Trump Demands GOP Not Show ‘Weakness’ By Voting to Condemn Racist Tweets He Claims Aren’t Racist
The father of modern psychology Sigmund Freud was known for a lot of groundbreaking observations, but one example is the idea of deflection. Or put another way, when someone says “I’m not saying that I think you are fat” what they are really saying is “I think you are fat.” A classic defense mechanism that, unlike many of Freud’s findings, appears to have withstood the test of time.
This psychological phenomenon comes to mind on day three of President Donald Trump’s going on the offensive in claiming that his racist tweets from Sunday were in fact “NOT Racist.” He added that, in his esteem, he doesn’t “have a Racist bone in [his] body.”
Trump tweeted this defense of his Sunday morning attacks on the four Democratic freshman Congresswomen, all of whom are of color, in which he used the racist trope of telling them to go back to the country they came from.
After a two-day media firestorm, which some analysts speculate was designed as a distraction from Friday’s resignation of Labor Secretary Alex Acosta and the Jeffrey Epstein plea deal, Trump is keeping the story alive. On Tuesday morning he tweeted more attacks on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Rashid Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Trump tweeted:
Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body! The so-called vote to be taken is a Democrat con game. Republicans should not show “weakness” and fall into their trap. This should be a vote on the filthy language, statements and lies told by the Democrat…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2019
…..Congresswomen, who I truly believe, based on their actions, hate our Country. Get a list of the HORRIBLE things they have said. Omar is polling at 8%, Cortez at 21%. Nancy Pelosi tried to push them away, but now they are forever wedded to the Democrat Party. See you in 2020!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2019
Trump appears to be trying to label the Democratic Party as a party of the more progressive side represented by these four freshmen Congressmen, as opposed to a more centrist and experienced party represented by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Trump’s full-throated denial of racist allegations may please his base of supporters, who likely won’t stop supporting him regardless of his comments (or shooting of someone on Fifth Avenue as he boasted on the campaign trail) while critics and centrists alike may only connect the two terms Trump and “racist” in a manner that may not help his reelection efforts.
