There are two things at work here. Meadows is clearly a pandering politician. Whether he believes or even has any genuine interest in President Obama and the birther conspiracy is immaterial. He is complicit in it and supports it with his words and actions. That’s racist. That’s being racist. That’s promoting racism. When Meadows attempts to undercut Michael Cohen’s testimony that Donald Trump is as racist as he seems, Meadows is actively trying to sell racism to the American people. He’s saying that the racist things Donald Trump does and says don’t make Donald Trump a racist.
Meadows’ position on Trump isn’t new. He has gone on television to tell people that he doesn’t believe Donald Trump is a racist and argued that Trump’s “never ever had a racist comment in private.” But, once again, just because you don’t want to be perceived as a racist, and even if you know people of color, that does not make you less racist. It may help in your evolution as a person, to move away from racism. But having a relationship—even a loving one—with a person of color and being racist aren’t mutually exclusive. Not unlike how you can have a good relationship with many women and still be something of a misogynist.
According to CNN’s Manu Raju, Meadows and Tlaib are making up.
This is a good thing. It doesn’t make Meadows less racist but hopefully, it shows progress on the part of someone who thus far seems to be unwilling to publicly disavow some of his most hurtful and racist history. Here’s a statement from Rep. Meadows about those old comments.
To be clear, saying anything with the phraseology “there is not a racial bone in my body” is something of a giveaway that you have quite a few racial bones in your body.