Again and again, US President Donald Trump does not position himself clearly enough against racism. Now he tweets a video in which one of his followers stands out with racist slogans – and praises the behavior of his fans. The White House is committed to limiting damage.
US President Donald Trump has posted a video on Twitter in which one of his followers roars a slogan that is widely regarded as racist in the United States. The video shows protesters protesting against the president as supporters drive past in golf carts. One of Trump’s supporters then shouts at the demonstrators: “White Power”. This slogan is used primarily by racist groups in the USA.
In the undated and apparently Florida-style video, both the protesters and Trump’s supporters appear to be older white Americans. Trump was referred to as “racist” on the protesters’ posters, and his supporters had signs on their golf carts from Trump’s election campaign, which featured “Trump 2020” and the slogan “America first”. A protester also wore a black lives matter t-shirt.
Trump praises followers as “great people”
The video that Trump shared with over 82 million followers had already been viewed four million times three hours later. After Trump was immediately accused of supporting racism and criticizing even Trump’s Republicans, he deleted his retweet four hours later. The video is a good two minutes long, but the slogan “White Power” already occurs in the first ten seconds. Trump called his followers seen in the video “great people” and thanked them.
After the deletion, the White House then 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.
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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