged “Offensive Jab.”

On the Fox television network, Joseph A. Wulfsohn reported for Mediaite, “On Thursday night, Tucker Carlson gave a full-throated defense of President Donald Trump‘s reported ‘sh*thole countries’ remark regarding U.S. immigration policy — and how the U.S. admits people from from places like El Salvador, Haiti, and other African nations.

“ ‘President Trump said something that almost every single person in America actually agrees with,’ Carlson said. ‘An awful lot of immigrants come from this country from other places that aren’t very nice. Those places are dangerous, they’re dirty, they’re corrupt, and they’re poor and that’s the main reason those immigrants are trying to come here and you would too if you live there.’

“The Fox News host said that Trump’s use of the expletive ‘is not surprising’ since he ‘uses them all the time,’ but wondered why ]virtually everyone in Washington, New York, and LA’ is treating it like a ‘major event.’ ”

Michael M. Grynbaum of the New York Times reported, “Media outlets on Thursday took the unusual step of allowing the word ‘shithole’ to be used in print and on air, after a report that Mr.Trump had used the term to describe African nations and Haiti during a White House meeting with lawmakers on immigration.

“The unexpurgated expletive appeared, in capital letters, on the graphics known as chyrons that dominate the lower portion of the screen on CNN and MSNBC. (Fox News spelled the word with asterisks.) It showed up on smartphone push alerts sent by The Washington Post, which broke the story, and The Associated Press. . . .”

Also on CNN, an emotional and obviously disgusted Anderson Cooper told viewers of his time in Haiti and said, “Let me be clear, the people of Haiti have been through more, withstood more, fought back against more injustice… than our President ever has.”

A Facebook posting of Cooper’s remarks was viewed 533,000 times in its first hour on Facebook and had drawn 2,056 comments.

Cooper went on to quote James Baldwin, “Ignorance allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”

Additionally on CNN, black conservative Paris Dennard attempted to defend the indefensible before host Erin Burnett shut him down, Sarah K. Burris reported for RawStory.com.

Under the headline, “Trump’s ‘shithole’ comment is his new rock bottom,” Chris Cillizza, CNN editor-at-large, wrote, “What’s even more appalling is that the White House didn’t even try to deny that Trump used that slur, which was first reported in The Washington Post. In fact, in a lengthy statement from White House spokesman Raj Shah, the administration seemed to even defend the sentiment. ‘Certain Washington politicians choose to fight for foreign countries, but President Trump will always fight for the American people,’ said Shah.

“But it gets even worse. Asked about the ‘shithole’ comments, a White House official told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins this:

” ‘The President’s ‘shithole’ remark is being received much differently inside of the White House than it is outside of it. Though this might enrage Washington, staffers predict the comment will resonate with his base, much like his attacks on NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem did not alienate it.’

“Stop. Read that again. Here’s what it means: The President’s voicing of a racist remark about the sorts of people whom we are letting into the country is actually a good thing because people who like Trump will agree with him.

“Make no mistake: This is the lowest ebb of a presidency defined by a series of low ebbs and defining of the presidency downward. . . .”

Josh Dawsey reported about 4:40 p.m. Thursday for the Washington Post, “President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers Thursday in the Oval Office when they discussed protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal, according to several people briefed on the meeting.

“ ‘Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here, Trump said, according to these people, referring to countries mentioned by the lawmakers.

“Trump then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries such as Norway, whose prime minister he met with Wednesday. The president, according to a White House official, also suggested he would be open to more immigrants from Asian countries because he felt they help the United States economically.

“In addition, the president singled out Haiti, telling lawmakers that immigrants from that country must be left out of any deal, these people said.

“ ‘Why do we need more Haitians?’ Trump said, according to people familiar with the meeting. ‘Take them out.’ . . .”

The Haitian TImes, founded, published and edited by Garry Pierre-Pierre, a former New York Times reporter and Haitian-American, immediately used Trump’s remarks as a fund-raising tool.

“It is no exaggeration to say that Haiti and the Haitian community in the United States are under attack from this regime in Washington. We can’t and should no longer remain silent under such withering attacks,” he wrote in an emailed letter to potential subscribers.

Chris Sommerfeldt noted in the Daily News in New York, “Trump sang a completely different tune when he attempted to court Haitian-American voters in Miami in September 2016.

” ‘Whether you vote for me or not I really want to be your biggest champion,’ Trump told a small group of Haitian-Americans at a campaign rally in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. . . . ”

On Dec. 23, Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis reported for the New York Times that at a June White House meeting, Trump read aloud from a document listing how many immigrants had received visas to enter the United States in 2017.

“Haiti had sent 15,000 people. They ‘all have AIDS,’ he grumbled, according to one person who attended the meeting and another person who was briefed about it by a different person who was there.

“Forty thousand had come from Nigeria, Mr. Trump added. Once they had seen the United States, they would never ‘go back to their huts’ in Africa, recalled the two officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss a sensitive conversation in the Oval Office. . . .”

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2 comments

Professor Gregg W Morris January 12, 2018 at 1:33 pm

After giving it a little thought, it makes sense to me of Trump’s latest reminder of just how racist he is – not that I need a reminder. Whenever he has been grossly in trouble or has or is taking a serious shellacking in the public’s venue, he resorts to action, usually twitter, to play to and excite his goose-stepping core supporters.

Reply
richard January 14, 2018 at 7:28 am

Comments From The Root:

Bob A. Fett
1/12/18 10:34pm

This day could also be classified as “The day the media finally grew the balls it should have had since day one”.

Also, CNN and other mainstream media channels were complicit in getting Donald Trump elected, by normalizing him and treating him as just-another-candidate from day one of the campaign. Imagine if the media had said “This guy is a threat to democracy”, and resolved to black out all coverage of his campaign, the exact same way they black out coverage of third-party candidates?

Imagine.

I’ve long thought that if Trump was smart (haha), instead of going to war with CNN, he’d be sending them thank-you cards for helping him get elected.

billy-quizboy
Bob A. Fett
1/13/18 7:45am

On an almost weekly basis, our press was rife with this a declaration that I’d like them to adjust, now that the media have caught up with the rest of us:

Today, Donald Trump truly unbecame President.

Bob A. Fett
billy-quizboy
1/13/18 2:19pm

Far as I’m concerned, he never was President. The office is vacant. You don’t warrant that term if you attain it through cheating by means of colluding with foreign governments to steal an election, and I’ve resolved to never use the word “President” together with his name. I wish many more would do the same.

Babylon System
1/13/18 9:21pm

Basically, if you are white, you get the benefit the doubt times 1000, plus 100 chances to keep trying. (Maybe Trump will be different tomorrow?)

Babylon System
1/14/18 4:30am
Gr8p
Yep. That’s exactly it

1/13/18 3:43am
Gr8p
The Fox News anchor’s comment *smh*

When racist statements are made and a white person justifies it with ‘s/he is just saying what we all think’ ….

WTF? Who’s we? And if ‘we’ means white people, why on EARTH do they have a meltdown of white tears when called a racist?

Bronx Resident Benjamin White
1/13/18 1:12am

Thank you for reminding me about Jemele Hill. My memory, like the collective memories of most Americans, is incredibly short, and it seems like a lifetime ago that she got suspended for speaking the truth that is now hitting America in their face.

Bronx Resident Benjamin White
1/13/18 9:16am

I started following her on Twitter after that, even though I’m merely a social sports fan (ie if you have a party and invite me, and there’s chili and wings, and there’s a game on, I’ll make noise when everybody else does, and also eat all your wings). She’s a good one to follow, though.

Ms.Moon
1/13/18 11:07am

The problems in Haiti have been caused by white people being butt hurt that slaves got tired of being slaves and when things went pear shaped in France during the Revolution they took their freedom back. Haiti has been under punishment since then because white folks in the United States were scared that their slaves would do the same to them. The problems in Africa have been ongoing since colonialism in that continent upended traditional land and culture. Nigerians that are admitted into the US are also usually highly educated in my experience. El Salvador has problems because the drug cartels have a great deal of power. Americans have a drug problem and trafficking drugs to the US is quite profitable and the governments on both ends of the transactions are complicit. If Americans would stop using cocaine and other illegal drugs El Salvadorians and many other south and central Americans would be quite happy to stay home.
Reply
scowlybrowspinster—whose bitch face has not rested since November 8, 2016

1/13/18 11:33am

Speaking of shitholes…
4
(photo) https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/fbwr621x7utgcdqvrq1z.gif

Zenyatt
1/13/18 2:27pm

Well, I can’t beat the image of a dog pooping on Trump. However, I’m pretty amused at the response from Norway. It seems they like having excellent healthcare for all, paid maternal (and paternal, I believe) leave, and an overall higher standard of living.

Although they worded it less crudely, their response to Trump can be summed up as, “Why would we want to move to your sh**hole country?” Some explicitly cited Trump as a significant factor in their lack of interest in his offer.
Reply

Zenyatt
1/13/18 2:48pm

Also, someone needs to inform Trump that after Latin Americans, East and South Asian people make up the largest population of US immigrants. As usual, he has no idea what he’s talking about.

As someone that works in STEM education, I tend to meet the success stories. The students I have worked with from all the places Trump disparages are some of the best. They are usually bright, hard-working, and have better manners than most people.

I would not recommend Donald Trump challenge any of those students to an IQ test. I don’t think his fwagile widdle ego could handle the results.
Reply

Tool of the Matriarchy
1/13/18 8:30am

…the top talking point on Fox was that ‘this doesn’t move the needle at all’ (Jesse Watters) and Trump supporters won’t leave him (Joe Concha)…”

Well, even Fox News sometimes tells the truth. Trump making an openly racist statement will indeed not move the needle or alienate his supporters. They will be thrilled to hear him “tell it like it is”.

Reply

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