February 1, 2022 ☼ trump ☼ racism
Source: MPR News (Link)
Trump is undoubtedly the front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2024. Few Republicans on Capitol Hill dare cross the former president for fear of upsetting his feverish base of supporters.
That’s given Trump free rein to say what he wants with no significant checks.
Trump has pledged to play heavily in this year’s midterm elections and has endorsed dozens of candidates in his mold, particularly those who repeat his lies about the 2020 election that he lost.
But Trump’s ramped-up inflammatory rhetoric is also coming at a time when his knotted hold over the Republican base appears to be loosening some — and as he continues to be banned from mainstream social media platforms.
The constraint put on him helps explain Trump seeming to ratchet things up a notch, said Casey Kelly, a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, whose paper “Donald J. Trump and the Rhetoric of White Ambivalence” explored how Trump shifts between “overt” and “colorblind racism.”
“When you’re denied the normal ways in which you reach your demographic, you intensify to garner more attention,” Kelly said.
Plus, Kelly added, “The audience he’s trying to get is constantly agitated and upset. He always has a nose for white victimhood.”