Kierkegaard’s Ghost
(News that’s fake, but credible)
Kierkegaard’s Ghost is honored to publish this editorial from our distinguished guest contributor, the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the United States Senate.
Of late, I have been dismayed over the elevated hype and rhetoric from the House of Representatives, particularly the assertion that our president, Donald J. Trump, is a racist. This kind of overheated verbiage is not helpful and, more to the point, it is false. I want to say unequivocally that President Trump is not a racist. A review of the facts makes that exceedingly clear.
His critics point out that in 1970s Donald Trump’s real estate companies in New York systematically discriminated against people of color in their rentals and that, after a lengthy court battle, Mr. Trump was compelled to bring his practices into compliance with laws against discrimination under regulatory supervision. So what? He doesn’t like people of color living in his apartments. Does that make him a racist?
Yes, I know that Donald Trump propagated the “birther” conspiracy theory that Barak Obama was not born in the United States and therefore unqualified to be president. And yes, he continued to make this assertion years after it had been thoroughly debunked. So what is racist about that? The statement was made during a presidential campaign. We all know politics is a contact sport and tough stuff gets said. That’s the way the game is played. It’s not racism. It’s politics.
Did Donald Trump paint Mexican immigrants in broad strokes as drug dealers and rapists? Yes. But just because you happen to believe that people of a particular ethnic origin are bad people, does that mean you are a racist? I don’t think so.There is a difference between saying all Mexicans are bad actors because they are Mexicans and simply saying that all Mexicans happen to be bad.
And yes, we know very well that Donald Trump stated publicly and has never withdrawn his assertion that an American born federal judge was incapable of deciding a case involving a white man because he was of Mexican heritage. Even some of my Republican colleagues jumped to the irrational conclusion that because you don’t trust Mexicans, you’re racist. Really? Is that all it takes? I don’t trust Mexicans either. Does that make me a racist?
And why was everyone so upset over President Trump’s calling Nazis very fine people. Yes, there are some bad apples in that bunch, some that call for genocide and ethnic cleansing. But is it fair to characterize a whole movement by the deeds of a few bad actors? In this age of “tolerance” and “political correctness,” can’t a man exercise a little “inclusiveness” toward Nazis without being labeled a racist?
Donald Trump called African nations “s#$t hole” countries and said he prefers immigrants from Norway. So? This is America after all. Isn’t a man entitled to his opinions anymore? Just because he expresses his honest opinions, does that make him a racist?
Today everyone is all over the the president because he said that four congress women of color should be deported back to their countries of origin. So now you are a racist just because you think people of color don’t belong in the United States? Really? I’ve felt that way for years and so do a lot of my constituents. Are we all racists?
So let me summarize: Democrats and the liberal media think Donald Trump is a racist just because his businesses have a long history of illegal segregation, he concocted a lie about the first African American president’s national origin, he thinks Mexicans are murderers, drug dealers and rapists, that people of Mexican origin cannot be trusted to serve in public office, that perpetrators of genocide are very fine people, that African countries are “s#$t holes and women of color have no place in this country. Is that all you’ve got?
I urge my colleagues in the House on both sides of the aisle and the American people as a whole to calm down and stop with the name calling. When viewed with objectivity, the facts clearly show that Donald Trump doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. He is no more a racist than I am.
Mitch McConnell
United States Senator
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