Day 358: Donald Trump’s Racism is Systemic, Not Surprising

Don’t expect Republicans to do anything about it either.

There are mountains of evidence, spanning decades, that point to that fact that Donald Trump is a xenophobic racist.

There’s the Central Park Five.

There’s the housing discrimination.

There’s the incessant, unfounded birther campaign against Barack Obama.

More recently, he called Mexicans rapists, sought a blanket ban on Muslims entering the U.S., said all Haitians have AIDS, and thinks all Nigerians live in huts.

Of course, there’s also the “both sides” statements after the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump has surrounded himself— at every juncture of his life, including this one — almost exclusively with white men.

Based on his words and actions, Trump’s feelings about race and minorities are not a mystery.

That’s what makes his Thursday comments so unsurprising, if not wildly unbecoming for an elected public official to actually utter.

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.

Bipartisan members of Congress were in the Oval Office and Trump was so comfortable with casual racism that he just openly referred to Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as shitholes, while touting Norway.

Ironically, the very economy that Trump loves to tout is propped up by undocumented and first-generation immigrants, who, for microscopic wages, do dangerous and labor-intensive work that others will not. This is what keeps the cost of strawberries down, the skyscrapers rising and the streets clean. The very people that Trump overlooks and derides are the ones necessary to American society.

Of course, Trump doesn’t just disparage individuals, he disparages entire nations, entire continents.

Fearful of an awful reaction to his presence and mass protests, Trump abruptly cancelled next month’s trip to London before the Brits could do it for him. He tried spinning the narrative, but given the circumstances he couldn’t come up with much.

The embassy move was actually announced in 2008 under George W. Bush for environmental and security reasons. On top of that, if Trump was so against going to London now, he would never have previously agreed to do the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Some Republicans have grumbled about Trump in private. A few braver ones — typically those that are retiring — have been more forceful in public, but it’s clear after 358 days that Trump has carte blanche to say and do what he wants with no repercussions from anyone, within the party or otherwise.

Before his inauguration, some thought that working in the White House would humble Trump and, perhaps, round his sharp edges.

Turns out, it’s only emboldened him.

358 days in, 1104 to go

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