Trump chose Alabama for his latest racial demagoguery. Think about that. He goes to Alabama to endorse a candidate in a Republican Party primary and he pivots to low hanging fruit for the Gumps (we LSU fans “affectionately call the people from Alabama “Gumps” after of course the movie Forrest Gump… the character was Crimson Tide football player)…. their hatred and disgust of black players taking a knee during the national anthem to police violence and injustice in black America.
He didn’t do this at his last rally in Phoenix or before that in Huntington. He did it now… when it’s really not a hot topic anywhere.. and he did it in Alabama. Think about that.
While this morning's press is (rightly) dominated by pieces like that of David Remnick in The New Yorker who wrote:
This was the same sort of racial signaling that followed the Fascist and white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. It is no longer a matter of “dog whistling.” This is a form of racial demagoguery broadcast at the volume of a klaxon.
what David and others are missing is the story behind the story…. the reason why Trump is bringing this up… in Alabama… now.
I posit that the answer is obvious; Trump pissed off the Gumps when he threw Jeff Sessions under the bus, and now, in an attempt to ingratiate himself again so that his endorsement of Senator Luther Strangers carries more weight, Trump is both diverting attention from his public humiliation of Sessions and making himself a hero of the oppressed Southern white man.
Let’s look at how we got here…. Trump went to Alabama to endorse Senator Luther Strange over the infamous (and probably clinically insane) Judge Roy Moore. The problem for the Orange Trumpett is that for all intents and purposes, Roy Moore IS Jeff Sessions and Jeff Sessions IS Roy Moore. They share the same far right wing views and and Moore sees the two of them as two peas in a pod:
“Jeff Sessions and I have known each other for many years,” Moore said in an exclusive interview here on Friday last week, as the campaign enters its final three-week stretch with him far in the lead. “Jeff Sessions knows everybody, and of course he knows my opponent. Jeff Sessions helped get my son appointed to West Point last year and I have a lot of respect for Jeff Sessions. I think what is really the difference is not just only our conservative values, but how we view the judiciary.”
Sessions is so popular in Alabama he was reelected last time unanimously with no challenger either in his party primary or in the general election.
So two months ago when Trump went on (yet another of) his insane twitter rants and tweeted Jeff Sessions was "weak" and “beleaguered” he pissed off the Jeff Sessions/Roy Moore wing of the Gump Republican Party. The press widely covered this public humiliation of Sessions with many opining that Trump was trying to get Sessions to quit. Trump was trying to get Sessions to quit his Cabinet after Sessions had just quit his Alabama Senate seat to take the AG’s position in Trump’s cabinet.
The Gumps were watching. While Strange made headway in the polls after Trumps endorsement, it wasn't enough. Oh of course they still love their Great Orange Savior, but they are NOT going to dump one of their two far right kook leaders (Moore) the way Trump dumped their other far right kook leader (Sessions) especially when Moore was running for the seat Sessions gave up to work for Trump and Trump wants to fire Sessions.
Trump tried half-heartedly to pretend he made nice with Sessions:
"Luther is going to be taking over for a man that you all love, what's his name, huh? Sen. jeff Sessions, you love Jeff Sessions, he's doing a good job," Trump said. "He is doing a good job. We have him very busy watching the borders, a lot of things are happening, but Luther's taking over for Jeff, hopefully, and you are going to be so impressed with what we're going to do in Washington."
And while the far right Gumps are stupid, they’re not THAT stupid. They know Trump never apologized and they’re not budging.
So Trump, in his sick orange head, thought what could make those Gumps see past his humiliation of Sessions? What’s more important to Gumps than Sessions?
The answer came easy to him…. RACE.
He intentionally chose pick a fight with black athletes in the state where pivotal civil rights events occurred including the protests led by Rev. Martin Luther King, the bombings in Birmingham, where Rosa Parks refused to give up here seat on the bus, where Gov. George Wallace blocked Deputy U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach at the doors of the University of Alabama.
Moreover, Trump choses to attack black athletes protesting racial injustice in Alabama and used the words:
“People like yourselves.”
“Those people.”
“Son of a bitch.”
While many in the press and America are irate at this latest ridiculous fight Trump has picked, they’re missing the reason he’s doing it. He’s playing the race card, Trump style, in Alabama politics.
And it’s accomplishing what Trump wanted. No one is talking about how Trump humiliated Sessions. No one is talking about Trump’s flip flop on Sessions and “the good job” he’s doing. When thinking of who to vote for in the race for Jeff Sessions’ seat, the Gumps are no longer talking about how their Orange God humiliated Jeff Sessions. They’re cheering Trump’s attack on the “Anti-American Protesters”… they’re cheering for how Trump put “the blacks” in their place.”
Don’t believe me? Check out the message boards for the various Bama newspapers or even the Bama and SEC football message boards. Google them because I’m tired and need to publish this and go to bed and don’t feel like linking anymore.
Suffice it to say, as a person who reads SEC and Bama message boards, the main discussions have gone from voters perturbed at Trump for endorsing Strange to now widely and wildly cheering Trumps latest race baiting rants.
But frankly, it’s not going to work. I know these people. The Alabama Far Right will NOT turn against Moore. He will win and he will win quite easily. Perhaps not double digits but close to it.
But the Great Orange took a stab at it. Who cares that he’s sewn greater division in the fabric of America by this latest stunt? Trump doesn’t want complete humiliation come election night for his endorsement of Strange. He wants the race to at least be close (if not win). This was his Hail Mary.
He’s a sick Fuck.