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[jimwalton]

For instance, a number of months ago I had a similar discussion on Facebook trying to determine if DT was xenophobic like many of the protesters, media, and fellow politicians were accusing him of. It was surrounding his rhetoric about the Mexico border wall. It turns out there was little to no evidence presented. He's not xenophobic, he is just so reckless with his speech that he empowers his critics and people too easily assume the worst. But it was just slander. His choice of words is outlandish and he doesn't seem to have the appropriate verbal filters. We're left to assemble snippets and try to infer a conclusion. But the accusation of xenophobia was just slander. I'm wondering if this is, too.

[KC Sunshine]

Point #1 - I wouldn't call Trump a white supremacist. His own daughter converted to Judaism, and Trump seems to have no problem with that. OTOH, other than Carson, you see no people of color in his administration. So if you want to make assumptions based on what he DOES rather than what he says, he certainly prefers white people.

Point #2 - I disagree. AMERICAN white supremacists are not killers. Even the KKK doesn't kill people anymore.

Point #3- Again, I don't think Trump is a white supremacist, but a reasonable person could conclude that the lack of people of color in his administration speaks volumes. When there is a contradiction between words and actions, people believe the actions.

[jimwalton]

POINT 1: You're mostly right about his administration. In addition, though, (of Asian descent) Elaine Chao is his Secretary of Transportation. I think George W. Bush had 2 African-Americans on his cabinet, but no one called him a supremacist.

[Incor]

Why oh why do you need to give the guy the benefit of the doubt anymore? He's proven again and again that he is on the side of the oppressor, he denigrates the meek as losers, he is quick to label his opponents as enemies. He is disgusting. Willfully ignorant. A liar. Like no president in history. His words have revealed his character over and over. We are long past the point of needing to 'prove' it. If you are still looking for proof then you are choosing to remain ignorant and aloof, or you agree with his abhorrent positions on your neighbors.

[jimwalton]

Nick, because I want the facts, not rhetoric. I want the truth, not emotions. There is a lot of hate for DT out there, and by my reckoning, a whole lot of it is based on misinformation, emotionalism, and just plain hatred. I refuse to stoop to that. If you're going to call the guy a racist and white supremacist (which are vicious charges in America), then you better put your money where your mouth is and prove it.

Is he on the side of the oppressor? Hmm, you'll need to give me some examples.

Does he denigrate the meek as losers? Yes.

Is he quick to label his opponents as enemies? Clearly.

Is he disgusting? Hmm. It depends how you're defining it.

Is he willfully ignorant? No, just really reckless with his speech, loose with his facts, and childish in responding to insults. But I wouldn't call him willfully ignorant.

A liar? Yep. But so was Obama, Hillary, Bill Clinton, and many many other politicians. It's a political disease.

Like no other president in history? It depends what you mean by that.

"HIs words have revealed his character over and over." That's true. So did Hillary's, and I'm so glad she's not in office. So did Obama's, and I'm glad he's gone. He was horrible.

"We are long past the point of needing to prove it." Never. If it's true, give the evidence. If it's not, quit the slander.

"If you are still looking for proof then you are choosing to remain ignorant and aloof, or you agree with his his abhorrent positions." Well, that's quite an insult. What I want to remain is objective and honest. There is too much hate speech, misinformation, emotionalism and downright lies. I don't want to stoop to it. As to his positions, I agree with many of the things he has instituted, and disagreed with others. What I don't like at all is that he is callous and irresponsible in his speech, self-centered, egotistical, makes cruel remarks, has many moral failings, and has questionable character values.

But you still haven't given me any evidence that he's a white supremacist and a racist.

[Laura Shin]

I don't think DT is a white supremist, but then why would he be? He is definitely a product of white privilege and seems to show very little, if any, empathy for minorities or those less fortunate. Yes, he did clarify his original statement re: Charlotesville, but the bones of that revised statement seemed to have very little meat on them. Did he seem sincere? Was his message heartfelt? Did he seem truly upset that a young lady had senselessly lost her life? Did he take any responsibility for the ever-widening gap between the right and left in our country? Did he lay awake at night wondering where all this anger in our country has come from, and wonder if he had any part in encouraging it and what could he do to help mend it? I don't know the answers to these questions with any certainty. I have suspicions and know what my gut tells me. And as a white American I have been ashamed that there is still an element in our country that feels emboldened to speak out such hateful, evil things. I will bend over backwards to try and empathize with those of color and others that are being attacked. Just because I have not experienced situations doesn't mean they don't exist.

[jimwalton]

Great comments, Laura. DT is certainly the product of white privilege, though many of us are also, so that doesn't take me too far in figuring this out.

It is very true that he seems to have little, if any empathy for minorities or those less fortunate. I agree, but this is also characteristic of the wealthy. It's not necessarily a marker of a racist or white supremacist.

His response to Charlottesville, when it came, could easily be interpreted as subdued. Agreed. We're only left to guess why.

"Did he taken any responsibility for the ever-widening gap between the right and left in our country?" Not that I know of, but neither did Obama take any responsibility for the rise of racism and terrorism during his administration. But does that make DT a white supremacist?

And I most certainly feel the same horror that "there is still an element in our country that feels emboldened to speak out such hateful evil things." It's hard to believe people believe this way and are filled with such hatred and violence. It's not just shameful, it's horrific.

[Kassafras]

I recently watched a documentary on Netflix called "13th" about the 13th amendment. While this was not supposed to be about DT, somehow he still was mentioned and talked about. The one thing that this showed was that DT doesn't think that "resisters" deserve any level of respect. DT even said that the resisters in old days would have been carried out in a stretcher and that was a better time because of it.

Unfortunately, some of the people among others that DT has taken aim at is the African American communities—especially inner city ones. He called them "hellholes". While many of us would say that these same areas are horrible and dangerous and need improvement, the way DT speaks implies much more than the words he uses, so many condemn him for hating African-Americans. (Yet I don't know if a time where he said he hated those people—just the situation and area, and crime rates/criminals of the inner cities.

By DT condemning the problems in inner cities people were quick to say that he was condemning all the people. I do not agree with adding meaning to something someone says. I am a literal person, so if someone condemns the inner city criminals, I don't assume they are condemning every single person who has anything in common with those criminals because that's ludicrous.

I did not vote for Trump. It's still my America, he's still my president. In however many months there will be another election, life goes on, but the One thing I have seen is hatred, more and more, from both sides—and it's all over whether I support or don't support the president. (Since when does my opinion of the POTUS matter?!) that hatred from the PEOPLE (not DT) is what is the problem right now. The good news is that it doesn't matter who is president to change the people's attitude! All it takes is some good conversations like this to start things going in the right direction.

[jimwalton]

Thanks, Kassie. Excellent comments. His words are so reckless they stir up all kinds of sludge, conflict, and problems. He speaks so carelessly that he leaves himself wide open to interpretation and misinterpretation. What's hard is to nail him down—in his soul—as to what kind of guy he is. He's a complex character, filled with mettle and experience to do some really good things, but at the same time the way he insults, deprecates, and disparages others makes us all gasp.

I agree with you that we're wise to distinguish between his condemning the inner cities and disparaging blacks as a race.

And I certainly agree with you that the hatred—wherever it is—needs to stop. It's been simply awful. It's like our country is tearing itself into pieces. It's easy to blame the liberals who seem to never stop the hate speech, the violence, and the obstructionism, but it's also easy to blame the conservatives who are creating an environment for it.

What I'm after is to try to figure out if Trump is a racist and a white supremacist, and I haven't seen any evidence of that yet, but I know there are still more comments to come.

[Ma Moy]

"Trump himself may or may not be a racist, but his campaign rhetoric undeniably appealed to racist sentiments: his assertion that a judge of Mexican heritage could not be impartial, his characterization of Mexican immigrants as rapists, his castigation of Muslims."

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-balmer-evangelical-trump-racism-20170823-story.html