Happy March, everyone, and happy primary election season! It’s gotten to that point in the election year when I cannot believe we have to endure eight more months of this, when the media is completely saturated in election-season shenanigans and when I just want to take a long nap until election day and never have to look at an elephant or a donkey ever again.
Unfortunately, this three-season-long nap is not possible because we’re all forced to deal with the unnecessary ridiculousness that comes out of election season, and this week’s aggravation comes from none other than Republican candidate and Massachusetts primary winner Donald Trump.
Last Wednesday, David Duke, a white nationalist, neo-Nazi, spokesperson for Holocaust denial and former Ku Klux Klan leader announced his support for Trump on his radio show. According to The New York Times, Duke said, “Voting against Donald Trump at this point is really treason to your heritage.”
Now, I know Trump has made statements in the past that would suggest he is not a very progressive person. And maybe I was thinking too optimistically, but I assumed the immediate response from the Trump campaign would be to denounce this declaration of support. Alas, I was wrong.
When asked about Duke’s announcement in an interview with CNN on Sunday, Trump responded by mumbling a bunch of words and phrases that I think were supposed to sound like sentences.
Trump’s exact response was: “I don’t know anything about David Duke, OK? I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know. Did he endorse me, or what’s going on?”
Poetic.
Trump later stated, “You wouldn’t want me to condemn a group that I know nothing about. I’d have to look.”
Trump then attempted to clear the air while on the TODAY show, according to CNN, when he claimed his incoherent response was due to a “bad earpiece.”
I do not truly understand how we, as a supposedly civilized nation, let a candidate who would not immediately reject support from a man like David Duke, a man so against actual American principles like freedom and unification, get this close to the White House. Sometimes I think we all just have become so desensitized to Trump’s remarks at this point that we do not understand the magnitude of his words — or in this case, lack thereof.
Back in the summer, when the election drama was just heating up, two men in Boston assaulted a homeless Hispanic man in reaction to Trump’s infamous immigration comments, according to The Boston Globe. Trump’s first reaction to hearing the news was, “I will say that people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again.”
During election season, I find that it is very easy for politicians to get caught up in winning the election rather than winning the position. Donald Trump is obviously working hard to win and maintain the support of conservative Americans. However, David Duke is not a regular conservative American. He is someone who has built a career off of spewing hate and causing danger toward other Americans.
Perhaps Trump’s campaign managers told him to react in a way that was somewhat oblivious rather than definitively against Duke, but there has to be a line somewhere between political strategy and complete ignorance. This type of ignorance does nothing but tell African Americans, Jewish Americans and other minorities that Donald Trump cares more about pleasing the supporters he already has than keeping them safe and protecting their interests.
It makes me wonder, if the majority of Trump’s supporters would get offended if he disavowed support from a member of the KKK, what kind of hateful people are supporting Donald Trump?
Even Sen. Marco Rubio, one of Trump’s competitors for the Republican nomination involved himself in the drama of David Duke’s announcement by stating that Trump was “unelectable,” and frankly, I agree.
Any presidential candidate, no matter what party they belong to, has the duty to protect Americans by belittling characters like David Duke as soon as they open their mouths. Our politicians get too caught up with what parties they represent and the best way to make their views consistent with that party. The idea of “political correctness” has been a hot topic, especially among the Republican candidates, and it almost feels like Trump would rather let Duke’s comments slide than be considered politically correct.
I am truly sick and tired of candidates acting so political that they forget what the position of president entails and what it means to protect the rights and interests of more than 300 million people.
I expect and demand more from the leaders of this country and the candidates who could be my president. And, Mr. Trump, if your nomination potential depends so greatly on whether or not David Duke supports you, perhaps you should not be president of the United States.
Goddamn, he rejected the endorsement days ago. Catch up.
I get it if you don’t like Donald Trump, but try using some actual ammunition against him next time.