Today Donald Trump held an on-the-record meeting with the New York Times. Despite the meeting being of record, no transcript has been released. Instead, we know about what transpired through tweets by various Times reporters–which, shockingly, are spun in an anti-Trump direction. The Associated Press headlines: “Trump again disavows alt-right, white supremacists.” No doubt much else was discussed, but this is what millions of newspaper readers will see: an association between Trump and white supremacists. The AP writes:
President-elect Donald Trump is again distancing himself from the alt-right movement as its white supremacist members claim his election as a boon for their agenda.
See how this works? Trump again is trying to “distance himself” from the “alt-right movement” and “its white supremacist members,” who are big Trump fans and think his agenda is theirs. The more often Trump does this, the stronger the entirely fictitious connection will appear.
“I disavow and condemn them,” Trump said Tuesday during a wide-ranging interview with staff members of The New York Times.
It’s the latest attempt from Trump to separate himself from groups and individuals widely condemned for their advocacy of white supremacy in American culture.
Again: Trump is deeply connected with white supremacists, and this is his “latest attempt” to “separate himself” from these apparently key allies.
The Republican president-elect added that he does not want to “energize” the groups, one of which garnered viral headlines this weekend with a gathering in Washington, where organizers and attendees evoked Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich with cries of “Heil Trump” and reprisals of the Nazi salute.
I doubt that this particular dinner party was mentioned today, the Times reporter just threw that in. And the “gathering” was at a restaurant. How many were present? Fifteen? Twenty? And this is significant, why?
What is going on here is painfully obvious. The New York Times and the Associated Press are collaborating in an attempt to smear and delegitimize Donald Trump by tying him to a purported “movement” of white supremacists called the alt-right. No doubt many other liberal news organizations will join in, in order to advance the interests of their party.
The “alt-right” is mostly a figment of the liberal media’s imagination. I have been active in the conservative movement for decades, and know hundreds, perhaps thousands, of conservatives of all stripes. Yet I had never heard of the “alt-right” until the Democrats started promoting it during the current election season. The supposed leader of the white supremacist movement is a young man named Richard Spencer. I learned this a few minutes ago by Googling. I had never heard of Mr. Spencer, and virtually no one had heard of him until the Democrats decided to portray him as the leader of a fictitious “movement” that they then tied to Republicans.
Disavowing nobodies like this, or nobodies like David Duke, who ran for office many years ago and now survives by being a “former KKK leader” whom the press can quote in order to discredit Republicans–forgetting, apparently, that the Ku Klux Klan was the militant arm of the Democratic Party in the South–is a fool’s game. The more Trump does it, the more the press will report that he is disavowing such otherwise-unknown elements “again,” in a futile effort to “distance himself” from people of whom, for the most part, he probably has never heard.
How should Trump respond to such demands for disavowal? Aggressively, as he did during the campaign, but too often has failed to do since being elected. How about Hillary Clinton, he should ask. Has she disavowed the support of the American Communist Party, which urged its followers to vote for her? This is what the CPUSA said:
Our Party and every member and supporter should be deeply involved in the campaigns, organizations, coalitions that are working to reach, educate, and mobilize millions of voters to the polls to defeat Trump and the GOP.
So, Hillary, how about it? Communism has killed thousands of times as many people as the KKK. Is Hillary comfortable with enjoying the support of the Communist Party? Why doesn’t anyone ask her that question? Well, sure. The answer is obvious.
And has Hillary Clinton–or any other Democrat, for that matter–disavowed the rioters who have brought destruction to cities across America in the days since their candidate lost? I have not seen a single such disavowal from any prominent Democrat, let alone Mrs. Clinton. Has Hillary disavowed the support of the goons who beat a Trump supporter nearly to death in Chicago? Nope. Has she disavowed the support of the Democrats who are threatening to murder electors who cast ballots for Donald Trump, the winner of the presidential election? Nope.
Trump should tell the press to go talk to Hillary about her disreputable supporters. Once she has renounced them, they can come back to Donald with their questions.
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