In a press pool spray between visits to the sites of two horrible tragedies — the shooting in El Paso and the shooting in Dayton — President Trump took one question that either so completely proved his racism as to remove all doubt forever or… no, that’s the only possibility. That’s exactly what he did.
Off-camera, a reporter remarked to Trump, “You and the shooter in El Paso used that same language [of an ‘invasion’ by Hispanic people],” before giving the President a chance to get out from under such a weighted idea: “Do you regret that?”
Now, this is the point where a normal President says “we sounded nothing alike,” or “I don’t think I’d characterize it that way,” or even “yes, I do not like that the killer used my words in such a different way than I’ve said them.”
Those are all things that you could reasonably expect to hear if Donald Trump wasn’t (a) a committed racist, (b) hopelessly clueless about sounding the way he does, or (c) absolutely unrepentant about anything, ever.
But then this article would be about someone else, wouldn’t it?
Instead, Trump allowed the reporter to finish his question, then clarified — “you mean illegal immigration” — before expounding on just how much he agrees with the sentiment expressed in the manifesto:
I think illegal immigration is a terrible thing for this country, I think you have to come in legally, ideally you have to come in through merit. We need people coming in because we have many companies coming into our country, they’re pouring in. I think illegal immigration is a very bad thing for our country. I think open borders are a very bad thing for our country, and we’re stopping. We’re building a wall.”
But the thing is, the reporter didn’t ask if Trump opposed illegal immigration. It’s common knowledge that he does. So this is Trump’s response to the question that was asked, whether or not he “regrets” sounding exactly like the mass shooter in El Paso.
He clearly does not. It didn’t even occur to him to be offended that he was being compared to a white supremacist killer.
Watch the video:
Featured image via screen capture
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