Trump’s cruelty and hate are creating a defining moment for Democrats


President Trump’s rampaging and destructive international tour has taken yet another turn in an interview with a London tabloid, in which he blasted British Prime Minister Theresa May as soft on Brexit and as an added bonus went full white nationalist, not with a dog whistle but with a clanging, blaring sound truck.

Trump savaged the Muslim mayor of London for doing a “terrible” job on terrorism, and he claimed that “immigration” to Europe — not illegal immigration, mind you — is changing Europe’s “fabric.” Addressing European audiences, Trump said that due to “millions and millions” of immigrants, “you are losing your culture.”

This sends a strong message to white nationalists all over the world, but it’s also likely aimed at domestic audiences as well: It is about keeping immigration in U.S. headlines, out of a belief that Republicans can win the midterms on the issue. The architect of Trump’s white-nationalist agenda, Stephen Miller, has said the White House strategy is to cast Democrats as the party that loves open borders and coddles tattoo-festooned immigrant gang members, in contrast with the allegedly pro-American-worker posture of Trump’s immigration agenda (cuts to legal immigration included).

Many House Republicans would be uncomfortable with Trump’s explicit rhetoric about immigration as a threat to “culture.” But as Ronald Brownstein has pointed out, House Republicans are increasingly getting pulled into Trump’s vortex, with most of them now supporting deep cuts to legal immigration. Republican candidates have employed the same sort of race-baiting attacks around MS-13 that Trump relishes. And right now, House Republicans are pushing forward with plans to force Democrats to vote on an “Abolish ICE” measure, which House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) says will help Republicans this fall — thus taking up the same “open borders” attacks on Democrats that Trump’s chief white nationalist adviser has employed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/07/13/trumps-cruelty-and-hate-are-creating-a-defining-moment-for-democrats/?utm_term=.5b51a0cb6446