Bloomberg's Halperin Says Trump's Racist Attack On Judge Isn't "Racial" Because Mexican Isn't A Race

[kpete]

JOHN HEILEMANN (HOST): Let's just say this first of all, when Trump does what he did in that Tapper interview, and he did it over and over again, he kept calling Curiel a Mexican, right? It is not even dog whistle politics. It is just pure racial politics.

MARK HALPERIN (HOST): No, it’s not racial.

HEILEMANN: It’s racial politics. It is.

HALPERIN: Mexico isn’t a race.

HEILEMANN: It doesn't matter whether Mexico is a race, it’s stirring up racial animus about people who don’t like Hispanics, and illegal immigrants coming across the border. That’s what he’s doing. He’s ringing the bell for them every time he does it. He’s not Mexican. He was born in Indiana. And eventually you can get Trump to acknowledge that he’s Mexican-American, it’s his heritage that’s what he’s doing here right? Then on top of that he is a potential president of the United States who has issued, over the course of the last week, vague threats, saying that the judge should be investigated. It is wildly inappropriate and yes, of course there are no political benefits to this and I’m sure that his team is beating it’s head against tables as they watch him blow news cycles behaving in this way that is again, I think racially tinged and also really wildly inappropriate things to say about a federal judge by someone who could be president of the United States.

HALPERIN: It’s certainly racially tinged. I just want to make the point that Mexico is not – Mexican is not a race.

HEILEMANN: I am fully aware that Mexico is not a race, but you can invoke things like that to stir up racial animus regardless of whether or not Mexico is a race or not.

https://mediamatters.org/video/2016/06/03/bloombergs-halperin-says-trumps-racist-attack-judge-isnt-racial-because-mexican-isnt-race/210723

[riversedge]

1. I had given Halperin more credit for smarts. Not anymore!

[saltpoint]

2. The argument is not which neurotoxin killed

the fish in the lake. The argument is the fish are dead.

Halperin may have felt his technicality was useful. I wouldn't think it was all that useful, when the issue is that a presumptive nominee of a major political party is advocating fascist policy.

Opposing such a fascist policy might be quite a bit more useful. Using racial or ethnic slurs is not acceptable adult behavior. Much less is it presidential. And most 9th graders know this.

[malaise]

4. Halparin is among the lowest rung

of media hacks

[MADem]

5. LOL! What a tortured response!

Of course "Mexican" is not a race, it's not even a singular ETHNICITY (Mitt Romney's daddy was "Mexican" by US citizenship standards), it's a cultural designation, really.

Being 'technically correct' while beating that distinction to death ignores the overarching issues that arose as a result of Trump's bone-headed commentaries!

[underpants]

6. We all knew what he meant.

Halperin is a useless lump.

[left-of-center2012]

7. 'Mexican' is a nationality, right?

In which case the judge is an American because he was born in Indiana.
Regardless, Donald J. Trump can go '_ _ _ _' himself.

[MisterP]

8. no wonder Sam Harris is onboard! that's his argument