The apple may not fall far from the tree, but occasionally it rolls downhill and into the gutter.
Back in February, Donald Trump openly pondered to a South Carolina crowd whether they’d prefer a “Black president or the white president who got $1.7 billion off the price.” Not to be outdone in the family tradition of sticking their feet in their mouths, Eric Trump recently took it one step further. Addressing a crowd of MAGA supporters, the dumbest Trump boldly claimed that “being white” is the golden ticket to success.
News flash, Eric: Joe Biden is white, too, and he managed to defeat your orange father fair and square. With verbal vomits like these, Eric is practically handing the Democrats ammunition on a silver platter. If genetics or the so-called racehorse theory — which Daddy dearest is so fond of citing to explain his own “stellar” attributes — is anything to go by, then Eric has indeed inherited the choicest bits. And by “choicest,” I mean those qualities that you’d typically find discarded in the reject pile of a bad reality TV casting call.
Some (only the MAGAs) have tried to defend Eric, claiming that he said “right” instead of “white.” However, the audio is clear, and the context of his statement leaves little room for interpretation. And given the Trump family’s track record, it’s not a stretch to believe that in their minds, being white and being right are one and the same.
Of course, Eric’s comments didn’t come out of nowhere. He’s grown up in a bubble of wealth and whiteness, never having to confront the systemic inequalities that plague our society. But read the room, Eric. The only people who are going to be impressed by your white supremacist chest-thumping are the same sad sacks who stormed the Capitol on January 6. But you know what? In a twisted way, I almost want to thank you for saying the quiet part out loud. Because at least now we can dispense with the fiction that the Republican Party isn’t a haven for white supremacists.
I mean, how many times have we heard GOP politicians use coded language like “welfare queens” or “illegal aliens” to discriminate against people of color? And that’s not just wrong, it’s dangerous.
The irony in all of this is that the policies championed by Republicans have done little to actually benefit the white working class they claim to represent. Tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation of industry, and attacks on social safety nets have only served to widen the gap between rich and poor, leaving many white Americans struggling to make ends meet. But as long as the GOP can keep stoking the flames of racial resentment, they can distract from their own failings and maintain their grip on power. While soiling themselves in court.