Trump feeds his voters another scam, wrapped in racist packaging
Trump just unleashed a new tweetstorm aimed at the four nonwhite congresswomen he has been targeting, accusing them of “vile” and “hateful” and “pro-terrorist” rhetoric, and bashing the Democratic Party for refusing to take on the “Radical Left.”
Trump sees this as a winner, claiming that he cleverly forced the party to defend Ocasio-Cortez and “the Squad,” and this is “Not good for the Democrats!” Some pundits have endorsed this idea, suggesting this is the turf Trump wants 2020 fought upon.
Similarly, Trump campaign operatives tell The Post’s Jacqueline Alemany that this is brilliant politics. One claims Trump’s attacks “reinforced in the minds of many Americans that the Democratic Party is the party of AOC and Omar."
What’s strange about this argument is that it pretends the last major national election never happened. Indeed, it’s worth recalling that Trump allies made an almost identical boast in the runup to the 2018 elections.
“I want them to talk about racism every day,” former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon said in August 2017. “If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.”
“The Democratic Party is at grave risk of completely marginalizing itself,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller said in the summer of 2018, scoffing at the party’s alleged embrace of “absolutist anti-enforcement positions,” and of “vile” MS-13 members.
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It’s likely that these boasts are themselves just another scam, that Trump and his advisers know this strategy can’t get it done, and that they’re just trying to tell the base that Trump is on offense and winning everywhere once again. This very well may be all about revving up fundraising.
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But if Trump does win reelection, it won’t be because of these race-baiting attacks. And anyone who is inclined to hail this strategy for its brilliance should feel obliged to explain how it squares with recent history, and to show it the skepticism it deserves.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/07/16/trump-feeds-his-voters-another-scam-wrapped-racist-packaging/?utm_term=.469e5db9a8ab