Here is a question for Republicans: Is it worth it?
All those conservative judges you’re getting from the White House, the tax plan, the turmoil in world relations, the surging economy, the railing against immigrants, and the dismantling of all things Obama.
I know many of you just love all that, but again — is it enough to offset the growing public perception that your party is comfortable with a racist in charge?
Now, you may feel such a claim is overblown, but President Donald Trump’s Twitter-burst aimed at four Democratic women of color is not helping your argument. When he tweeted that these women should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came,” he echoed that old racist trope: You don’t look like us. You’re not from here. You’re not really an American. Go away.
Of course, you weren’t shocked. After all, he was your party’s top pusher of the fake Obama birther conspiracy. He often flings vaguely veiled ethnic slurs at minorities. Even as he defended himself about the most recent accusations of racism, he sounded … well, kind of racist.
Bear in mind, that these women are all, absolutely, American citizens. They are duly elected members of Congress backed by tens of thousands of other Americans, and neither their color, religion, gender or background should make an ounce of difference.
And while Trump has every right to disagree with their policies, he chose instead to open fire on their legitimacy, their patriotism, their very being. Yet, there has been barely a trickle of Republican lawmakers willing to stand up and say they disapprove of his tactics.
In my decades of reporting, I’ve known plenty of Republicans who have proudly proclaimed their conservative principles, and derided Democrats as weak, wishy-washy, and unwilling to speak against wrongdoing in their own party.
But where are those Republicans now as a portion of their party’s integrity burns on the pyre of bigotry? I don’t know. Perhaps they are lounging in a backroom of the Capitol, hoisting a toast to Trump, and saying yes, yes … it’s worth it.
