Washington Post columnist and MSNBC contributor Eugene Robinson said this week that voting for President Donald Trump in 2020 is “voting for his racism” even if voters are voting for the tax cuts, Trump’s “uncritical support of Israel,” or the great economy and record-low unemployment numbers.
“Anyone tempted to support Trump because of his economic or foreign policies should be constantly reminded that this is not an a la carte menu,” Robinson wrote in his Post column. “If you plan to vote for Trump because of his tax cuts, for example, or his uncritical support of Israel, you’re also voting for his racism. This is nothing less than a fight for the soul of the nation. Everyone needs to take a stand.”
After Trump’s “go back” remarks directed at the freshman left-wing “Squad,” Robinson argued that it is difficult to see the 2020 presidential race as anything other than “Make America Great Again” completing “its sinister transformation into Make America White Again.”
“If President Trump and the Republican Party want the 2020 election to be a referendum on unabashed white supremacy, that’s their choice. Voters who embrace the views of David Duke and other proud racists will have Trump to vote for,” he continued. “Voters who disagree will have a Democratic alternative. Simple as that.”
Because “Trump is no sensible person” and “obviously does not represent our best,” Robinson said Trump has no qualms about being “ demagogue with one highly effective political move: driving wedges. He is now trying to open a chasm between white and nonwhite Americans, and he wants to force his potential supporters to choose a side.”
“This will surely be a theme of Trump’s white-power appeal — that minorities who have the nerve to raise their voices are the “real” racists who should be blamed for any and all hardships afflicting whites. It is incredible that our national political discourse has sunk to this kind of hideous scapegoating, but here we are,” Robinson continued. “Democrats, independents and Republicans disgusted by Trump’s use of race as a wedge cannot pretend this is a normal election. Republican officeholders and candidates who stand by Trump, perhaps for reasons of self-preservation, must be pressed: Do they believe all Americans, regardless of race, have a right to participate in our democracy, or not? Do they believe Americans who disagree with Trump’s policies should leave the country, or not? Do they agree with white supremacists that whites are somehow threatened by ‘racist’ minorities, or not?”
Robinson said he hopes and expects “Trump’s race-baiting will fail” before warning that “hope and expectations are not enough.”
“His shamefully divisive tactic must be called out, labeled with its proper name and fought without quarter. Based on Trump’s public comments and his Twitter feed, it seems obvious that race is what he wants the nation to be talking about right now, as opposed to his administration’s incompetence and corruption,” Robinson said. “But to ignore his white-power tactic would be a much bigger mistake than facing it head-on. Trump may believe his political opponents lack the stomach to confront him. He must be proved wrong.”
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