No, Trump not a bigot or anti-Semite, just uses bigotry to get what he wants

Posted by | July 7, 2016 09:54 | Filed under: News Behaving Badly Opinion Politics

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Ari Rabin-Havt has it right:

Throughout his career, Trump has used bigotry in the same way he has used bankruptcy. It is a tool that he uses to achieve personal or, now, political profit.

In previous decades, to benefit his casino business, Trump ran ads claiming a Native American tribe’s “record of criminal activity is well documented.” When an allegedly mob-connected high roller demanded his casino floor be cleared of African-American dealers, Trump’s staff at the Taj Mahal readily complied. (For that bigoted act he was fined $200,000.)

Seeking publicity in the 1980s, he stoked racial tensions in New York, running ads following the arrest of five African-American teens in connection with a horrific rape in Central Park, calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty. The teens were later exonerated after spending years in prison. Yusef Salaam, one of the falsely accused, called Trump the “fire starter.”

Trump’s recent success in politics has been in large part thanks to his willingness to exploit racial mistrust for his own benefit. His political rise began when he attached himself to racist claims that President Obama might not have been born in the United States. While announcing his candidacy, Trump claimed that Mexicans migrants are “rapists.” Later, he declared that as president he would bar Muslims from entering the United States.

For decades Republicans have obeyed Lee Atwater’s maxim and sought to use ever more coded language to hide their electoral appeals to racism and bigotry. Trump’s campaign is unconventional in the way that he has broken with this pattern as well.

Political racism is no longer expressed through campaign ads showing an understated glance from a single African-American prisoner walking through the revolving door of a prison or a pair of white hands crumpling a piece of paper. Like his buildings, Trump’s bigotry knows no subtlety. His campaign’s attempts to stoke racial animus are loud, brash, plated in gold and stamped with his name.

Trump may or may not be a bigot, but his message is designed to advance bigotry by promoting it as the answer to any number of economic and social problems. This message has understandably attracted those who openly and proudly promote hate. It is no accident at this point that his campaign has repeatedly retweeted whitesupremacists’ accounts.

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Copyright 2016 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

18 responses to No, Trump not a bigot or anti-Semite, just uses bigotry to get what he wants

  1. Larry Schmitt July 7th, 2016 at 09:55

    You know what they say: If it walks like a bigot, and quacks like a bigot …

    • anothertoothpick July 7th, 2016 at 10:02

      …should get a reality TV show?

      • Tommie July 7th, 2016 at 10:36

        And possibly the White House!

  2. mea_mark July 7th, 2016 at 10:02

    I think the word is ‘Demagoguery’.

  3. Suzanne McFly July 7th, 2016 at 10:24

    Bull$hit, if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, and keeps posting duck style twitter comments, it’s an effin duck.

  4. oldfart July 7th, 2016 at 10:26

    He gets what he wants by any means necessary.
    Loosely translated it means screwing anyone and everyone he has too.
    (including the republican party)

  5. Leannie July 7th, 2016 at 10:31

    Ok….let’s break this down…and I didn’t even make it past the freaking headline….If one “uses bigotry to get what he wants” then guess what, that person is a bigot.

  6. Tommie July 7th, 2016 at 10:35

    David Duke must be so proud!

  7. labman57 July 7th, 2016 at 10:35

    Translation: For Trump, propagating bigotry is not personal, it’s just good business.

  8. William July 7th, 2016 at 10:40

    He is simply pandering to his base.

    • Suzanne McFly July 7th, 2016 at 10:41

      Hopefully in November we can change the “Gains Voters” to “Loses Election”.

  9. StoneyCurtisll July 7th, 2016 at 10:50

    Even Republican strategist hate Donald Trump…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1gNO91qz10

    • Suzanne McFly July 7th, 2016 at 11:18

      It’s okay Stoney, he isn’t really racist, he just does things like this to appease his voters.

      • StoneyCurtisll July 7th, 2016 at 11:22

        If you say so…:)

  10. StoneyCurtisll July 7th, 2016 at 11:09

    Trump is such a fan of Saddam, he will deal with “terrorist” (anyone not loyal) in the same way that Saddam did..
    And do not think for a moment that anyone disloyal to trumps leadership will not meet the same fate as they did under the rule of Saddam…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm64E5R12s8

    • Mensa Member July 7th, 2016 at 13:28

      That video needs a disclaimer. I’ve seen it before and it still gives me the chills.

      It’s not often one gets to see a sociopath doing their evil so nakedly.

      • StoneyCurtisll July 7th, 2016 at 19:30

        Yes..

        It is rather chilling to watch…

        And even more so when you add in the Trump,(a U.S. Presidential candidate) admiration for Saddam.

  11. Mensa Member July 7th, 2016 at 13:24

    Trump is a classic racist.

    Ironically, you don’t have to be a bigot to be a racist.

    You just have to abuse a minority race to you majority advantage.

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