President Trump is rejecting advisers' concerns, convinced that divisive rhetoric designed to appeal to his core of white supporters is the key to reelection, sources told The Washington Post.
Trump underlined his reelection message in his Independence Day address at Mount Rushmore, warning of an America imperiled by "far-left fascists."
Instead of seeking to unify America in the wake of the George Floyd protests, Trump has doubled down on divisive messaging, including a video of a supporter yelling "white power."
Advisers reportedly believe that Trump's response to crises, including the coronavirus pandemic and the anti-racism protests, has alienated many supporters.
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President Donald Trump is shrugging off concerns within his party over his divisive rhetoric and is convinced that stoking the grievances of his white core voters will see him reelected in November, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
In recent weeks there has been growing alarm within Trump's reelection campaign and in the Republican party about national and swing-state polls showing Trump crashing to defeat to his Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden in November.
Some advisers are reportedly urging the president to tone down his rhetoric, and reach out to independent and suburban voters repelled by his response to the George Floyd anti-racism protests.
But Trump reportedly believes that "following his own instincts on race and channeling the grievances of his core base of white voters" will see him beat Biden in November, a White House official and outside adviser to the president, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the publication.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Trump's allies told the publication the president is not racist, but attentive to core supporters.
Armstrong Williams, an adviser to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, said: "He doesn't see the implications of his tweets in the way that his critics do. He just loves his supporters."
Trump departed from the message of unity presidents usually deliver to the nation on Independence Day, and in a speech at Mount Rushmore Saturday painted a bleak picture of an America imperiled from within by far-left extremists determined to tear down America's history and heritage.
"Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our Founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities," Trump said. "They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive."
He also, in the speech, affirmed the equality of all Americans, regardless of race.
During the anti-racism protests, led by the Black Lives Matter movement, that have swept America since Floyd's death, demonstrators have targeted statues and other monuments associated with and racial oppression. Many honor figures from the slave-owning Confederacy in the US Civil War.
Trump has sought to make the issue one of the central grievances of his reelection campaign, threatening protesters involved in defacing monuments with tough jail terms.
He has also made little attempt to reach out to the millions of Americans who took part in the protests. Instead, he has turned to Twitter to spread arguably racist messages, including a video in which an elderly supporter in a Florida retirement home yelled "white power." (The president subsequently removed the video but has not disavowed it.)
So far, polls don't bear out the president's apparent conviction that most Americans are hostile to the protests, with a June 28 survey by CBS News showing that a majority of Americans agree with ideas proposed by the BLM movement.
Hardcore_EHS on July 5th, 2020 at 13:24 UTC »
It worked the first time.
Vote.
okitobamberg on July 5th, 2020 at 12:25 UTC »
In 2016 it was the evil woman Hillary (who never got locked up). In the midterms it was the Mexican caravan (that just disappeared). This year it’s the protestors coming to tear down your history. I wish his supporters would see his predictable playbook for what it is- creating non existent boogeymen to scare white people.
lonbordin on July 5th, 2020 at 12:08 UTC »
“I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it,” President LB Johnson said. “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”