"Donald Trump’s racist Truth Social post depicting former president Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes was not an aberration, a lapse, or a poorly vetted meme—it was the grotesque climax of a second term built on racial grievance as policy."
~ What Did Trump Do Today?
https://whatdiddonaldtrumpdotoday.substack.com/p/when-the-hood-comes-off
"He's always had this deeply felt white supremacy and anti-blackness that animates him. And in a moment like this, he will pull that card because he knows that there is a significant portion of his base for whom that works. And the danger, let me be very clear, a lot of people will say, after they stop lying about the fact that this was done, and that it's obviously racist."
~ Tim Wise
https://thelefthook.substack.com/p/trump-goes-full-racist-and-refuses
"They'll say, well, you know, it's just meme culture. It's edgy humor. I think that's how J.D. Vance likes to put it."
Robert P. Jones responds:
"All of that is right out of the KKK white supremacist playbook. That is what, and that's the hymnal that the president of the United States is singing from the during Black History Month."
Mary Trump replies to Karoline Leavitt of the ostentatious cross and "smug inhumanity," who attempted to gaslight those appalled at Trump's vile racist attack on the Obamas by saying we should focus on what "actually matters" and dispense with "fake outrage."
"What matters to the American public, Karoline Leavitt, is the fact that the President of the United States of America is an unrepentant, unreconstructed racist who is endangering lives with his blatant racist rants. Obviously, it did matter to someone, because the post was deleted, proving that the outrage was warranted.
This is not an isolated incident, but rather a slice of a broader pattern that has become impossible to ignore."
"Donald and others in the Trump Regime have repeatedly leaned into white supremacist imagery and messaging. What was once coded is now increasingly overt.
This was not an accident. This was Donald telling us exactly who he is. And as the adage goes, when someone shows you who they are, believe them."
"The deafening silence of the Republican Party only emboldens him, pushing him toward ever more overt racism, anti-trans hatred, anti-immigrant cruelty, misogyny, and Islamophobia. Donald is the problem because he has the platform. He is the one whose rhetoric, memes, GIFs, and posts can get people killed."
"I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this, but for the benefit of press secretary Leavitt, I’m going to spell it out: Trump’s stupid memes and social media posts matter. They matter because the president helps set the parameters of acceptable discourse. They matter because his bigotry emboldens others. Most of all, they matter because they reflect his policies."
~ Arwa Mahdawi
#Trump #Obamas #KarolineLeavitt #racism
/13
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/07/trump-racist-obama-arwa-mahdawi
"But while Trump’s racist video should impact his presidency, it won’t, will it? This is, after all, a convicted felon and adjudicated sexual predator we are talking about. A man who appears to be successfully shrugging off his connections with Jeffrey Epstein, a child rapist. Give it a few days and nobody will remember this story. ...
It’s not just democracy that is dying in the US right now; it is common decency."
