Eh, I’m not giving Trump any benefit of the doubt. Ultimately I don’t know what’s in his black, little heart. I’m not saying it’s likely, but given what I know about him, I find it plausible he didn’t realize it was an antisemitic slur. My mother was in her late 50s when I first heard she “Jewed someone down,” but I believe her when she tells me she didn’t know it was impolite. Antisemitism is so ingrained in western society a lot of us might not recognize it as antisemitism.
Moderating:
Calling another poster “pathetic” and with the excuse “I calls 'em like I sees 'em” is a pretty direct (if comparatively mild) insult. Claims of speaking truth is not a reason to overstep our rules. I am not issuing a warning, but do not do this again.
He has never purposely used the most severe ethnic and gender slurs in front of the media. Not this month. Not this millennium. Coincidence? Or could it just be that he’s an extremely skilled demagogue?
He cannot dare discuss, with staff, which slurs would and would not go to far, for fear of the conversation leaking to the press, or appearing in a tell-all memoir. So he has to do it himself.
I was referring to the royal you, but, whatever.
I think that this is a plausible explanation.
There is a good chance that he knows it refers specifically to Jewish bankers, but that doesn’t mean that it registers in his mind as an ethnic slur. I think that Trump and his ilk really have a different view from us in terms of what does and does not count as a slur, and the list of slurs basically includes ni@@er and not much else.
Given that Trump is leaning heavily on the liberals are antisemitic , I don’t really think that he would consciously use an antisemitic slur.
Yes some of his supporters might like him using ethnic slurs, but those are a minority. Most of his supporters don’t consider themselves racist, they just understand the “truth” that blacks are lazy, and Mexicans are dirty, and all of them are gaming the system at whites expense.
If anything, Trump would say it was a compliment to Jews because he thinks they are good with money. He has said that before, I believe when talking about his accountants.
I’d pay real money for someone to ask him about the Holocaust. “Six million dead… can you believe that?” and just see what he says. Or ask him the same question that got Whoopi Goldberg in trouble: Was the Holocaust about race?
All in all, I think Trump is normalizing antisemitism and I do not think he’ll face any punishment for it.
Here’s a moment from Trump’s pre-political days where he revealed his inner anti-semite while doling out a heaping helping of racism at the same time. It’s captured in a 1991 book, Trumped. The author, who knew Trump through his position as Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino president, recalled an offhand remark Trump made while talking about black accountants who worked for him. According to the book, Trump said, “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. Those are the kind of people I want counting my money. No one else.” Trump’s anti-black bias here is blatant. In Trump’s world, black people are uniformly untrustworthy when it comes to handling money. He doesn’t bother with the standard bigot’s qualification that there are good and bad black people. They’re all the same.
Trump’s antisemitic comment is more subtle, but only a bit. He’s saying he trusts Jews around his money, which might sound like a compliment, but what he’s doing is referencing the centuries-old antisemitic portrayal of Jews as tight-fisted money lenders and bankers. “Those Jews, they know their way around money.” And he digs even deeper into antisemitic stereotypes. Instead of simply saying he wants Jews counting his money, he refers to them as “short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.” When Trump thinks “Jew,” he thinks in visual stereotypes. All he left out is the long beard and hooked nose to complete the caricature.
Yarmulkes, Money and Labels: Trump's Antisemitism and Racism | The Range
I’ve actually met more than one person like that, using the term completely unaware of it being offensive. Rather like I was raised to use “gypted” and “welshed on a deal” with knowing they were offensive (and when informed I stopped using them).
Which is how you know when someone of good intentions used something unaware of offense - when informed they stop using it. Perhaps with an “oh, I’m sorry.” They don’t double-down on how it’s not offensive or brush it off.
Trump has flirted with holocaust denial. If any of the U.S. troops stationed in Israel die, that would be the sort of event that will cause him to go there again.
Insult comedy is high risk, high reward. When accepted as not being real, insults cement allegiance.
Trump plays man of the people on TV. He wont admit insulting voters. Just as he won’t admit ever having burshed up his Shakespeare.
My brother-in-law had just graduated from college in South Dakota, when he used the term “jew him down” at work. It was a term commonly used by our whole mostly German community. But he moved to and was working in Evanston Illinois. This was in 1980, just after the infamous Nazi marches in Evanston and Skokie. And yes, he felt sheepish and apologized and never used the term again.
Add - Racist, Bigot, Traitor, Rapist, Moron. - Chose all of the above, and you’re getting close.
Sheesh, I never read Merchant of Venice. Struggle to read Shakespeare even though I’m a life long reader. So, sue me. And we all know trump probably can’t read even 1/4 of the back of a Wheaties box.
I’ll save my outrage for clear, commonly understood insults from cheeto head. No need to drill down several levels to find outrage, when there is more than enough sitting right there in plain sight.
News flash: just because some folks grew up with certainty that some terms have a specific meaning, doesn’t mean it actually has permeated throughout society. The N-word is very clear cut to 99% of Americans. “Shyster” & “from the river to the sea” maybe not so much. YMMV.
As pointed out upthread, a good measure is if someone uses a term that can be reasonably construed as bigoted (or violates a Miss Manners principle), is educated on it, then stops using that term moving forward, then they prolly are not a raging dickhead racist POS.