#WURDoftheDay: Trump’s Dinesh D’Souza Pardon is Just Red Meat For the 2018 Midterms
by Nida Khan | WURD Guest Contributor | Nida Khan
Thursday morning President Donald Trump announced (via Twitter, of course) that he was granting a full pardon to conservative fire brand Dinesh D’Souza. In 2014, D’Souza pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance laws and was sentenced to five years probation and a fine (no actual jail time).
Federal crimes aside, the controversial author and filmmaker rose to notoriety by making all kinds of incendiary comments about race, slavery, civil rights and more — including President Obama. While Trump is clearly sending a message to others about pardons (including those caught up in the Russia investigation), he’s also doing another clever maneuver: serving a fresh round of red meat to his base. It’s no accident that two days after ABC canceled Roseanne following her racist rant against former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett that this President decided to respond by granting a pardon to someone who has made a slew of racist comments himself.
The culture wars have only just begun, and as we get closer and closer to the midterms, everyone should buckle up.
“In summary, the American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well,” said D’Souza in his 1995 book The End of Racism. In making his case against ‘liberal race policies’, D’Souza wrote some of the most vile and untrue statements, including the notion that segregation somehow represented a “compromise” on the part of the “southern ruling elite seeking, in part, to protect blacks.”
He has written an article against affirmative action titled “Dis Sho Ain’t No Jive, Bro,” spoken extensively against ‘political correctness’ and has called for the repeal of the Civil Rights Act so that “its nondiscrimination provisions apply only to the government”. In 2015, he tweeted a picture of Obama taking a selfie and wrote in part “YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF THE GHETTO …” and back in 2008 he penned a piece in which he said Michelle Obama “is part of the affirmative action generation of above-average but far-from-stellar performers who were granted preferential admission to America’s most elite institutions.” He used the photo of a military widow to attack NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, and called the Charlottesville tragedy a “staged event”.
In short, D’Souza peddles in the same bigoted tropes that many on the right thrive in while hiding under the guise of his South Asian background. In other words, he’s the perfect messenger for them.
It’s no secret that Trump’s campaign for office began by demonizing Mexicans then Muslims, and then immigrants at large. The list goes on. As I’ve argued many times before, he didn’t create the hatred or the notion of othering, but instead seized on growing anxiety in the country. Not the ‘economic anxiety’ that many refer to (which to some extent was present), but rather the cultural anxiety of changing demographics and a nation set to become majority-minority by the 2040s. This wasn’t the first time that Republicans used such tactics — one need only look at the 2010 midterms and the ‘ground zero mosque’ fiasco. Islamophobia worked then, and it (coupled with even greater xenophobia of other groups) greatly helped energize the GOP base and helped propel Trump to the White House in 2016. Why wouldn’t we expect to see more of this in 2018?
Throughout Trump’s Presidency, he has continually pandered to his base whether it was with “both sides” after Charlottesville, going against NFL players who were kneeling to protest police brutality and systemic racism, endlessly promoting ‘the wall’ that Mexico is allegedly paying for, referring to ‘caravans’ of immigrants and MS-13 as ‘animals’ and more. Every time he gets negative press, the investigations reveal more information or he just needs a distraction, the culture war gets a new battle.
But this isn’t just rhetoric or hyperbole; this administration is steadily enacting policies that support these troubling ideas. Whether it’s the Muslim ban (which has already impacted millions of Muslims), or draconian immigration practices that are hurting the most vulnerable, or weaponizing agencies like ICE, the intent is clear. As the Washington Post highlighted earlier this year: “President Trump’s proposal to cut legal immigration rates would delay the date that white Americans become a minority of the population by as few as one or as many as five additional years.” And that’s legal immigration.
At a time when the Trump administration is making all kinds of cuts to social programs and virtually dismantling the New Deal, while simultaneously rolling back protections concerning everything from the environment to banking, Americans are being thrust into the usual battles of us vs. them. Sadly, this tactic has worked very well for Republicans and there’s every indication that they will continue riding this ugly wave through the midterms (one need only look at the record number of white nationalists running this year, more than any other election in modern history). Trump has effectively ripped off the scab on America’s torrid history with race and racism, and people who were deemed suitable only for the fringes are emboldened to take their message to the mainstream — and beyond.
Most Americans were surprised, disgusted and utterly disappointed by the vitriol and hatred that was on display during the 2016 election. But the question we should probably be asking ourselves is why the identity politics of the right resonate with so many and why they work so well? There’s a reason why Trump doubles down on every outrageous statement or policy. There’s a reason why the GOP establishment remains silent for the most part and goes along with everything as long as they get their agenda through. There’s a reason why Trump has chosen to pardon one of the most offensive provocateurs in conservative circles (just like he did with Arpaio). And there’s a reason why the culture war is the never-ending calamity that continues to plague society.
For those of us tired of the toxic environment that has led to an increase in hate crimes across the board and empowered some of the worst elements around, we know that sadly things are going to get worse before they get better. As the midterms are upon us, expect more fear mongering, more nativism and more othering in blatant language and actions. The pardoning of D’Souza is just the latest example of Trump placating to many of his supporters who were angered by the Roseanne debacle, and also a message to ABC and all those who called for the show’s cancellation that the President would have the last word. It’s not an accident — everything is meticulously calculated. There are no mistakes in the culture war.
D’Souza is entitled to say what he wants and entitled to his opinion, but from one South Asian to another, I’d just like to let him know that he’s an embarrassment on many levels — and nothing more than an affirmative action mouthpiece for Trump and the right-wing.
NIDA KHAN is a veteran independent journalist and commentator who covers politics, the Middle East, issues impacting the Muslim community and more. Her work has appeared in such diverse outlets as The Huffington Post, CNN, i24NewsIsrael, U.S. News & World Report and more. She is also a regular contributor on WURD’s Reality Check and can be reached via Twitter @NidaKhanNY
