Wajahat Ali called for — dare I say it? — accuracy in reporting on Trump's bigotry, and it was a beautiful thing. He put those who refuse to call Trump what he is — a racist and antiSemite — on blast. Stop using soft language around it. Who benefits from it? Only the racists. Only the antiSemites. This righteous tirade came after Chris Hayes asked the NYT journalist about, in particular, what he made of the silence of Trump in the face of the awful New Zealand terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 50 innocent Muslims at prayer.
ALI: It's the feature, not the bug. Let's not forget when it came to Charlottesville, and there were white supremacists, KKK and the alt-right, who repeated the white supremacist conspiracy theory that "Jews will not replace us," Donald Trump responded by saying there are very fine people, and both sides are to blame. And when it's come to this terrorist attack in New Zealand, which has claimed fifty lives, including a three-year-old baby, it's been five days, Chris, and Donald Trump has yet to use the "t" word, terrorism, to describe it. In fact, he has yet to reach out the the victims. In fact, I wish he had half as much concern for the rest of Americans, including Muslims, that he does defending Judge Pirro, who promoted anti-Muslim conspiracies that are found in the same ideological swamp shared by these white supremacists around the world. I wish he would attack the number one domestic terror threat in America, according to the FBI, which are white supremacists, the number one source of domestic terror plots in the past ten years, with as much gusto and passion that he attacked John McCain, the press, SNL and Robert Mueller. But he has not done that and he hasn't done it throughout his presidency. And, I'll say something bold here, it's because I think, Chris, Donald Trump is racist. He's not racially charged or racially motivated or has racial flare-ups. He has promoted and mainstreamed a white supremacist conspiracy theory to win the midterm elections, which is that George Soros was funding the caravan — the invasion. The same language used, by the way, by the Australian terrorists who killed 50 people last week.
Um...YES, PLEASE...
Hayes brought up the Mick Mulvaney apology tour, you know the one where the Acting Chief of Staff went to all the cable news shows and had to answer the question, "Hey, is your boss a white supremacist? He sure seems awful white supremacist-y." (Sidenote - I don't think Mulvaney has what it takes. By the third or so, he was suuuper tired of answering that question..."How many times do I have to deny this???") Ali had an epic takedown of that insulting display, as well.
ALI: It's 2019. You can't gaslight me. Because I remember the president saying, "I think Islam hates us." I remember the president asking for a (*slipping into the Trump voice*) "total and complete ban on Muslims until we can figure out what the hell is going on." I remember the president saying he saw a tape on television of Muslims celebrating the 9/11 terror attacks. I double-dare you, President Trump. I'm calling you out. You say that you saw the tape of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey the 9/11 terror attacks. Show me the tape. So this is a president who's anti-Muslim. Again I want to say this, Chris. He mainstreamed a white supremacist talking point in October. The Jews, led by George Soros, a Jewish-Hungarian American, funding the caravan of rapists, criminals, Muslims and Mexicans. That is exactly the number one conspiracy theory of white supremacists, that the rest of us are being used by the Jews to weaken the white race, which was used by the shooter who killed 50 people last week. You got to call him out and you've also got to call out the Republican leaders who also mainstreamed it. That includes Kevin McCarthy. Call them all out, and ask them, "Do you stand by President Trump's views of that white supremacist conspiracy theory?" Reporters need to ask until they answer.
You hear that, reporters? Call racism and antiSemitism what it is, when it happens, even if it comes out of the mouths of powerful people. ESPECIALLY when it comes out of the mouths of our leaders. And don't stop asking about it until they answer.
