Not only is Donald Trump heading to El Paso even though a number of El Paso leaders and community members have said they’d rather he not visit while their city is in mourning after the white supremacist terror attack he helped inspire, but his campaign is also refusing to put a stop to the ads that feature the same hateful language also seen in the white supremacist terrorist’s scrawlings.
Reports The New York Times, "The Trump campaign was unapologetic on Tuesday about a New York Times report on its Facebook advertisements that use the word ‘invasion,’ which featured prominently in the El Paso suspect’s manifesto. A senior Trump political adviser had a single-word answer—‘no’—when asked if the campaign would change the tenor of its ads."
The killer, who drove nine hours to intentionally target Latino families in El Paso, complained about a supposed “Hispanic invasion of Texas” in his writings. This same “invasion” rhetoric has been used by Trump’s campaign in thousands of Facebook ads, and has been used at least a dozen times by Trump during press conferences and rallies, journalist Aaron Rupar tweeted.
“Unapologetic” is right: Zachary Mueller of immigrant rights advocacy group America’s Voice noted that Trump’s campaign was running new Facebook ads attacking immigrants just hours after the Saturday mass shooting. Yet Trump’s Republican accomplices have blamed anything but guns and hate for the terror that guns and hate created—maybe because some of them, like Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, are just as guilty of using the same kind of language.
So now Trump is going to El Paso. It’s as twisted as an arsonist trying to rebuild something they burned down. Oh, he’ll be welcomed by loyalists like Patrick, but those most affected by his hate and who remain in danger because of his hate are clear about where they stand. El Paso Rep. Veronica Escobar said she declined to join Trump during his Texas stop “because I refuse to be an accessory to his visit. I refuse to join without a dialogue about the pain his racist and hateful words and actions have caused our community and country.”
“Now’s not the time” for Trump to visit, veterans’ advocate David Nevarez told The Washington Post. “We do not need anybody fanning the flames of hate, anger and racism. There’s enough in this world already.”
