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Friday, December 02, 2022

The Republicans’ Nazi Problem


By now, most of us have read or heard about the infamous pre-Thanksgiving dinner former president Donald Trump held with anti-Semite Kanye West (now named Ye) and also self-described anti-Semite, Holocaust denier and white nationalist scumbag Nick Fuentes. Following rather bad press from the dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Trump claimed (as he always does) that he didn’t know who Fuentes was at that time. Trump also denied knowing the identity of his sexual assault accusers, his pal Jeffrey Epstein, former KKK leader David Duke and a host of others who make him look bad in the public eye.

But he knows him now. Trump will never condemn somebody who praises him. This is part of his psychopathic narcissism. No matter what a person believes in or what he does, as long as he or she flatters Trump, nothing else matters.

Trump knew that Ye has been the author of a slew of anti-Semitic tropes and yet still agreed to sit down and break bread with this lunatic. This week, Ye tweeted an image of a swastika embedded inside the Star of David to burnish even further his anti-Semitic bona fides.

That earned him a mere 12-hour suspension from Twitter’s new chief Elon Musk, which is tantamount to a 2-minute hooking penalty. And for good measure, on the Alex Jones podcast or whatever the hell that platform is, Ye doubled down and praised Hitler for doing good things.

While outcries from Republican leaders and elected officials have mostly expressed opposition to anti-Semitism, few have lambasted Trump directly. To be clear, some have criticized his judgment for holding such a dinner confab. By judgment, they mean allowing media types to witness this event, which would embarrass and harm the party.

Chris Christie, a potential challenger against Trump in 2024 and a weathervane when it comes to all things Trump, was one of the early commenters.

“We have to stop the whispered concerns and veiled statements, and we have to stand up for the principles and the beliefs that our country and party were founded on. There is no place for antisemitism or white supremacists in the Republican Party and no place for anyone who gives people like Nick Fuentes the time of day. Donald Trump’s recent actions and history of poor judgment make him untenable as a candidate for our party.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed those sentiments days later but declined to point a finger at Trump by name.

He’s not alone. While the media continues to berate Trump for dining with Nazi sympathizers, few

Jew-hating and Trump-loving Nick Fuentes
Republicans have directly criticized Trump by name and none, as far as I know, disavowed him completely. Potential House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hasn’t figured out what to say. Boy, is he going to have a rough ride come January.

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida seen by many as the heir apparent to Trump, has avoided the fracas so far. And that is deliberate.

Dan Eberhart, a long time GOP donor and Trump donor told Rolling Stone, “My understanding is that the DeSantis team doesn’t see upside in kicking off the fight with Trump this early, even if it may be inevitable. Wading into the Fuentes fiasco just isn’t worth it for them. The media will harpoon Trump without Team DeSantis lifting a finger.”

Such courage! My feeling is that if DeSantis can’t stand up to the twice-impeached, three-time loser, soon-to-be-indicted, disgraced ex-president, how will he stand up to Putin or Kim Jung-Un?

The answer is simple. Republicans still fear Trump but more broadly, his bigoted white supremacist base. They are under the illusion that they will win elections by keeping this shrinking group of racists and/or Nazi sympathizers in tow.

It’s not going to happen. Trump will or should be forever linked to hobnobbing with Nazis and Hitler admirers. Of course, this wasn't his first foray with Nazis. How can we forget "there are very fine people on both sides" line following the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville?

That hundreds of thousands of American servicemen lost their lives in the fight against Hitler and Nazism and preserve our freedoms will be etched in the minds of decent and genuinely patriotic Americans. 

Trump’s behavior and the Republicans’ tepid, cowardly response crosses a line that will or should permanently destroy the party of Trump.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Republican Party is the party of cowards. It's disgusting to see the turn they have taken since trump was elected. I pray that someone with integrity will step forward and lead.