Day 917: Trump uses A$AP Rocky arrest to pander to black voters

A week removed from words and actions that reiterated just how deep Donald Trump’s racism runs, he’s now trying to pander to black voters.

Earlier this month, musician A$AP Rocky was arrested in Sweden and charged with assault. Rocky maintains a fight broke out, he defended himself and was not the provocateur. He’s set to remain in prison until next week’s trial.

Trump has decided to make the arrest and detention of an American on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean into an attempt to win voters domestically in a pretty transparent way, including invoking the “African American Community [sic].”

While Trump is critical of Sweden and the prime minister, under most circumstances a U.S. president wouldn’t be able to single-handedly free a prisoner from a foreign nation either. The idea of a quid pro quo because “we do so much for Sweden” is especially silly in this instance.

More, ironically, the right wing party in Sweden is using a very similar playbook to Trump that was likely inspired by Trump.

Almost every week, the party posts new stories about rising violence caused by immigrants from Africa and the Middle East who are terrorizing native-born Swedes, headlines that have begun to prompt eerily familiar slogans like “Skicka hem dem” or “Send them home,” a sentiment that seems to have gained traction thanks to Trump.

In short, Trump is trying to capitalize on an international situation on par with the same racial tensions he stokes domestically.

917 days in, 545 to go

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