Trump’s Statement: A Steaming Pile of Fascist Double-Talk
By Toby O’Ryan
August 12, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
On Saturday, August 12, armed white supremacists ran rampant in Charlottesville, Virginia—or at least they tried to. They were put on the run by the unarmed counter-demonstrators... until one of these cowardly dogs ran a car into the protesters, killing one and injuring many more.
And what did the orange Mussolini say, when he finally came out to say something about it? Did he condemn the open white supremacy and Nazism on display for two days? Did he call out the thugs parading through the streets with automatic weapons, attempting to intimidate and threaten those who opposed them? Did he condemn the essentially terroristic act of ramming a car into a crowd of peaceful civilians who were walking away from the car? Did he even make a show, however hypocritical, of condolence to the murdered victim? Did he call for the swift apprehension and severe punishment of the perpetrator?
More: Did he take any responsibility at all for having created and spurred forward this kind of violent racism—for instance, in his campaign rallies where he had repeatedly called for violence against protesters and the press, and applauded and even offered to pay legal fees when his minions would pile on a protester and beat them?
No. He said not a word about the person killed. He said not a word about racism, white supremacy, or Nazism. Instead he condemned hatred and violence from “many sides”—he repeated that phrase “many sides” twice, by the way, in case you didn’t get that he was equating the open Nazis and Klansmen with the counter-demonstrators. Equating those who drove cars into the backs of a crowd of people, those who came with guns and mace and shields, with those who bravely resisted them. Equating those whose historic predecessors and role models enslaved millions for generations in the United States and/or who exterminated millions for being of an alien, un-American—oops, I mean un-German—race... with those who united to fight against racism. This is like equating a rapist-murderer with one of his victims who attempted to resist him—“there’s violence on many sides here, many sides.”
As for his responsibility, Trump both said that it started before him and then dragged Obama into it, as if to say that Obama had also encouraged those who Trump sees as “the other side” to wage violence (when in fact Obama was most notable for continually telling those who looked to him to stay out of the streets to not protest, and to blame themselves if they couldn’t make it). Not satisfied with that, Trump also then obliquely referred to the tragic violence among the people that he so loves to exploit (and exacerbate), referring to children being afraid to go outside and play—which has absolutely nothing to do with what happened in Charlottesville and serves only to muddy the waters and lump everything under his push for a police state.
Which is where he immediately went. For Trump then said that “what is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order”—in other words, the whole package that Trump has promoted of a renewed war on drugs and heightened mass incarceration and the open encouragement of police violence, the heightened penalties for protesting that his minions are passing state after state, the severe rollbacks of legal rights already under way from the Sessions Justice Department, and the overarching moves towards the elimination of all dissent and protest.
Trump, fascist that he is (and egomaniacal narcissism is a key part of the fascist package), could not even talk for a minute about the attack without lapsing into bragging about how well things are going under his rule.
Trump called on people to respect each other and “cherish our history together.” Do we really think that Trump said this not knowing that the major theme of these Nazis, Klukkers, and assorted racists was that they were there to defend the statue of Robert E. Lee under the signboard of defending our “heritage”?
Trump called for people to unite under love of the flag and love of God—again, terms that the very people who called the rally and launched the attack parade under. He even worked in his fascist “America first” slogan into his statement before it was all done.
But don’t underestimate him. This was not Trump bumbling, or somehow “missing an opportunity,” as Van Jones, who never tires of trying to apologize for and conciliate with Trump, said. This was Trump doubling down on his fascist agenda—just using strategic omissions and code words to do it with. And preparing to take advantage of horror to advance his agenda.
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