“Was Donald Trump elected due to racism and a resurgence in white nationalism?”
We have just experienced perhaps the most controversial election of our lifetimes. This election brought many divisions that we have had out into the open, and is causing mud to be flung from all sides of the political spectrum, in different directions.
While I don’t see Donald Trump as being some sort of ideal leader, I think that it’s important to give him a chance at the job. I’ve known for some time now that much of the media (on whichever side) tends to distort things in order to push its ideological viewpoint. This election was thus far, the most extreme that I have seen of that.
I’m now going to talk about some of the common talking points that have been hurled at him, and try and separate the truth from fiction.
“Donald Trump said that all Mexicans are rapists!”
No.. He never said that. Here’s the statement in full:
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
This statement was made as an address to people who have come here legally. He said literally in the sentence after “rapists” that some people who come here illegally are good people. The point here was to illustrate that with more lax immigration, it’s harder to separate the good from the bad.
Now let’s compare this to Bill Clinton’s 1996 presidential platform:
“We cannot tolerate illegal immigration and we must stop it. For years before Bill Clinton became President, Washington talked tough but failed to act. In 1992, our borders might as well not have existed. The border was under-patrolled, and what patrols there were, were under-equipped. Drugs flowed freely. Illegal immigration was rampant. Criminal immigrants, deported after committing crimes in America, returned the very next day to commit crimes again. President Clinton is making our border a place where the law is respected and drugs and illegal immigrants are turned away.”
Oddly enough, nobody that I have encountered has called Bill Clinton racist now or then.
Here’s also what Trump said regarding legal immigration:
“Just as immigrant labor helped build our country in the past, today’s legal immigrants are making vital contributions in every aspect of national life. Their industry and commitment to American values strengthens our economy, enriches our culture, and enables us to better understand and more effectively compete with the rest of the world.
We are particularly grateful to the thousands of new legal immigrants, many of them not yet citizens, who are serving in the Armed Forces and among first responders. Their patriotism should encourage all to embrace the newcomers legally among us, assist their journey to full citizenship, and help their communities avoid isolation from the mainstream of society. We are also thankful for the many legal immigrants who continue to contribute to American society.”
“Doesn’t Trump hate Mexicans because he wants a southern wall?”
Then what does that make Hilary and Obama who voted for the “Secure Fence Act” of 2006? Champions of multiculturalism? The only difference was that it called for a 700 mile fence, rather than a 1,000 mile wall.
Also, note that Obama has deported more illegal immigrants (around 2.5 million) than any other president. Now granted, this number doesn’t tell the whole story. It factors in people who were turned back at the border, and never technically made it in. But it’s pretty hypocritical to ignore this while labeling Trump a bigot.
“Trump has gained traction due to the support of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups!”
The KKK is the largest white supremacist group in the country. Do you know how many are people in the Klan today?
The Anti-Defamation League estimates that the number is around 3,000, while the Southern Poverty Law Center estimates 6,000 members.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that the number is 6,000.
What percentage of the population is 6,000 out of a nation of 325,000,000+? (This total US population number is rounded down, and doesn’t include people who are here illegally)
Less than .00184%. That’s how much of the population of the US accounts for Klan membership. And I wonder how many of those are actual members and not FBI informants, or undercover cops.
No major political faction would try to court the Klan. What sense would it make? It’s too minuscule to even matter as a voting base, wouldn’t provide much in the way of finance, and would be political suicide to do so.
Why try to gain the support of a voting base that makes up less than .00184% of the population, while alienating much larger bases? There are roughly 118 million minorities in this country that would most likely go in the opposite direction if they saw a politician getting friendly with the Klan.
Notice something too; if you Google “Trump and the KKK” you get millions of hits. There are many, many times more pages dedicated to Trump and the Klan, than there are actual Klan members!!
“Didn’t Donald Trump get support from David Duke, the ex Klan leader?”
No. Duke spoke out in favor of Trump, but didn’t give him a formal endorsement.
Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg: “ I don’t need his endorsement, I certainly wouldn’t want his endorsement.”
Trump has repeatedly spoken out against Duke over the years, even refusing to run on the “Reform Party” presidential ticket in 2000, in part because Duke came out in support of Patrick Buchanan when he ran. Trump said at the time: “You’ve got David Duke just joined — a bigot, a racist, a problem. I mean, this is not exactly the people you want in your party.”
The only “proof” that Trump was sympathetic to Duke was from this interview where he was questioned about whether he would renounce the Klan. Trump said:
“I have to look at the group. I mean, I don’t know what group you’re talking about,” Trump said. “You wouldn’t want me to condemn a group that I know nothing about. I’d have to look. If you would send me a list of the groups, I will do research on them and certainly I would disavow if I thought there was something wrong. You may have groups in there that are totally fine — it would be very unfair. So give me a list of the groups and I’ll let you know.”
Trump said later that he misheard the questions due to a bad earpiece, which seems plausible, given that he repeatedly condemned him before.
I’m curious too as to why people who have this vitriolic hatred towards Trump never comment on how Hilary Clinton had Robert Byrd, another ex Klan member has her mentor…
“Okay, but hasn’t Trump gained a lot of support from racists in the online community, especially the Alt Right?”
First off, what is the Alt Right? The “Alternative Right” is a name chosen to collectively address people who supported Trump because they see him as a step to accomplishing their ends. This list includes (but isn’t limited to):
- Libertarians who see Trump as a step closer to accomplishing a free society.
- Anarcho-capitalists who share a similar sentiment.
- Conservatives who are disgusted with the current Republican party.
- Anti-globalists, similar to those who wanted the Brexit.
- Anti-Establishment types in general.
- (Unfortunately) White nationalists.
How many self identified white supremacists/white nationalists are in the online community? The number is difficult to measure, since it’s online and there is no official registry. The journalist Scott Alexander recently did some calculations based on the websites’ traffic and posts. The Alt Right generally tends to operate on three different websites, and in roughly these numbers:
- Stormfront.org: About 10,000 members.
- /r/altright: Around 5,000 registered accounts.
- 4Chan’s political boards: Anywhere between 25,000–50,000 commentators.
Contrary to the popular myth, Breitbart is not an Alt Right, or white nationalist site. There are Alt Right people who comment and read there, but that’s not by design. Andrew Breitbart himself was a conservative, and generally supported the Republican Party. The reason it gets this charge frequently I think, is because it’s not afraid to be politically incorrect and talk about controversial issues. For example, Breitbart was one of the few publications the reported on sexual assaults on European women by Middle Eastern migrants last year.
Let’s assume again for the sake of argument, that those compiled numbers for all of those websites are on the higher side, those numbers aren’t the same people on different websites, and those numbers don’t include trolls. That number is 65,000. Out of the entire US population that is less than .02%.
Not exactly a significant base.
“Isn’t Stephen Bannon, Trump’s pick for chief strategist, an anti-Semite?”
The only “proof” that he is, was taken from his angry ex wife during a bitter divorce hearing. He was supposedly overheard saying that he didn’t want his kids to go to school with Jewish kids.
Being that Andrew Breitbart himself was Jewish, “Breitbart Jerusalem” opened during Bannon’s tenure, and several Jewish coworkers (including Ben Shapiro, who doesn’t like him) came out and defended him from these claims, this doesn’t really hold up.
“Doesn’t Trump want to register, and possibly ban Muslims?”
Yes, and I don’t defend this. I understand the feeling of uncertainty that many have since 9/11, but that doesn’t make it right.
Many rightfully realize that we get attacked because of our interventions in the Middle East. However, I’ve noticed that people seem to only criticize this when the opposing party is doing it. The people who protested Bush and the Iraq War have been silent over the past 8 years or so. More civilians have been killed in drone strokes under Obama than Bush, and Hilary Clinton played a major role in destabilizing the Middle East. She voted for increasing military spending while in the Senate, pushed for the intervention in Libya and the ousting of Kaddafi, and said that removing Assad in Syria was a priority.
I’ve seen a few Hilary voters say that he’s a “war monger” which I can’t understand for the life of me, given her record versus his.
“Is Trump a homophobe?”
I keep seeing this claim circulate, and I have no idea why. Donald Trump is the first president in the history of the United States to be for gay marriage when entering office.
Donald Trump was for gay marriage when many (including the Clintons and Obama) opposed it. Trump also recently said that it’s “settled” by the Supreme Court.
Now Mike Pence is another story, but that’s a topic for another time.
“Hasn’t there been a wave of hate crimes since Trump got elected?”
Trump himself has spoken out against this. (Still waiting for Obama and Hilary to do the same about the people burning cars and businesses, and blocking traffic.)
These have largely been proven to be hoaxes, misrepresentations, or based off of very, very, very anecdotal evidence. A very similar situation occurred in Britain just after the Brexit.
Reason (a libertarian publication) has been very critical of Trump, yet wrote a piece denouncing many of these claims. A few examples:
- A girl claimed that her hijab was ripped off of her head, and her wallet was stolen. When the police questioned her, she admitted that she made the whole thing up.
- A Muslim woman’s car and wallet was stolen. Terrible to be sure, but it seemed that the goal was to steal a car, not antagonize a Muslim.
- A picture of the “KKK celebrating Trump’s victory” turned out to be an old photo.
- It was claimed that Southern Illinois University students were putting on blackface and posting photos of themselves on social media, but no photos turned up.
- A man put up a Nazi flag, but admitted he did that to mock Trump.
- Two Jewish boys were recently arrested for painting swastikas on property.
- As previously stated, there were many anecdotal claims that spread like wildfire on social media. Many of them were along the lines of: “I know someone at this school, who knows someone else, who says that they think that they heard this person get called (X)”. I’m not saying that these sorts of things don’t happen, but claims like that tend to be pretty shaky, and certainly wouldn’t hold up in a court of law.
- There have also been all sorts of wacky rumors circulating. People have been saying that gays will be put in internment camps, and African-Americans are going to be sent to gas chambers. You can’t make this stuff up.
Contrast this with what Hilary supporters have been doing: People wearing MAGA hats have gotten beaten up, someone held up a “rape Melania” sign, a girl who supported Trump was beaten up and the photo was posted on Instagram, a black homeless woman with a Trump sign got kicked, a pregnant Trump supporter got attacked with a baseball bat, and kids in school have gotten attacked as well.
These tactics are on par with the Nazi Brown-shirts.
The same people who voted for Obama voted for Trump
I came across a statistic recently that I found very interesting, and Michael Moore even talked about this.
94 % of the counties that voted for Obama in either election went to Trump, and 33% of the counties that voted for Obama both times went to Trump. That’s right.. Many of the people who voted for “the black guy with the Muslim name” voted Trump into the White House.
Why did I write all this?
There’s a lot of fear and anger right now, and I think much of it is unwarranted. The mainstream media (on all sides) has stirred up the population through sensationalism, while somehow being baffled as to why the country is so divided.
As I wrote on Facebook recently, this is on par with someone shooting someone dead, standing over them with the smoking gun, and asking “Why is this person dead? I don’t get it..”
If there’s any lesson that this election has taught us, it’s that we need to go back to actually engaging in discussion, not hurling insults and names at those who don’t conform to our world views. Maybe then we can actually have a dialogue, and people in this country can learn to work together despite their differences.
Thank you all for reading!- STK
