Congresswoman, 37th Congressional District
In 2005 The Economist introduced a new term into our political lexicon: dog whistle politics. It is the act of “putting out a message that, like a high-pitched dog-whistle, is only fully audible to those at whom it is directly aimed.”
Even before he announced his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States last year, Donald Trump was working on perfecting his dog-whistle rhetoric to call out to racists in the United States.
In 2011, Donald Trump crowned himself king of the birther movement when he launched a very public search for President Obama’s birth certificate, even going so far as to announce that he sent private investigators to Hawaii to see what they could find. He followed up this chase in 2012 when he offered $5 million for President Obama to reveal his college transcripts.
In 2013, when asked by reporters about these stunts, Trump replied, “Actually, I think it made me very popular… I do think I know what I’m doing.”
At first I, like many people, simply dismissed Donald Trump as little more than a carnival barker. But now that he has won the New Hampshire Primary and continues to be the GOP presidential frontrunner I must admit that in fact he was right in 2013. His embrace of the birther movement made him popular with some of America’s most racist elements. And now, Trump is hoping to accomplish George Wallace’s legacy: Use hatred and bigotry to power yourself all the way to the White House.
Many of Donald Trump’s most racist remarks have been heavily reported.
In his presidential announcement speech Trump famously declared, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
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