Over 130,000 Americans have died from the Coronavirus, and what are the president’s priorities? Donald Trump appears to be prioritizing working himself into a frenzy in defense of racism. Following his almost endless ranting against those who have advocated for the removal of monuments to Confederate leaders, Trump turned his attention towards sports teams on Monday afternoon. On Twitter, he complained about advocacy to change the names of the Washington Redskins football team and the Cleveland Indians baseball team. The symbolism associated with both teams has been criticized for using Native Americans pejoratively, but on Monday, Trump whined about the push to be “politically correct” and change the team names. He suggested that the names aren’t even all that bad and were originally established out of “STRENGTH” — whatever that means.
I notice the racists — Trump and his enablers — seem quite nervouse and desperate on twitter today. They know they're losing. They know America is not tolerating their racism any longer. https://t.co/TzH3RgiGHf
— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) July 6, 2020
He tweeted:
‘They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct. Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!’
They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct. Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020
Again — over 130,000 Americans have died due to the Coronavirus. Medical facilities in some areas of the country are seriously struggling, right now, as cases surge in areas like Texas and Arizona. The pandemic puts people’s lives at risk, and even if someone does survive the disease, the full scope of the damage that they’re left with is just beginning to be understood. And what’s the president doing amidst all of this? He’s whining on Twitter and complaining about the long overdue steps to remove vestiges of racism from American life. He’s using more racism in the process — his reference to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as an “Indian” is pejorative. It references her past claims to Native American ancestry, which Trump and his allies have tried to mockingly hype up.
Worry more about the global pandemic you've continually made worse and less about defending systemic racism! I can't wait until November!🤦🏾♂️#Vote #COVIDー19 https://t.co/TmGswQuEjM
— Will Jawando (@willjawando) July 6, 2020
It’s worth noting — Trump seems to only be speaking to his base among all of this controversy. A CBS News poll released about a month ago found that a meager 33 percent of respondents said that they approved of Trump’s handling of race relations. Even among Republicans, the numbers were low, comparatively speaking — although in some contexts, Trump has consolidated the support of almost the whole GOP, only 72 percent of Republican respondents said that they approved of Trump’s handling of race relations.
Check out Twitter’s response below:
