Opinion
Donald Trump is being accused of racism for using the birth name of his presidential competitor, Nikki Haley.
On Friday, the former president used his social media platform to address his former United Nations ambassador’s legal name, something the Associated Press called, “the latest example of the former president keying on race and ethnicity to attack people of color, especially his political rivals.”
If you were hoping the media would have learned any lessons from the last several years, you are sure to be disappointed.
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‘Nimrada’
Although misspelled by Trump as “Nimrada,” Haley’s birth name is Nimrata Nikki Haley. The media ran with this same game plan when Barack Obama was running for President, claiming that use of his real middle name, Hussein, was “racist.” He also misspelled her name as “Nimbra.”
It didn’t take long for the AP to point that Trump is the son of immigrants, which the media believes to be a strong point in their favor.
The AP writes:
Trump, himself the son, grandson and twice the husband of immigrants, called Haley “Nimbra” three times in the post and said she “doesn’t have what it takes.”
The attack comes four days before the New Hampshire primary, in which Haley is trying to establish herself as the only viable Trump alternative in the Republicans’ 2024 nominating contest.
Trump’s post was an escalation of recent attacks in which he referenced Haley’s given first name — though he’s misspelled it “Nimrada” — and falsely asserted she is ineligible for the presidency because her parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born in 1972.
The last reference is to Trump’s position that citizenship should not be merely “birthright” – ie) that one should not automatically become a citizen just because their parents gave birth on American soil.
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Is Trump Actually Being Racist?
Is Trump really using racist dog whistles? Or are too many just automatically assuming that’s what he’s doing?
According to the AP, “The attacks echo Trump’s ‘birther’ rhetoric against President Barack Obama. Trump spent years pushing the conspiracy theory that the nation’s first Black president was born in Kenya and not a ‘natural born’ U.S. citizen as required by the Constitution.”
“Haley has dismissed Trump’s latest attacks as proof that she threatens his bid for a third consecutive nomination,” the report noted.
Haley’s best shot at being competitive probably is New Hampshire and then her own state of South Carolina, where she still trails in the polls.
With Trump being so far ahead in the polls, does he really need to resort to racist tactics?
And again, is that really what’s happening here?
Apparently the mainstream press is going to assume that’s what he’s doing regardless.
Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
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