This week, in a desperate attempt to divert attention away from the deluge of left-wing media calling for the closure of her corrupt foundation, Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called supporters of her opponent Donald Trump a bunch of racists who need a political leader who can keep them from fueling racial violence and hatred across the country.
This was the big pivot of her campaign, the next phase of her pitch to become Commander-in-Chief: not that she is a trustworthy candidate, but that her opposition — candidates and voters included — are racists who should make you fear for your safety.
Thursday’s shopworn accusations of racism on the part of Trump supporters came from a candidate whose political party went to war to preserve slavery; founded the Ku Klux Klan; passed Jim Crow Laws; is beholden to Planned Parenthood, which makes millions every year by aborting black babies; keeps poor black kids trapped in shoddy schools; and supports an amnesty agenda that will devastate the black worker.
Indeed, in her 2,800-plus-word missive, Clinton made three pernicious points.
1. THE RACE CARD: Donald Trump and his supporters are racists. And if you disagree you’re a racist, too.
In her speech Thursday, Clinton warned the crowd about Trump: “From the start, Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia.”
She continued:
In just the past week, under the guise of “outreach” to African Americans, Trump has stood up in front of largely white audiences and described black communities in insulting and ignorant terms:
“Poverty. Rejection. Horrible education. No housing. No homes. No ownership. Crime at levels nobody has seen… Right now, you walk down the street, you get shot.”
Those are his words.
Donald Trump misses so much.
He doesn’t see the success of black leaders in every field…
The vibrancy of black-owned businesses… Or the strength of the black church… He doesn’t see the excellence of historically black colleges and universities or the pride of black parents watching their children thrive… And he certainly doesn’t have any solutions to take on the reality of systemic racism and create more equity and opportunity in communities of color.
It takes a lot of nerve to ask people he’s ignored and mistreated for decades, “What do you have to lose?” The answer is everything!
Trump’s lack of knowledge or experience or solutions would be bad enough.
But what he’s doing here is more sinister.
Trump is reinforcing harmful stereotypes and offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters.
Clinton played the race card here, because that’s what Democrats do. They don’t need a legitimate reason.
But truth be told, it’s Hillary — not Donald Trump — who’s been accused by Haitians, for years, of turning the tragic earthquake that rocked the tiny Caribbean country in 2010 into a lucrative venture for their closest allies.
And let us not forget Hillary’s own decades-long list of instances where she’s pandered to black voters and made blatantly racist remarks.
While she may have broken the “glass ceiling,” Hillary Clinton still lives in a glass house.
2. Trump supporters are roaming the streets committing hate crimes.
If you missed it or were simply bored to sleep, Clinton came to a point in her speech where she blamed alleged random acts of violence on Trump’s presidential campaign.
Clinton said:
Parents and teachers are already worried about what they’re calling the “Trump Effect.”
Bullying and harassment are on the rise in our schools, especially targeting students of color, Muslims, and immigrants.
3. Republican voters are so unruly that they regularly need leaders who will shame and curb their racism.
Finding new ways to insult the American voter, Clinton asserted that, left unchecked by their betters in Washington D.C., Republicans will lash out at ethnic minorities.
This is a moment of reckoning for every Republican dismayed that the Party of Lincoln has become the Party of Trump. It’s a moment of reckoning for all of us who love our country and believe that America is better than this.
Twenty years ago, when Bob Dole accepted the Republican nomination, he pointed to the exits and told any racists in the Party to get out.
The week after 9/11, George W. Bush went to a mosque and declared for everyone to hear that Muslims “love America just as much as I do.”
In 2008, John McCain told his own supporters they were wrong about the man he was trying to defeat. Senator McCain made sure they knew – Barack Obama is an American citizen and “a decent person.”
We need that kind of leadership again.
Charles Krauthammer put it best: “This is the old Democratic playbook, where you accuse your opponent of being racist, to use ad hominems. I mean, it is slightly over-the-top.”
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson
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