Trump's America is for whites only: Editorial
To paraphrase William Shakespeare, President Trump you know not what you do.
Tuesday’s press conference saw our Commander-in-Chief employing the tactic that is the equivalent of blood in the water for his base: I and anybody who supports me are the victims of a left-wing media conspiracy.
To hell with the 67 million Americans of color. Ignore the 10 million Americans who identify as LGBT, who still face bullying and bigoted laws that tell them where to go to the bathroom. Forget about the 96 million Americans who are not Christian.
On Tuesday, the man we elected to the highest office in our land said to all those millions of people: You are not persecuted. White, Christian Americans are.
To those who practice hate, our president said: You have a welcome seat at my table. I agree with you that white America is under attack.
Here are the facts, Mr. President. The Alt-Right, neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups that descended on Charlottesville want millions upon millions of Americans, including your daughter and son-in-law, to surrender all their rights, leave the country, or simply die in order to “purify” the United States of America.
This centuries-old false narrative that minorities must not be allowed to succeed has killed thousands of Americans, men and women, boys and girls. It has led to lynchings and church bombings. And it ended Heather Heyer’s life.
Yet Trump supporters like David Duke and Richard Spencer attract their minions by throwing gasoline on the paranoia, refusing to acknowledge that our country is great because of its diversity, not in spite of it.
Our president stood before the world Tuesday and stated unequivocally that “very, very violent” counter-protestors shared blame for what happened in Charlottesville.
“Nobody wants to say that. I’ll say it right now,” said Trump, employing the straight-talk strategy that has fooled so many voters into loving the messenger while ignoring the poisonous message.
Nobody wants to say it, Mr. President, because true Americans are not OK with chants of “Jews will not replace us” or "One people, one nation, end immigration."
Nobody wants to say it because nationalist and right-wing terrorists have killed about 10 times as many people as the “Alt-Left” since 1992.
True Americans respect freedom of speech. But true Americans cannot support hate.
We thought you felt that way for a brief moment on Monday. We now know that you have no concern or understanding that you are lending tacit support to people like Duke, Spencer and the members of our country’s more than 900 hate groups.
Where is your public rebuke of Mr. Duke, who thanked you on Twitter for your “courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville.”
This is the same man who on Wednesday followed the false narrative playbook when he tweeted: “Thousands of Black, Mexican and Jewish Groups work for their own interests. If Whites dare to defend their rights it is called ‘Supremacism.’”
There is no conspiracy against White America. There is only the opportunity for all Americans to make our great country even greater.
To be sure, violence was perpetrated by both sides in Charlottesville. But the president still has refused to directly blame the one side responsible for Heyer’s death. On Tuesday, he blamed the media for not reporting “her mother wrote me and said through, I guess, Twitter, social media, the nicest things.”
“If the press were not fake and if it was honest, the press would have said what I said was very nice.”
At a moment when humility and respect should take center stage, it was yet again thrown away to make room for ego and selfishness.
Mr. Trump, you are not a victim. You were elected president. You are said to be worth $3.5 billion.
Yet in your usual rush to play the victim, you have told the country you “lead” that hate is acceptable.
Mr. President, you are not the victim.
America is.
The News Journal's editorial opinions are decided by its editorial board, which is separate from the news staff.