US president Donald Trump open on Sunday Twitter at times spread a video in which one of his followers calls out a racist slogan.
The video shows anti-Trump protesters in the state of Florida as supporters drive past in golf carts. A counter-demonstrator calls a Trump supporter a racist. He replies that it is correct. Then he chants: “White Power! White Power!” The slogan is used by racist groups in the United States to emphasize the alleged superiority and omnipotence of whites.
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Trump’s reach gave the clip four million viewers
The video that Trump shared with over 82 million followers had already been viewed around four million times three hours later. After Trump was immediately accused of supporting racism and criticism even from Trump’s Republicans, the retweet disappeared four hours later.
The video is a good two minutes long, the “White Power” sequence is just beginning. Trump called his followers seen in the video great people and thanked them. After withdrawing the retweet, the White House said in a statement that Trump had “not heard” the slogan in question. He only saw the enthusiasm of his followers, said spokesman Judd Deere.
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Trump literally wrote in his posting for the video: “Thanks to the super villagers”. The “Villages” are a community in northern Florida for over 55-year-olds, in which around 115,000 people live. The White House said Trump was “a big fan of the Villages”. He had only seen the “incredible enthusiasm of his followers”.
On a poster of the counter-demonstrators, Trump is described as a “racist”, his supporters had on their golf carts signs from Trump’s campaign, which read “Trump 2020” and the slogan “America First”. A protester wore a t-shirt that read “Black Lives Matter”.
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Since the death of African American George Floyd in a brutal police operation a month ago, there have been mass protests across the country against racism and police violence. However, Trump primarily presents himself as a president who wants to enforce law and order. He is therefore accused of not taking a clear stand against racism and showing too little understanding of the anger about persistent discrimination and injustice.
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