Republicans have settled on the real problem with Donald Trump’s white nationalist statements that America needs more Aryan immigrants rather than immigrants from those “shitholes” that actually want to come here. After careful thought, none of this is Trump’s fault.
It’s Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s fault for tattling.
Last week, the president was at the center of an international incident following behind-the-scenes comments in which Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries” during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) confirmed the accounts, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told a colleague that the reports on the controversy were basically correct.
To defend Trump, Republicans again needed to find a villain. They appear to have settled on Durbin.
In dealing with Donald Trump, Republicans like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell long ago worked out a highly detailed plan for dealing with those moments when Trump spews out points that are racist, ignorant, narcissistic, hateful, juvenile, and simply disconnected from reality. It’s called “selective deafness.” Selective deafness keeps Republicans from ever hearing Trump say anything that’s the least bit offensive, and allows them to reply to any questions about Trump’s statements with a shrug.
So who is to blame? People who have the audacity to listen to what Trump is really saying.
“If you’re the president, how do you negotiate with someone who has called you racist, vile and hateful?” Dan Senor says on Sen. Durbin’s words about President Trump after he reportedly used a vulgarity to describe some nations.
This is how Republicans flip stories about Trump every time. It’s not Trump doing anything wrong. It’s anyone who points out Trump’s failings who is causing the problems.
As the revelations surrounding Donald Trump’s Russia scandal have grown more serious, for example, the president and his allies have tried to flip the controversy, arguing that those looking for the real scandal should focus on the Justice Department. And the FBI. And Fusion GPS. And James Comey. And Christopher Steele. And Hilary Clinton’s email server protocols.
Why does Donald Trump feel free to voice vile comments that not only harm our nation’s interests around the planet, but harm our nation? Because he knows it doesn’t matter. None of it matters. No to him.
No matter what Donald Trump says, no matter what Donald Trump does, Republicans will find a way to not only excuse Trump, but blame anyone who noticed. They’re not just enabling America’s descent, they’re greasing the slide. This strategy worked for Trump over and over … if the definition of “worked” is worked for those people who agreed with Trump’s racism in the first place.
But as criticism of Trump intensified, some of his partisan allies apparently settled on a strategy: it’s time to stop talking about the president’s racist comments and time to start talking about the senator who helped alert us to the president’s racist comments.
If Republicans think they can make Dick Durbin the bad guy in this story, they’re likely to be disappointed.
If Donald Trump really did shoot someone on 5th Avenue, Fox News would run a chyron proclaiming “Thoughtless Democrat gets blood on President’s bullets.”
And then the New York Times would find someone who agreed.