Last week after a video was posted by Mr. Trump with a racist image at the end, Mr. Trump said he condemned the racist portion of the clip. “Of course I do,” he said.
And asked later whether the video could hurt Republicans’ standing with Black voters, the president said no and defended his achievements.
“I am, by the way, the least racist president you’ve had in a long time.”
The question that I pose today is: “How do you interpret that statement?”
There seem to be three possible interpretations:
HE IS BLOVIATING
This is a common practice for Mr. Trump. We can cite multiple examples including this week’s statement that “I think we have the greatest economy actually ever in history.”
Or: “I am a very stable genius.
Or: "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words."
Or: “Everything I've done virtually has been a tremendous success".
At least to me, the current quote does not have the swagger of his normal bloviations. It is simpler, without the exaggeration that normally is used.
HE IS TELLING THE TRUTH
Perhaps he is correct; he IS the least racist President in a very long time. I do find that hard to believe when looking at the accomplishments of Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ, and Nixon, not to mention Bush, Obama and Biden.
HE BELIEVES HE IS TELLING THE TRUTH
This seems to me to be the best explanation. I have been thinking about this, and I have come to the conclusion that it is not bluster, but a clear, accurate expression of his true beliefs. Let’s take a moment to try to understand his statement.
A typical definition of racism is: “prejudice or discrimination against a person on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority.”
Mr. Trump expands this definition to include ALL people regardless of their race.
From his standpoint there are two truths:
- Companies, in order to be as strong as possible, need to hire the best individuals for each and every job. Sacrificing ability for other attributes weakens the company’s output, product, and therefore its profitability. Consequently, weakened companies result in a general weakened national economy, one that is not a strong as it would have been if the companies had hired the best, most capable workers and management.
- There are genetic differences between any group of people. There are differences due to sex, national origin, and race. Some of these differences are exhibited in physical traits, some in mental individualities, and some in intelligence. Some racial groups are, therefore, implicitly more capable in athletic activities, some are more subject to emotional problems, and some are more capable of higher levels of intelligence and productivity.
You do not have to oversimplify these arguments. Each genetic group is made of a spectrum of individuals. There are brilliant scientists in each group, outstanding athletes in each group, and mentally unstable people in each group. The difference, as this argument goes, is that the bell-shaped curve of each of these genetic groups peaks at a different point in the overall population. So, for example, there are more outstanding athletes in the black population, but less Nobel Prize winners. The “average” black man or woman is probably superior to the “average” white man or woman on the athletic field, but inferior in IQ.
Now, please don’t jump all over me. I am not endorsing this theory, just trying to understand it fairly.
If you subscribe to these principles, and I do believe that Mr. Trump does, then forcing companies to hire racial minorities simply BECAUSE of their race is detrimental to the overall health of those companies. Further, it is racist in and of itself because it is using race to make the choice rather than judging on merit.
Here is some evidence of Mr. Trump’s thinking:
Mr. Trump has stated on numerous occasions that he believes that winning is “innate” and in the blood. This is often referred to as the “racehorse theory”, that bloodlines are extremely important in determining the abilities of a colt.
He has linked his own intelligence to the fact that he had an uncle, Dr. John Trump who was a former MIT professor: “It’s in my blood. I’m smart”.
In 2020, on the campaign trail in Minnesota Mr. Trump praised his supporters for having “good genes”, “A lot of it is about the genes, isn’t it, don’t you believe? The racehorse theory.”
In 2024 he suggested that immigrants crossing the U.S. border bring “bad genes” which contribute to violent crime. “I believe this: it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”
He has stated a belief that a person’s genes at birth are a strong indication of their future, often more important that learned behavior or environment. Mr. Trump seems to hold the view that inborn traits are more important that acquired skills. This would be true both for superior traits, and inferior traits.
The logic of this argument is that choosing one person or another for employment, for admission to a university, or for advancement should be made on merit alone. Should the choice be influenced by the race of the individual, that would be racist. It doesn’t matter, in this construct, whether you have chosen a person BECAUSE they are black, or rejected someone else because they are brown, or yellow, or green. If your choice is not based on merit, it is de facto racist. And if you believe that your football team will be better if you favor black players over white players, you are not being racist; but if you choose to recruit white players to create a more “mixed” locker room, you are racist.
The net result is that Mr. Trump who wants to use particular metrics to determine the “merit” of a hire, and chooses to reject the religion, race, gender, or nationality as a valid asset/debit of an individual is, actually, the least racist person. Other Presidents like Mr. Biden, Mr. Bush, or Mr. Obama, who decided that promoting minorities to positions that were previously difficult to attain, was an apt use of Presidential power. Mr. Trump would consider these actions racist.
Therefore, when Mr. Trump claims to be the “least racist president in a long time”, he is declaring a sentiment he believes.