US President Donald Trump has been repeatedly accused of making comments that were at best insensitive and at worst racist when it comes to race relations and far-right movementsAFP
US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed concerns that the massacre by an apparent white supremacist in New Zealand indicates a dangerous trend.
Trump was asked if the killing of at least 49 people in two mosques in Christchurch by a man claiming that white people are being overwhelmed in their historic homelands demonstrates a rising problem around the world.
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"I don't really. I think it's a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
"If you look what happened in New Zealand, perhaps that's the case. I don't know enough about it yet."
Although Trump referred to the bloodbath as "horrific" and "terrible," his comments downplaying the potentially wider threat were likely to face criticism. Trump has been repeatedly accused before of making comments that were at best insensitive and at worst racist when it comes to race relations and far-right movements.
The alleged gunman ?- identified as an Australian white nationalist -- apparently livestreamed the assault on social media and published a manifesto filled with racist conspiracy theories.
He also referred to Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose."
Asked if he'd seen the manifesto, Trump said: "I did not."
Earlier, he tweeted that he'd spoken with New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to express "solidarity" and to say, "We love you New Zealand!"
- 'Very fine people' -
In 2017, even many of Trump's closest supporters were reportedly appalled by his refusal to condemn a march by torch-bearing neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The march ended in violent clashes with leftist protesters and Trump appeared to spread the blame equally, even though the right-wing demonstrators had been chanting a Nazi-era slogan "blood and soil."
"You also had some very fine people on both sides," he said.
In December an American neo-Nazi was sentenced to life in prison for driving his car into a group of counter-protesters during the white supremacist rally, killing a woman.
Trump has also been accused of whipping up xenophobia with his long-running campaign to build more walls along the US-Mexican border, which he says is under "invasion" by illegal immigrants.
On Friday, he signed the first veto of his presidency to dismiss congressional pushback against his declaration of emergency powers to get billions of dollars in wall funding.
- Farther and farther right -
Trump has repeatedly denied racist tendencies and often touts his work in improving economic conditions among the country's racial minorities.
However, the right of his party, which includes his most reliable political base, increasingly flirts openly with white nationalism and wild conspiracy theories.
Rush Limbaugh, the popular right-wing radio host, said Friday that the New Zealand bloodbath may even have been what conspiracy theorists call a "false flag" designed to discredit Trump.
"There's an ongoing theory that the shooter himself may in fact be a leftist who writes the manifesto and then goes out and performs the deed purposely to smear his political enemies, knowing he's going to get shot in the process," Limbaugh said.
Brian Levin, director at the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said, however, that the problem could not be more real.
"White nationalism and far right extremism is the most prominent extremist threat facing the United States today, and indeed it is a worldwide phenomenon," he said.
George H.W. Bush and his son George W. Bush did not vote for fellow Republican Donald Trump last year, says the author of a new book on the 41st and 43rd U.S. presidents in which they open up about their disapproval of the man now occupying the White House.
Oct 29, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; President George H.W. Bush hands the ball to President George W. Bush for the ceremonial first pitch in game five of the 2017 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The elder Bush voted for Hillary Clinton, while his son voted for neither Trump nor his Democratic challenger, or ”none of the above,“ said Mark K. Updegrove, who wrote ”The Last Republicans” with the cooperation of the two Bushes. HarperCollins will publish the book on Nov. 14.
In an interview with the New York Times, Updegrove said the elder Bush, 93, who served as president from 1989 to 1993, had an instinctive dislike of Trump though he did not know him personally.
In an interview during the 2016 presidential campaign, George H.W. Bush told the author that Trump was a “blowhard,” driven by “a certain ego” and lacking a commitment to public service.
The younger Bush, 71, who served in the White House from 2001 to 2009, believed candidate Trump lacked both humility and a necessary understanding of the presidency, Updegrove said in previewing the book about the relationship between the Bushes, written with the cooperation of the father and son.
During the campaign, George W. Bush told the author that he feared he would turn out to be the last Republican elected president.
“At the time, I think he was concerned that Hillary Clinton would win,” Updegrove told the Times.
FILE PHOTO: Five former U.S. presidents, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton attend a concert at Texas A&M University benefiting hurricane relief efforts in College Station, Texas, U.S. on October 21, 2017. REUTERS/Richard Carson/File Photo
“But if you look at his values and those shared by his father and Ronald Reagan, they are very much in contrast to the values of the Republican Party today, in particular the platform that Donald Trump ran on, which is essentially protectionism and a certain xenophobia,” said Updegrove, a historian who has written several books about the presidency.
Updegrove could not be reached for further comment.
“The American people voted to elect an outsider who is capable of implementing real, positive, and needed change - instead of a lifelong politician beholden to special interests,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush waves from the field before game five of the 2017 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros in Houston, Texas, U.S. on October 29, 2017. REUTERS/David J. Phillip/Pool via USA TODAY Sport
”If they were interested in continuing decades of costly mistakes, another establishment politician more concerned with putting politics over people would have won.”
Like many Americans, George W. Bush was surprised that Trump fared so well in last year’s Republican state primaries, where his brother Jeb, a former Florida governor, emerged as one of Trump’s most frequent targets.
During the campaign, the billionaire real estate developer, a political novice, promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington, a vow that extended to the Republican establishment, which the Bush family epitomized.
The book follows a rare speech by the younger Bush in which he delivered a sweeping yet thinly veiled critique of the Trump administration’s policies and the president’s blunt style.
The 43rd president decried “bullying and prejudice” in public life while defending open immigration and trade, two of the pillars of previous Republican administrations that have come under sustained attack by the new president.
