ELDER: Critic says Trump is ‘racist’ and ‘demeans’ black politicians

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A caller to my radio show rattled off President Donald Trump’s supposed “racist” sins: Trump called African countries “s–thole” countries; he refused to rent to blacks; he said he did not want blacks counting his money at his casinos — he wanted Jews to do the counting; and he demeans black politicians like Rep. Maxine Waters by calling her “low IQ.” Who does that?

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Donald John Trump, that’s who.

Yes, Trump denounces some black politicians, specifically some black Democratic politicians who Trump feels have unfairly and viciously attacked him. But Trump, unlike most Republicans who tiptoe around black Democratic antagonists for fear of being called racist, drops a colour-blind hammer.

Take Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a black member of the House since 1991 and co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus. She called Trump “a dangerous, unprincipled, divisive and shameful racist,” and “the most deplorable person I’ve ever met in my life.” Just weeks into his first term, Waters pushed for his impeachment.

Trump, in return, called her “crazy,” a “very low IQ person” and an “extraordinarily low IQ person.”

For years, Waters has trashed Republican presidents with relatively little pushback. She called President George H.W. Bush a “racist” and “a mean-spirited man who has no care or concern about what happens to the African American community in this country.”

The Bushes took it. Trump fires back.

The origins of the allegations

Regarding the 1975 consent decree Trump’s father, Fred, and Donald entered into with the Department of Justice over allegations that the company discriminated against minority applicants for apartments, the family admitted no liability — but agreed to change its practices. Donald was 28. Years later, Reverend Jesse Jackson praised Trump for saying positive things about Jackson’s 1984 and 1988 candidacy for president and for providing office space on Wall Street for black entrepreneurs.

About Trump not wanting blacks counting his money and preferring Jews to do it, Trump denies this and calls the man who made the claim a disgruntled ex-employee who quit after being passed over for a promotion.

Should we cancel Muhammad Ali? In a New York Times profile published the day before Ali’s 1971 fight against Joe Frazier, Robert Lipsyte wrote: “The certified public accountant rose to leave and Ali pointed to him and said, ‘There’s my Jewish brains. Get those Jew brains around you, the best in the world.'”

Gossip columnist Liz Crokin said, “As an entertainment journalist, I’ve had the opportunity to cover Trump for over a decade, and in all my years covering him I’ve never heard anything negative about the man until he announced he was running for president.”

Democrats get a pass

Do we cancel President Lyndon Johnson, under whose administration the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed and signed? According to a book by respected writer Ron Kessler, Johnson used the N-word in reference to blacks supporting Democrats.

Do we cancel Bill and Hillary Clinton? According to a book written by Dolly Kyle Browning, with whom Bill allegedly had a lengthy affair — and according to an Arkansas state trooper, who provided security for the then Arkansas governor — Bill and Hillary routinely use the N-word and the K-word for Jews.

What about President John F. Kennedy, who, according to The Dark Side of Camelot by New York Times investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, derisively referred to Central African countries as “boogie republics”? Worse, legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. campaigned vigorously for Kennedy in 1960. At the request of the Kennedy camp, Davis postponed his wedding to a white actress for fear of alienating Southern white voters. Kennedy got elected. Davis got married. But Kennedy still disinvited Davis to the inaugural where he was supposed to perform. To borrow an expression, who does that?

Meanwhile, “racist” Trump, in the One Beautiful Bill, dramatically expanded the voucher program that allows parents to opt out of underperforming Kindergarten Grade 12 public schools. According to the so-called national report card, 85% of black eighth graders are neither reading nor math proficient. Trump is attempting to do something about a problem that Democrats not only ignore but perpetuate, given their relationship with teachers’ unions that adamantly oppose competition.

Bottom line, calling Trump “racist” requires selective outrage, double standards and hypocrisy. And when it comes to similar allegations against popular Democratic politicians, it requires a lot of “see no evil.”

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