The cosmic disappointment of a son only Donald Trump could have, Donald Trump Jr., was on ExtraTV on Tuesday to discuss his new book, Liberal Privilege. I believe the book is sold exclusively at the Hypocrites Handbook Book Store on Nepotism Island, in the magical land of Cowpie. Right out of the gate, Junior was asked by Extra host Rachel Lindsay what he thought of the statement Black Lives Matter, as well as the movement underneath its umbrella.
Trump Jr. stammered his way into explaining that “the phrase Black Lives Matter is obvious, ah no one in America, you know, says anything else.” Lindsay, who is Black, cut Trump Jr. off to remind him that yes, in fact, there are tons of people that say almost anything else besides Black Lives Matter. Trump Jr. responded that “no one” he knew did. Welcome through the looking glass, Extra! This is the Trump family, of course, so somehow this was the least offensive and ignorant thing Junior said in the interview. It was the first question, so he was likely just warming up those three brain cells he’s working with.
Junior went on to explain that he thought Black Lives Matter was a “very good marketing message,” and a “great catchphrase,” but that the political ideology behind it didn’t support it. As opposed to, I guess, Trump and Junior’s white supremacist agenda. Trump Jr. went on to defend his father’s lack of communication with Jacob Blake’s family and his very direct communication with the Kenosha police department. His defense was the same one we’ve already heard: Trump called someone and the Blake family had asked that their family lawyer be on the call—and we know lawyers not in Trump’s pocket spook Donald Trump—and the police department that Trump was meeting with are fighting to save businesses.
Lindsay, a former reality television contestant, did about as well as any traditional media outlet host could, pointing out that those hollow talking points aside: “Why hasn't the Trump Administration or President Trump condemned what happened in Kenosha with Kyle Rittenhouse—coming across state lines and murdering two people and injuring another?”
It is here that Trump Jr. reminds the world exactly who the Trumps are:
DONALD TRUMP JR.: We're waiting for due process. We're not jumping to a conclusion. If I put myself in Kyle Rittenhouse’s shoes, maybe I shouldn't have been there. He's a young kid. I don't, I don't want 17-year-olds running around the street with AR-15s. Maybe I wouldn't have put myself in that situation. Who knows? But we all do stupid things at 17.
It looks like some of us continue to live a life of doing “stupid things” well into their 40s. Maybe Trump Jr. can speak to his father’s full page ad calling for the death penalty for the five children who lost decades of their lives, only to be exonerated later. Those kids were 14-year-old Kevin Richardson, 14-year-old Raymond Santana, 15-year-old Antron McCray, 15-year-old Yusef Salaam, and 16-year-old Korey Wise. Those kids were straight up doing “stupid things,” but went to jail for some completely other man’s truly evil actions. The reason those teenagers were falsely treated like rapists and attempted murderers was because they were children of color in a New York City where law enforcement’s job is to keep people of color far away from white supremacists like Donald Trump Jr.
Yes, we all know that being young is filled with doing “stupid things.” But there are degrees of stupid, and what is excruciatingly clear is that people like Donald Trump and his progeny believe that white youth are more valuable than Black youth, and therefore the rules must be applied differently. It’s that fundamental difference that is the root of white supremacy.