Whoa, Nelly! Did Donald Trump inadvertently revealed so much racism at the National Association of Black Journalists convention! Please let me break it down for you.
Trump, ever irascible, grew even more short tempered than usual on Wednesday. The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer described Trump’s racial views succinctly in his magificent The Cruelty Is the Point, pointing out “his belief that American citizenship is conditional for people of color, who should be grateful we are even allowed to be here” and not dream of asserting the same rights as White. But here he was at Ground Zero for uppity Black people, and Trump was certainly not happy about it from the get-go.
Scowling, Trump complained that he got a “very rude introduction” and that no one has “ever been asked a question in such a horrible fashion.” In fairness, that might not have been racist. Trump assumes everyone owes him deference, while he doesn’t owe anyone else anything — including the courtesy of arriving on time. Trump was an hour late because he had to get into it with the fact checkers at the last minute. And he could hardly be expected to refrain from insulting those who went out on a limb by inviting Trump in the first place. That wasn’t rude or inconsiderate, mind you.
Then Trump proved that all Black people look alike to him. Not realizing that Harris Faulkner was one of Fox News’ Black sycophant anchors (remember, all Black people look alike!), he blamed her personally for what he claimed was a deficient public-address system. All that shucking and jiving for nothing! He didn’t even recognize her. Such a pity!
But obvious from Trump’s comment was his conviction that Blacks are inherently inferior to Whites. Trump said he couldn’t hear Faulkner’s question because of the “bad equipment, because this woman was unable to get the right equipment.” See? This Black woman wasn’t smart enough to get something that worked! Note that the TelePrompter repeatedly failed at last month’s Republican National Convention, but somehow that failure didn’t prove the incompetence of White people. Funny that.
Trump then pivoted to the Republican strategy of denying that Vice President Kamala Harris is Black. “So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black? She was Indian all the way, and all of a sudden, she made a turn and she became a Black person.” Gee, I wouldn’t have thought this would be too complicated for a man whose father was of German descent and whose mother was born in Scotland and came to the United States through what his followers would call “chain migration.” But denying Harris is Black is a strategy: fling racist tropes at her and deny they’re racist by saying she’s not Black. See, Harris is not Black; she just happens to fit all the racist stereotypes of being dumb, lazy, and unqualified. Uh, we see what you’re doing here, OK?
The rest of the time was a usual TrumpFest of lies, evasions, exaggerations, and gobbledygook. Asked to define “Black jobs,” Trump replied, “A Black job is anybody that has a job. That’s what it is. Anybody that has — they’re taking the employment away from Black people. They’re coming in, and they’re coming in, they’re invading.”
So not a Black job. OK. But aren’t those Brown people scary? And it’s an even-numbered year, so expect that migrant caravan talk to start up again!
The interview ended when, Faulkner asked a question about Project 2025 and Trump fled before the hour was over. He later boasted of how well he did. Yeah, that’s why you ran away like a pouting toddler. Sad!
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