Pathetic response from Vivek saying he respects her. He should instead say something along the lines that he’s proud to be an American and he doesn’t care if Coulter doesn’t see him that way because he’s not a victim who needs to be validated by everyone. There’s ways to respond to her other than valorizing her stupid and racist beliefs or crying “RACIST!!!”.
That would require alienating the folks he needs to win future electoral bids. His sad life is about winning their approval and never getting it.
These people aren't proud to be Americans, they fantasize about a homogenous "Leave it to Beaver" America that never existed. If you're different, black or brown... forget about it.
Most Republican voters do not like overt racism. Dog whistles, maybe, but they sure do not like this. And GOP voters hate weakness and love aggressive masculinity. Emasculating yourself by saying you respect someone who openly says they won’t vote for you because of your race is not at all attractive to Republicans.
