Emma Emeozor, [email protected]
America was thrown into political confusion last week after President Donald Trump tweeted a torrent of angry messages to four freshmen congresswomen, asking them to leave the United States and “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
The public fury that trailed the president’s politically motivated message did not make him tone down his abrasive language. Rather, he demonstrated presidential arrogance and tweeted another demeaning message, saying “if you hate our country or if you are not happy here, you can leave.”
Yet, in another ranting of the president, he referred to the four progressive lawmakers as people who “originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world.” Trump also accused the four women of hating Israel and promoting socialism in the US. The question that immediately comes to mind is: when has American president become the spokesperson for Israel?
The four female lawmakers who are now known as the ‘Sqaud’ are: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez representing New York (and of Puerto Rican ancestry, she is also the youngest member of Congress), Ilhan Omar representing Minnesota (a Somalian who fled the civil war in her home country as a child and became a US citizens at the age of 17, Rashida Tlaib representing Michigan (and of Palestinian descent, she is the first Palestinian woman to be elected into the US House of Representatives) and Ayanna Pressley representing Massachusetts. Pressley is the first African-American to be elected from Massachusetts. Of the four women, only Omar was not born in the US. Omar and Tlaib are the only Muslim women in the House.
Trump was quick to deny being a racist after he was told that his choice of words was a clear indication that he was a racist. He said he had racist bone in his body. This is not be the first time the American leader will be receiving a backlash for use of racist language on others.
Trump once denied he referred to African countries and Haiti as shithole countries. Now, would the president deny referring to the governments of the original countries of the four women as “a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world?” He will have to tell the world the meaning of the words: “catastrophe,” “worst,” “corrupt,” and “inept.”
The president’s politically motivated attacks on the four congresswomen were deliberate as he knew that they were from poor countries. Trump has never hidden his disdain for Africans and Palestinians. It is the same story with Puerto Ricans. Controversy trailed the president’s visit to Puerto Rica following Hurricane Maria in July 2017. In a tweet, he accused the leaders of the territory, saying they “want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.” Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz refused to swallow the president’s insult and quickly responded, saying the “inefficiency” of Trump’s government was “killing” Puerto Ricans. But the ‘tragic’ president will not let go. Rather, he digressed to drag in the Democrats. He tweeted, saying Cruz “was very complimentary only a few days ago,” adding that she “has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.”
Trump planting ‘landmines’ ahead of 2020
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and this is the problem with the American presidential system. It sometimes helps to create brutish leaders. When power drunk persons who do not have clear understanding of the democratic and human rights’ heritage left behind by the founding fathers of America are privileged to taste power at the highest rung of the ladder, the values for which America is cherished across the globe perish.
Trump has launched his bid for re-election and wants to bulldoze his way back to the White House by planting ‘landmines’ to sink the opposition party. A megalomaniac would always roar to keep off any threat on his way.
He considers the four ‘sizzling’ and vibrant young lawmakers a threat which must be crushed. One means of decimating them is to present them to white Americans (particularly the white supremacists) as enemies of the country and as part of the parasites (hungry immigrants) from ‘shithole’ countries.
Recall that Trump was audacious to declare his predecessor, Barack Obama not to be an American. Indeed, this was one tale he told to ‘idiots’ at the time. After his smear campaign failed, he resorted to targeting Obama’s legacy. Yet, he claims he has no racist bone in his body, another tale told to ‘idiots.’
Perhaps, Trump wants to be reminded for the umpteenth time of his German root on the one hand and the wife’s Slovenian root on the other hand. Undeniable records assert that “Trump is the son, and grandson, of immigrants: German on his father’s side, and Scottish on his mother’s.”
It therefore an irony that such a man who had the rare privilege of becoming the president of America would turn his back to stab other people having similar history, issuing them quit notice, all for the sake of politics.
This is not a good example of the leadership Americans dream of. America is known for its core values: liberty, self-government, equality, individualism, diversity, and unity. Instead of tapping the benefits that accrue from the diversity of the country, the president prefers deploying ‘divide and rule’ tactics to sustain him in power.
The reason for this is not farfetched. His “America First” slogan, though myopic, is rooted in the philosophy of the far rights groups who do not understand the difference between nationalism and patriotism. The president’s attack on the four congresswomen was welcomed by his supporters who erroneously believe that he is fighting to prevent the country’s socio-economic structures from collapsing.
They are wrong. Americans need a leader who will work hard to promote those values for which the world cherish the country and not a leader who will not care if his actions would isolate the country. No country can be an island unto its self. This is the lesson Trump is refusing to learn.
House of Reps bold move
America is too big a country for one man to try to turn it to his ‘estate.’ In other words, America cannot become a second ‘Trump estate. ‘It is for this reason, the resolution by the House of Representatives condemning the president’s racism rant must be commended. Interestingly, four members of the Republican Party and one ex-member of the party who recently withdrew his membership to become an Independent voted in favour of the resolution. The resolution was passed with 240 in favour and 187 against. Expectedly, majority of Republicans abstained for political reasons. They shy away because they feel obliged to protect the integrity and sustainability of the party. Republicans are mindful of the implications of division in the party ahead of 2020.
Before the voting, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had addressed members saying, “Every single member of this institution, Democratic and Republican, should join us in condemning the president’s racist tweets.”She told her colleagues that “to do anything less would be a shocking rejection of our values and a shameful abdication of our oath of office to protect the American people.”
Members agreed with John Lewis, an American civil rights icon and lawmaker who said: “I know racism when I see it. I know racism when I feel it. And at the highest level of government, there’s no room for racism.” The House condemned the president for “saying that Members of Congress who are immigrants (or those of our colleagues who are wrongly assumed to be immigrants) do not belong in Congress or in the United States of America.”
Rep. AI Green’s impeachment move
Democratic lawmaker representing Texas, AI Green “forced a vote on articles of impeachment” against Trump. For him, enough was enough. It was his third attempt, since 2017, to see Trump kicked out of the White House. He said: “The President of the United States is a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, as well as an invidious prevaricator. To say that Donald John Trump is unfit for the Office of the President of the United States is an understatement.” Though his move was defeated as majority of Democrats believe it was “premature,” it is but a bold statement that shows that Americans are not happy with the conduct of the president since he assumed office. But would Trump learn?
Trump’s son, Eric got it wrong
Trump’s racist attack on the four lawmakers brought to fore the adage: ‘Like father like son.’ It was nothing but folly for the president’s son, Eric Trump to have commended his father over his racist attacks on bonafide US citizens. He told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” that his father was “the greatest fighter in the world.”He believes that 95 per cent of Americans support the president’s political message.
Hear him: “He is willing to fight, and I’ve said this time and time again, but American didn’t have a fighter for administration, by the way, both on the Republican and Democratic side. We haven’t had somebody in there fighting.”Curiously, he also used vile language. He said: “My father is in there, and he’s fighting every single day. And he has to fight against the media. He has to fight against these lunatics.”Eric was quick to call the four congresswomen an “absolute clown show.” “I love the tweet, ‘If you don’t love our country, get out. Leave.”
Eric and his father must wake to the challenge of sustaining America’s core value and not throwing them to the winds in their bid to clutch power. Power is transient and Trump’s desire to remain in power cannot override the supremacy of the people from whom he obtained the nod to lead.