In support of Donald Trump’s latest utterance of “I am not a racist,” Republicans have gone from feigning deafness to declaring that Democrats are hearing things. As with every other incident showing that Trump holds positions that are overtly white nationalist and racist to the core, Republicans have worked hard and fast … to accept racism.
Trump’s declaration that at least one-half of the world consists of “shithole” nations drew official condemnation from Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon … and so on. More or less everyone, everywhere.
Governments and citizens across the world recoiled on Friday with disgust, outrage and sadness at reports that President Trump had described Haiti and unspecified African nations as “shithole countries” during a meeting with members of Congress on Thursday about immigration, asking why the American government would want to admit their citizens as immigrants.
“Recoiled with disgust” is certainly the appropriate response to Trump’s statement. The issue with what Trump said goes well beyond language. How Trump used that language as a bullhorn to make his distorted, shocking, and deeply racist views absolutely clear to everyone present is far more disturbing. The word is vile enough, but it only underlined his statements wishing we had more immigrants from countries like Norway, while declaring that he wanted to throw Haitians out and stop immigration from Africa.
Republicans have reacted to those statements by declaring what Trump said “kitchen table talk” or even embracing Trump’s racist label. But the statements from two Republican senators who were actually in the room show more than just the willingness of Republicans to accept crude, racist positions. They show how the cult of personality, which is all that remains of their party, automatically accepts anything that comes from Trump’s lips.
When Republicans Tom Cotton and David Perdue were asked about the meeting, they first experienced the memory loss that seems to plague so many Republicans.
"We do not recall the President saying these comments specifically but what he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest," they said in a statement.
But two days alter, Perdue and Cotton don’t just not remember Trump saying “shithole.” They definitely remember that he did not say “shithole.” And in fact, they were ready to turn what Trump said into an attack on Democrats.
Sen. David Perdue, of Georgia, said in an appearance on ABC's "This Week" that Durbin's account of Thursday's meeting at the White House was a "total misrepresentation" of what happened. ...
"I didn't hear that word either," Cotton said, adding, "I certainly didn't hear what Senator Durbin has said repeatedly."
Cotton and Perdue have gone from ignoring Trump’s racism to rolling in it. And in doing so they’re going way past ignoring his language. They’re ignoring that they came into that room with a bipartisan plan—one that gave them much of what Republicans want on immigration. Now they’re willing to burn that plan, toss any scrap of credibility, and join Trump in trying to make his ignorance and racism all Democrats’ fault.
Asked what he thinks about people who think he's racist, Trump said: "I am not a racist." He told reporters: "I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed. That I can tell you."
This is far from the first time Americans have heard this. In fact, “I am not a racist” may be Trump’s second most popular statement, right behind “there was no collusion.”
There’s a reason why Trump says these things so often.
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels. Among psychologists something like this known as the "illusion of truth" effect.
Donald “Not-a-racist, no-collusion” Trump repeats those things over and over to project the illusion of truth. He needs that illusion, because both are blatant lies.
Trump is a racist. There was collusion. And Republicans are enabling a tragedy that grows worse by the day.