Trump views racial discord as a positive -- the more of it, the better.
President Trump does not believe that people — that white men like himself — should have to apologize for their public displays of misogyny or racism. But this isn’t simply because he doesn’t want to give ground to critics out of stubbornness or a fear of displaying weakness.
Rather, the refusal to apologize for these things is itself a political statement, even a statement of values. And you can bet that many of his supporters hear it in precisely this way.
The Post has a remarkable piece of reporting today that gets inside Trump’s refusal to admit error about anything, ever. Trump insists the response to Hurricane Maria was impeccable, even though nearly 3,000 people died. He asserts that firing his former FBI director in an effort to obstruct an investigation into himself was correct, even though it led to a special counsel and has put him in serious legal and/or political jeopardy.
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Trump views racial discord as a positive — the more of it, the better. The whole point is deliberate provocation, both out of genuine racist conviction and the belief that it tightens his political bond with his supporters. Trump pardoned racist Joe Arpaio as “a way of pleasing his political base.” He revived his attacks on football players for protesting racism because this “revs up his political base.” After Trump deliberately stoked racial discord after Charlottesville, Stephen K. Bannon subsequently said it would be a political winner for the president.
The refusal to capitulate to demands for contrition for the original racist or misogynist sentiment isn’t an act of stubbornness. It is active validation of the sentiment itself. The refusal to back down is itself the political statement.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/09/13/trump-really-hates-apologizing-for-misogyny-and-racism-new-reporting-explains-why/?utm_term=.e56ff99e4304
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