As the final presidential debate rolled around on Thursday evening of Oct. 22, a date that is 12 days shy of election day, President Trump was asked a question about race relations in America and his adamant disapproval of the Black Lives Matter movement, with moderator Kristen Welker citing examples of him referring to it as a symbol of hate and additionally spreading violent white supremacist videos to his large following. To this topic, Trump asserted one statement: "I'm the least racist person in this room."
Besides the fact that Trump deemed himself the "least racist person" in front of Kristen Welker—a Black woman—this statement is ridiculous when considering various instances where Trump has directly targeted and harmed BIPOC communities. Despite constantly referring to his criminal justice reform and allocated support towards historically Black colleges, Trump is in no shape or form an antiracist individual. Below are three—out of the very many—situations where his bigotry becomes evident.
1. Trump has refused to apologize for funneling $85,000 toward an ad calling for the five individuals falsely convicted in the Central Park Five case to be subjected to the death penalty.
The Central Park Five case, where five young Black and Hispanic men were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman, is an infamous example of Trump's blatant racism because, despite these individuals being exonerated, Trump has never apologized for the tens of thousands of dollars he spent on ads calling for their executions. It's impossible to deny that Trump's support of their deaths was in large part motivated by the color of their skins. In the ad itself, Trump also claimed that everybody was far too concerned about police brutality—written after the fatal shooting of a disabled and elderly Black woman—that they weren't allowing the police to do their jobs. Through these vicious and appalling statements and calls to actions, Trump exacerbated tensions and negatively influenced the minds of those around him.
2. In the first presidential debate, Trump refused to condemn white supremacy, instead simply declaring for the Proud Boys, a far-right group, to "stand down and stand by."
It's difficult and I would argue impossible to view the phrase "stand by" as a condemnation, which is exactly what the Proud Boys didn't interpret it as. Instead, they began recycling this phrase and basking in the pride that accompanies the president's support and mention. Trump additionally attempted to derail the topic by bringing in left-wing groups, claiming they were the ones at fault for the situations occurring in various cities throughout. Explicitly condemning white supremacy and the violence it's affiliated with is not a difficult task; it's actually rather simple. Trump's inability to do so is incredibly harmful and dangerous, once again revealing that an individual who refuses to denounce white supremacy cannot bestow upon himself the title "least racist in this room."
3. Recently, Trump began calling President Barack Obama by his middle name, "Hussein," which is a direct reference to the racist citizenship theories that saturated politics prior to Obama's victory.
One situation of this occurred very recently at a North Carolina campaign event, where Trump declared, "I think the only one more unhappy than crooked Hillary that night [of the 2016 election] was Barack Hussein Obama". There is malice and intent behind the inclusion of Obama's middle name because Trump is cognizant that the majority of his fanbase is supportive of the citizenship "conspiracy theory," where Obama is supposedly born in Kenya, smuggled into the U.S. as a child, and thus shouldn't be president. Racist supporters of this theory frequently reference Obama's middle name in an effort to validate this ludicrous claim. Thus, Trump intentionally referring to Obama as Hussein is done in an effort to appeal to racist sentiments, which Trump himself harbors and spews.
Instances where Trump reveals his racist beliefs are certainly not limited to these three instances; however, these are ones that I think truly demonstrate how false Trump's claim is. Vice President Joe Biden presented a statement I believe rings true: Trump is "one of the most racist presidents we've had in modern history."
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