Desperate Republicans are going back to an old favorite: charging their political opponents with “hating America.” It’s always been an outrageous claim that having a different vision for the nation, a vision of more equality and justice, equals hate. But in the age of Donald Trump, it’s outrageous and absurd. Trump is setting the tone, though—with Republicans like Fox News’ Tucker Carlson jumping on gleefully to level the charge against Sen. Tammy Duckworth, of all people.
Carlson admitted it was a difficult move, saying “You’re not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military.” Except that Republicans have never ever observed their own rule about not criticizing people who served in the military if those people happen to be Democrats, as John Kerry and Max Cleland could tell you. Duckworth, of course, lost her legs when the helicopter she was piloting in Iraq was shot down. And Carlson was dishing up a warning that Duckworth’s history will not shield her from even the cheapest attacks if Joe Biden picks her for vice president.
Carlson attacked Duckworth as a “deeply silly and unimpressive person” and then went on, “But in the face of all of this, the conclusion can’t be avoided. These people actually hate America.”
The “all this” was Duckworth suggesting that, when it comes to taking down statues of George Washington because he was a slave owner, “I think we should listen to everybody. I think we should listen to the argument there.” Oh noes, not listening to people! Such hatred!
In her discussion of Washington, Duckworth was much more interested in that answer in pointing out that, at Mount Rushmore, Trump “spent more time worried about honoring dead Confederates than he did talking about the lives of our 130,000 Americans who lost their lives to COVID-19, or by warning Russia off of the bounties they're putting on Americans' heads.” She expanded on her point about the Russia bounties in a USA Today op-ed, writing “I first ran for Congress so that when the drums of war started beating, I’d be in a position to ensure that our elected officials fully considered the true costs of war: not just in dollars and cents, but also in human lives. I never imagined I’d have to use my position to point out that the American president should care when another nation puts a bounty on the heads of our troops.”
As for Carlson, Duckworth dispatched with him in a brief tweet:
Trump’s own speech at Mount Rushmore insisted on himself as the defender of American heritage against “Angry mobs” who are “trying to tear down statues of our Founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities.” As dogs sat up and began howling, Trump continued, “Many of these people have no idea why they are doing this, but some know exactly what they are doing. They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive. But no, the American people are strong and proud, and they will not allow our country, and all of its values, history, and culture, to be taken from them.” Where he places the Confederacy firmly within the nation’s values, history, and culture, and opposition to racism outside the nation’s values. While he’s had virtually nothing to say about bounties being placed on the troops he has stationed overseas. Statues over human lives.
The Republican “they hate America” train is apparently just getting revved up.
Hating monuments to the Confederate States of America, which are monuments both to slavery and to an actual rebellion against the United States of America, is not hating the United States of America. Being willing to question the legacy of slavery, even as it involves figures like George Washington, is not hating the United States of America. It’s striving to improve the country and to reckon with its full history.
But that’s not a Republican interest. They’re facing a tough—potentially devastating—election year, and claiming their opponents “hate America” is a time-honored tactic for Republicans. So expect to see a lot of it.