Trump Will Always Play The Race Card
Trump’s tweet this morning about South Africa is just a pathetic, blatant shout-out to his white nationalist racist base in order to deflect attention from his ever-increasing legal jeopardy. Trump wrote, “I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. ‘South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.'” Of course, Trump didn’t learn anything about this issue from informed government sources. He heard it from Tucker Carlson on Fox News.
Yes, the government of South Africa is engaging in a land reform project where land seized from black owners during apartheid is being returned. But there is no epidemic of white farmers being massacred. In fact, murders of white farmers is at a 20 year low.
Of course, Trump doesn’t give a damn about anything that’s happening in South Africa. This is a guy who is so ignorant about Africa in general that he thinks there is a country called Nambia and who has described African countries as “shitholes”. His tweet has nothing to do with actual conditions in Africa and everything to do with keeping his white nationalist base in line by raising the threat of white genocide. The barely unstated message is that it is happening in South Africa and only I can prevent it from happening here.
Omarosa Manigault Newman is a charlatan and a huckster, just like Donald Trump. That’s one of the reasons they got along so well with each other, because each recognized themselves in the other and both knew they could use each other to advance their own interests. Last week, Omarosa declared that she believes Trump wants to start a race war. That sounds like typical huckster hyperbole. But, based on his continual racist invective and actions over the course of his life, and during his campaign and presidency, it wouldn’t be any surprise if that is exactly what he tried to do in order to stay in power when pushed to the brink by Mueller or Congress.
