Former Utah Rep. Mia Love is stepping up her criticism of President Donald Trump’s racist attacks on minority members of Congress.
“I think this is just the worse of not just American politics, but humanity,” said Love on CNN responding to a report that Trump’s political advisors think his Twitter attacks are good for his re-election prospects as they rev up his base.
Trump spent the weekend attacking Democrat Elijah Cummings, calling his district in Baltimore “disgusting,” “rat-infested,” and suggesting the residents are less than human. On Monday, Trump unleashed a broadside on Rev. Al Sharpton, who he claimed “hates white people.”
Earlier in July, Trump stoked outrage by telling four congresswomen of color to “go back” to the “crime-infested places from which they came,” even though three of them were born in the U.S.
Also on Monday, Love penned an op-ed for the Australian Broadcasting Company, saying she personally believes Trump’s comments were racist, and they’re doing immeasurable damage to his presidency and the Republican Party.
Most Republicans do not believe Mr. Trump is a racist. Indeed, his long record of promoting people of color is at odds with a term that has traditionally been used to describe those who refuse to hire, promote, rent to, or interact with people of different ethnicity.
This is why his recent remarks are so troubling to me, to my family, to people of color and to many Trump supporters throughout the country.
Mr. Trump does a disservice to every one of his voters when he allows his comments to be used to brand himself and half the country as racists.
He had an opportunity to walk those comments back when a crowd at his recent North Carolina rally began chanting “send her back” in relation to one of the congresswomen he attacked.
He didn’t do that. It was a mistake.
Love suggested Trump should apologize immediately for his behavior.
The left may not accept his apology, but many Trump supporters and Republicans, who have been put in the untenable position of defending the indefensible, will.
His political enemies will never be satisfied, but he can make a big difference by doing more to disavow any racist interpretation of his comments in recent weeks.
President Trump must be crystal clear about the fact that he does not condone racism.
