Racial views of Donald Trump

[55][56] In 2000, Trump and his associates were fined $250,000 (equivalent to $420,000 in 2023) and publicly apologized for failing to reveal that they had financed advertisements criticizing the proposal of building more Native American casinos in the Catskill Mountains, which alluded to Mohawk Indians doing cocaine and bringing violence, asking: "Are these the new neighbors we want?"

[108] In 2017 after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, the Mayor of San Juan Carmen Yulín Cruz went on television to plea for help and accused the federal response of fatal inefficiency.

[119][120] In August 2016 Colin Kaepernick, an NFL quarterback, began sitting (later kneeling) during the playing of the U.S. national anthem as a protest of police brutality and racial inequality suffered by Black Americans.

"[121] Trump commented extensively on the protests during a rally for Alabama Senate candidate Luther Strange, stating, "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired.

[148] Picking up on the controversy, Trump has frequently referred to her as "Pocahontas", including at a White House event where he addressed Native American veterans who served in the US military during World War II.

"[149] White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that complaints that the nickname is a racial slur are "ridiculous", and that "What most people find offensive is Senator Warren lying about her heritage to advance her career.

[159][157] Senate minority whip Dick Durbin, the only Democrat present at the Oval Office meeting, stated that Trump did use racist language and referred to African countries as "shitholes" and that "he said these hate-filled things, and he said them repeatedly.

[162][163][164] Republican senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia, also present at the meeting, initially issued a joint statement stating that they "do not recall the President saying those comments specifically".

[194] In August 2020, Johnson appeared in a video broadcast to the Republican National Convention telling of her release and praising Trump's decision to sign a criminal justice reform bill, the First Step Act, into law.

Reformed neo-Nazi Christian Picciolini, for example, tweeted that "Trump's 'I'm a Nationalist' comment will likely represent the biggest boon for white supremacist recruitment since the film The Birth of a Nation glorified the Klan in 1915 and gained the KKK 4 million members by 1925.

[211] On July 14, 2019, Trump tweeted about four Democratic congresswomen, and although he did not mention any member of Congress by name, it was widely inferred that he was referring to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib.

The EEOC's website states: "Examples of potentially unlawful conduct include insults, taunting, or ethnic epithets, such as making fun of a person's foreign accent or comments like, 'Go back to where you came from,' whether made by supervisors or by co-workers.

Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!According to a Afua Hirsch, a columnist at The Guardian, Trump has a history of describing largely black populated areas as being "infested", including African nations in 2014, Atlanta in 2017, sanctuary cities in 2018, and the places he decided the "Squad" should "go back" to in 2019.

Critics accused Trump of suggesting individual crimes committed by black men are equivalent to the systemic violence against people of color by police officers, and fomenting racial division as the presidential election nears.

Trump addressed this issue when speaking at a campaign rally in late June 2020, saying: "It's 1 o'clock in the morning and a very tough—you know I've used the word on occasion, 'hombre'—a very tough 'hombre' is breaking into the window of a young woman whose husband is away as a traveling salesman or whatever he may do.

[311] The tweet included an embedded video showing several pro-Trump senior citizens in Florida having an exchange with anti-Trump protestors and supporters of Black Lives Matter as well as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

"[320] Time magazine wrote, "At the foot of Mount Rushmore and on the eve of Independence Day, President Donald Trump dug deeper into America's divisions by accusing protesters who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a "merciless campaign to wipe out our history.

White House correspondent Tamara Keith said, "He delivered this speech in front of Mount Rushmore, setting up this current moment in our country with people protesting racism and pushing for change as an epic battle over the soul of America.

Eugene Robinson commented that Trump's decision "may be the most nakedly racist appeal to White voters that I've seen since the days of segregationist state leaders such as Alabama's George Wallace and Georgia's Lester Maddox.

[332] NPR quoted political scientist Lynn Vavreck, who explained the rhetoric of his policy decision: "[Trump suggests] a suburb is the kind of community where great Americans live because we've limited it.

[349][350][351] At a debate with presidential candidate Joe Biden on September 29, 2020, moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump if he would “condemn white supremacists and groups to say they need to stand down and not add to the violence."

"[355] NPR journalist William Brangham spoke with Janai Nelson of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Kathleen Belew, a historian at the University of Chicago who studies the white power movement in America.

[359] After the 2022 midterms, Trump made a post on Truth Social attacking Virginia's Republican governor Glenn Youngkin and deliberately misspelled his name as "Young Kin" and said "Sounds Chinese, doesn't it?".

[363] In late November 2022, Kanye West (who had recently announced his own candidacy for the 2024 presidential election) visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, along with white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.

[396][397] According to Mark Potok at the SPLC, Donald Trump's presidential campaign speeches "demonizing statements about Latinos and Muslims have electrified the radical right, leading to glowing endorsements from white nationalist leaders such as Jared Taylor and former Klansman David Duke".

[59][413][414] Ben Carson, who was the Trump administration's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, explained his evidence for this belief, stating "When he bought Mar-a-Lago, he was the one who fought for Jews and blacks to be included in the clubs that were trying to exclude them.

[414][421] In 2019, Trump received an award from the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center for his administration's work to pass the First Step Act, which granted early release to thousands of non-violent offenders who were serving time in federal prisons.

"[449] CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta said the Washington Post report combined with statements made in 2016 and 2017 shows "the president seems to harbor racist feelings about people of color from other parts of the world.

"[454] In July 2019, five New York Times writers stated that Trump has "decades" of history where he exploited "America's racial, ethnic and religious divisions" for personal gains of "ratings, fame, money or power", while ignoring negative consequences.

"[458] Doug McAdam writes that Trump "is just giving unusually loud and frank voice to views already typical among large numbers of Republicans" and "has pushed the GOP toward ever further racist and nativist extremes."