Trump Ramps Up the Racism and Sexism After Harris Makes History

That’s one way to meet the moment.

Stefani Reynolds/ZUMA

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One day after Joe Biden announced his decision to name Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, a history-making choice that saw the first Black woman and the first South Asian American woman to be nominated on a major party’s presidential ticket, President Trump is sticking to familiar terrain:

Let’s unpack this one. Right off the bat, Trump ramped up his use of outdated, sexist labels in order to make a blatant appeal to white suburban women—who by the way, overwhelmingly disapprove of the president these days. Continuing to stoke false and racist fears that America’s suburbs will be destroyed by a Biden presidency, he then suggested that Cory (note the spelling) Booker, the Black senator from New Jersey, would lead an effort to restore an Obama-era fair-housing policy that the Trump administration ended last month. (As my colleague Aaron Wiener explained when Trump first brought the issue to the forefront last month, Biden has embraced much of Booker’s housing plan for his own platform.) All this, Trump claimed, laid the groundwork for a suburban “invasion.”

The tweet is a generous serving of the racism and sexism we’ve long seen from this president. On the heels of the groundbreaking Harris news, it’s all the more glaring.

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“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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