# Trump a racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 9, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663 "2020-08-09T18:47:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/1 "2020-08-09T18:47:03Z")
Most of us think so. Certainly his base has many racists and xenophobes in it, and he appeals to his base constantly. No doubt But what I would like here is concrete examples of trump being a racist. Not opinions. post 'em if you got 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/2 "2020-08-09T18:50:57Z")
Fined for not renting to black people. Birtherism. Central Park 5.Calling Mexican immigrants rapists. Calling Africa a shithole continent. Hiring multiple white supremacists. Calling neo-nazis “very fine people.” The Muslim ban. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/3 "2020-08-09T18:57:55Z")
Good start, but more data on each would be nice, please. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/4 "2020-08-09T19:01:08Z")
Numerous reports of him using the “n” word. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/5 "2020-08-09T19:03:34Z")
> **[Donald Trump’s long history of racism, from the 1970s to 2020](https://www.vox.com/2016/7/25/12270880/donald-trump-racist-racism-history?__c=1)** > > Trump has repeatedly claimed he’s "the least racist person." His history suggests otherwise. > - **1980s:** Kip Brown, a former employee at Trump’s Castle, accused another one of Trump’s businesses of discrimination. “When Donald and Ivana came to the casino, the bosses would order all the black people off the floor,” Brown [said](https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Fmagazine%2F2015%2F09%2F07%2Fthe-death-and-life-of-atlantic-city). “It was the eighties, I was a teenager, but I remember it: They put us all in the back.” > - **1991:** A [book](https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fdp%2FB01DD2P5DI%2Fref%3Ddp-kindle-redirect%3F_encoding%3DUTF8%26btkr%3D1) by John O’Donnell, former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, quoted Trump’s criticism of a Black accountant: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day. … I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault, because laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It’s not anything they can control.” Trump later said in [a 1997 Playboy interview](http://web.archive.org/web/20180401145442/https://www.playboy.com/articles/the-art-of-the-donald) that “the stuff O’Donnell wrote about me is probably true.” > - **2004:** In season two of _The Apprentice_ , Trump [fired](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/former-em-apprentice-em-contestant-trump-doesn-t-like-educated-african-americans-very-much) Kevin Allen, a Black contestant, for being overeducated. “You’re an unbelievably talented guy in terms of education, and you haven’t done anything,” Trump said on the show. “At some point you have to say, ‘That’s enough.’” > - He [argued](http://www.vox.com/2016/6/3/11848382/donald-trump-racism-media) in 2016 that Judge Gonzalo Curiel — who was overseeing [the Trump University lawsuit](http://www.vox.com/2016/6/1/11827596/trump-university-scam) — should recuse himself from the case because of his Mexican heritage and membership in a Latino lawyers association. House Speaker Paul Ryan, who endorsed Trump, later [called](http://www.vox.com/2016/6/7/11875850/donald-trump-racist-paul-ryan) such comments “the textbook definition of a racist comment.” > - He [tweeted and later deleted](http://www.vox.com/2016/7/2/12087532/donald-trump-anti-semitic-clinton-attack) an image that showed Hillary Clinton in front of a pile of money and by a Jewish Star of David that said, “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” The tweet had some very obvious anti-Semitic imagery, but Trump [insisted](http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20160704-donald-trump-that-wasn-t-a-star-of-david-it-was-a-sheriff-s-badge.ece) that the star was a sheriff’s badge, and [said](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/06/trump-says-campaign-shouldnt-have-deleted-image-circulated-by-white-supremacists/) his campaign shouldn’t have deleted it. > - Trump has [repeatedly referred](http://www.vox.com/2016/5/16/11684776/elizabeth-warren-pocahontas) to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as “Pocahontas,” using her controversial — and [later walked-back](https://www.washingtonpost.com/) — claims to Native American heritage as a punchline. > - Trump mocked Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign, again calling her “Pocahontas” in a 2019 [tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1094368870415110145) before adding, “See you on the campaign TRAIL, Liz!” The capitalized “TRAIL” is [seemingly a reference](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/10/us/trump-trail-of-tears.html) to the Trail of Tears — a horrific act of ethnic cleansing in the 19th century in which Native Americans were forcibly relocated, causing thousands of deaths. > - Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1150381396994723841) later that year that several Black and brown members of Congress — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — are “from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” and that they should “go back” to those countries. It’s a common racist trope to say that Black and brown people, particularly immigrants, should go back to their countries of origin. Three of the four members of Congress whom Trump targeted were born in the US. > - Trump has [called](https://www.vox.com/2020/6/23/21300332/trump-coronavirus-racism-asian-americans) the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus the “Chinese virus” and “kung flu.” The World Health Organization advises against linking a virus to any particular region, since it can lead to stigma. Trump’s adviser, Kellyanne Conway, [previously described](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-kellyanne-conway-coronavirus_n_5eeebc5dc5b6aac5f3a46b45) the term “kung flu” as “highly offensive.” Meanwhile, Asian Americans have [reported](https://www.vox.com/2020/6/23/21300332/trump-coronavirus-racism-asian-americans) hateful incidents targeting them due to the spread of the coronavirus. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/6 "2020-08-09T19:26:09Z")
_This_ is what I am looking for- excellent!! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/7 "2020-08-09T19:45:53Z")
[Washington Post:](https://www-washingtonpost-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mary-trump-says-she-heard-her-uncle-donald-use-the-n-word/2020/07/16/5e78f39c-c7bc-11ea-b037-f9711f89ee46_story.html?amp_js_v=a3&_gsa=1&outputType=amp&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=15970016853202&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fpolitics%2Fmary-trump-says-she-heard-her-uncle-donald-use-the-n-word%2F2020%2F07%2F16%2F5e78f39c-c7bc-11ea-b037-f9711f89ee46_story.html) > [@](#): > > President Trump’s niece Mary L. Trump said Thursday that she heard her uncle use the n-word and anti-Semitic slurs. > > Mary Trump, author of a scathing new book about her family, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,” made the allegation during an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. > > Maddow pressed her on comments made to The Washington Post on Wednesday in which Mary Trump said the president is “clearly racist” and described growing up in a family of “knee-jerk” racism. Maddow asked whether that was a generalization about her family’s casual bigotry or if she’d actually heard her uncle use racist language. > > “Oh yeah, of course I did,” Mary Trump said. “And I don’t think that should surprise anybody given how virulently racist he is today.” > > Mary Trump then confirmed that she’d heard the president use the n-word and anti-Semitic slurs. [Newsweek, on Trump’s reported use of the n-word on the Apprentice:](https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-n-word-apprentice-1445854) > [@](#): > > According to the show’s co-producer Bill Pruitt, when the time came to pick a winner Trump gathered with other judges and producers in a huddle. Carolyn Kepcher, a judge and the chief operating officer of several Trump golf clubs, advocated for Jackson’s victory. > > “But will America buy a n\*\*\*er winning?” Trump said, according to Pruitt. Pruitt said he was not sure exactly what happened next, but that the huddle ended and Rancic was eventually named the winner of season 1. > > The account of Trump’s use of the racial epithet is included in the book The Method to the Madness: Donald Trump’s Ascent as Told by Those Who Were Hired, Fired, Inspired—and Inaugurated by reporters Allen Salkin and Aaron Short. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/8 "2020-08-09T22:36:58Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1150381396994723841) later that year that several Black and brown members of Congress — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — are “from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” and that they should “go back” to those countries. It’s a common racist trope to say that Black and brown people, particularly immigrants, should go back to their countries of origin. Three of the four members of Congress whom Trump targeted were born in the US. This is the one I most often cite. He told people of color born in the US(for the most part) to go back to the countries they came from because they disagree with him. There are white representatives/senators who _were_ born outside the US and he has _never_ said that to them. ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/9 "2020-08-09T23:03:53Z")
Define Racist. I think the term is overused. I can’t refute any of his quotes upthread. I tend to think a “racist” as card carrying KKK member. Black people are a sub-human race of people. White cop kills Black law-abiding citizen, so he’s a racist. Maybe he’s just Alpha male high school jock that ended up in a cop job and is a jerk. Maybe Trump is just a ignorant jerk. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/10 "2020-08-09T23:11:44Z")
[quote=“Bacon\_Cheeseburger, post:9, topic:917663”] Define Racist. I think the term is overused. I can’t refute any of his quotes upthread. I tend to think a “racist” as card carrying KKK member. [/quote] And that kind of thinking is why Trump insists he’s the “least racist person.” He was born a rich white man in pre-Civil Rights America. His definition of what’s racist is on a different scale than most people. ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/11 "2020-08-09T23:15:56Z")
He is a billionaire by inheritance, probably never had to tolerate any sort of opposing viewpoints, always surrounded himself with " yes men". He’s a rich jerk that can’t believe anyone would disagree with him. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/12 "2020-08-09T23:18:18Z")
> [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](#): > > I tend to think a “racist” as card carrying KKK member This sort of goalpost-shrinking, where we have perhaps only a couple tens of thousands of racists living in the US — and none in Congress! — is why I find [Jay Smooth’s rule](https://youtu.be/b0Ti-gkJiXc) helpful: Don’t just _call_ someone racist; point out the racist stuff they _did or said_. Not to be nice, in case they aren’t a racist, but to be tough, in case they are\*. They won’t be able to get away with that shit so easily if you are specific. - I totally am down with using the shorthand “that dude’s racist” after that dude says or does a bunch of racist stuff, but there’s always someone who will resent it. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/13 "2020-08-09T23:19:15Z")
> [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](#): > > I tend to think a “racist” as card carrying KKK member. Aaaaaaaand, there’s your problem. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/14 "2020-08-09T23:22:53Z")
> [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](#): > > I tend to think a “racist” as card carrying KKK member. How about a card carrying KKK member obliquely referring to Trump as racist? From the same article linked in my previous post: > [A]t the 2017 white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, David Duke, the former KKK grand wizard, [said](https://www.vox.com/2017/8/12/16138358/charlottesville-protests-david-duke-kkk) that the rally was meant “to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.” ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/15 "2020-08-09T23:26:09Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > is why I find [Jay Smooth’s rule](https://youtu.be/b0Ti-gkJiXc) helpful: interesting video ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/16 "2020-08-09T23:28:31Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > How about a card carrying KKK member obliquely referring to Trump as racist? From the same article linked in my previous post: I am sure the David Dukes of the world are quite fond of Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/17 "2020-08-09T23:29:42Z")
> **[Mary Trump on her Uncle Donald: ‘He’s acting on his own racism’](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/mary-trump-on-her-uncle-donald-he-s-acting-on-his-own-racism-1.4312240)** > > The US president’s niece on his prejudice, cruelty and incompetence, and why he never laughs > Mary is convinced that her uncle is racist. Would she also use terms such as fascist and white supremacist? “I don’t think he has any political ideology. For him, this is just expedient. I would say he behaves like a white supremacist, certainly. He’s acting on his own racism. He’s doing racist things that are endangering people of colour in this country. That’s much more important, so whether he would describe himself as a white supremacist or not, he’s certainly acting like one.” ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/18 "2020-08-09T23:32:26Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > “I don’t think he has any political ideology. For him, this is just expedient. So is he racist or just being a politically expedient jerk? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/19 "2020-08-09T23:41:56Z")
I think he is a racist, but that’s only part of the larger issue that defines him as a narcissist. He despises all groups that he is not part of, and the group that he **is** part of has only one member: him. He has contempt for all groups and individuals except during the short time (sometimes only hours or minutes) when he can use them: women, immigrants of all kinds, other rich people, people who are successful in their fields, intellectuals, foreign-born people of all kinds, anyone whom he sees as having betrayed him, people of faith, and people of no faith. He has no loyalty and he expects complete loyalty. But getting complete loyalty from someone does not protect them from tossed out with the trash when he’s done with them. To say he is a racist is only to address one facet of his global, all-inclusive, universal contempt for anyone who thinks they are worthy of being noticed by him. The racism sticks out (as does contempt for women) because there are specific epithets and insults that identify the holder of those attitudes. But trump is an equal opportunity hater. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663/20 "2020-08-09T23:42:31Z")
[https://www.npr.org/2016/09/29/495955920/donald-trump-plagued-by-decades-old-housing-discrimination-case](https://www.npr.org/2016/09/29/495955920/donald-trump-plagued-by-decades-old-housing-discrimination-case) > “Donald started his career, back in 1973, being sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination — because he would not rent apartments in one of his developments to African-Americans, and he made sure that the people who worked for him understood that was the policy” - [Hillary] Clinton [Three years after the original case was settled, Fred & Donnie violated the terms of the settlement by again turning away minorities.](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/06/trump-racism-comments/588067/) > [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](#): > > So is he racist or just being a politically expedient jerk? What do you think? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-a-racist/917663.md?page=2)