Is Trump racist?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I suspect the answer is "yes, very" but I do not actually know.

At the same time, I think the racism he has recently expressed in public is a deliberate, tactical move to appeal to the racist parts of the Republican base.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Personally? No. But is the character he's playing? Yes.

[Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy]

I don't know nor care, but his campaign is racist or at the very least very xenophobic. Maybe he is just faking it a la George Wallace

[Figueira]

I don't know. He might be legitimately a racist, or he might just be trying to appeal to racists to get votes/attention.

[SillyAmerican]

No, he's a people-in-this-country-illegally-ist.

[anvi]

A willingness to race-bait for one's own political advantage counts as racist to me.  Race-baiting elicits racist sentiments among the public, and a willingness to do that is tantamount to condoning racism.  Blanket accusations that the Mexican government sends criminals here to rape women and rip us off, tweeting that Jeb Bush is obligated to "like Mexican illegals because of his wife," insulting Jeb for speaking "Mexican" and not English, advocating national database registries and warrantless searches and surveillance of, and even shutting down, American mosques, suggesting that Black Lives Matter supporters should go back to Africa to see how much they matter there, not to mention the birtherism thrown at practically every non-white politician he opposes, it's all at the very least race-baiting, or worse. So, yeah.

[Antonio the Sixth]

this forum used to be all about how George Wallace was not racist

Speaking for myself... lolno

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Look at the campaign he is running then tell me he isnt racist....or at the very least xenophobic

[angus]

Of course he is. 

[Xing]

He's clearly not as racist as his supporters.

[Ljube]

He's clearly not as racist as his supporters.

Some of his supporters. I am his supporter and not a racist.

[DINGO Joe]

Of course he is.  Probably grew up listening to his fathers and grandfathers rant about the Blacks or the Puerto Ricans or the Jews or the Irish or Italians.

[/]

230000th thread

[Gustaf]

Yeah and/or duh.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Of course he is.  Probably grew up listening to his fathers and grandfathers rant about the Blacks or the Puerto Ricans or the Jews or the Irish or Italians.

That would make him racist against other white people.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Probably. But to me it's a wash when rest of the remaining candidates want to throw black kids in jail for smoking pot, do mass deportation, and only care about drug abuse when lily white states like New Hampshire have a heroin epidemic, and in general are largely in support of the institutional racism that still exists in the system.

To give a serious response to this thread, I'd say I agree with this post 100% (well, I guess I'm pretty pro-deportation, but not on a Trumpian scale).

I also have to agree halfway with Tony; Trump isn't a racist, but he is exploiting it for personal gain. That is vile, but is it anymore vile than Hillary Clinton pretending to care about the browns to win the nomination? We all know that criminal justice reform is just as much of a non-starter under her than it is under Trump.

And who knows, the Donald might surprise us. Maybe he'll end the war on drugs or at least decriminalize marijuana. Maybe he won't. Mystery is the spice of life, right? And the mystery of how Trump will actually govern in the face of how we know Cruz, Rubio, and Clinton will govern is well worth the risk in my opinion.

To hell with it all. I'm voting for Trump.

[Ljube]

To hell with it all. I'm voting for Trump.

[Thunderbird is the word]

voted yes, but maybe he's just a sociopath

[SteveRogers]

Of course he is.  Probably grew up listening to his fathers and grandfathers rant about the Blacks or the Puerto Ricans or the Jews or the Irish or Italians.

That would make him racist against other white people.

And?

[DINGO Joe]

Of course he is.  Probably grew up listening to his fathers and grandfathers rant about the Blacks or the Puerto Ricans or the Jews or the Irish or Italians.

That would make him racist against other white people.

You probably should have stayed awake in history class.  But then again, in Texas who knows what history class consists of.

[Asian Nazi]

If he wins he'd be the most racist president of the last 50 years.

If you truly believe this, you are incredibly naive and historically ignorant.

[DINGO Joe]

If he wins he'd be the most racist president of the last 50 years.

If you truly believe this, you are incredibly naive and historically ignorant.

What?  Nixon loved Sammy Davis Jr.

[Fuzzy Bear]

No, he just sounds like one. Trump is almost a lower form of life than a racist really. He quite reminds me of Huey Long in fact.

If Trump gives Huey Long-like results (expansion of healthcare for the poor, massive building of infrastructure), I'd be ecstatic for his Presidency!

Huey Long was remarkably liberal on race for a Deep South Democrat.

[Sasquatch]

I think he just plays a racist on TV.

[DINGO Joe]

I think he just plays a racist on TV.

He stayed at a Bigot Inn Express last night.