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Trump’s ‘Go Back’ Rhetoric Another Sign Racial Divide Will Define 2020

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Trump's 'Go Back' Rhetoric Another Sign Racial Divide Will Define 2020

The racist rhetoric from President Trump attacking four freshmen Democratic women, who he tweeted should “go back” to their countries of origin, escalated Wednesday night at his campaign rally in North Carolina.

“Send her back,” the crowd chanted, during a riff in which the president criticized Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born American citizen from Minnesota.

The president stood back for about 13 seconds before continuing on with his speech, not commenting on the chant, which hearkened back to the anti-Hillary Clinton “Lock her up” refrain, ubiquitous at 2016 Trump rallies.

Still, on Thursday, Trump claimed he tried to stop it, would try to do so in the future and that he disavows the chant.

“I was not happy with it,” he said when asked about it at the White House. “I disagree with it.”

But on Friday, Trump seemed to defend his chanting supporters, tweeting, “It is amazing how the Fake News Media became ‘crazed’ over the chant,” but “is totally calm & accepting of the most vile and disgusting statements made by” the congresswomen with whom he’s been feuding.

He referred to statements by three of them in his tweet, but there are four in the group — Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. All four are U.S. citizens, and three were born in the United States.

What’s more, Trump also tweeted twice this week before his rally, “If you are not happy here, you can leave.” (Once, he did so in ALL CAPS.) So there appears to be some line of what’s acceptable or not in the president’s view, but it’s relative.

The next time that chant, or one like it, comes up at a rally, will Trump and stop it? That’s unclear but may be beside the point. What’s clear is this week highlighted — once again — that racial division and identity politics are going to be a major factor in the 2020 campaign and will almost certainly overshadow anything else that comes up.

That should come as no surprise. Trump has used white grievance to fuel his political rise — from his role in the birther movement questioning former President Barack Obama’s birth in Hawaii, to his campaign kickoff announcing Mexico was sending rapists and drugs to the United States, to his outsize focus on limiting immigration.

He’s used that grievance to sustain him in office — first, instituting a travel ban on people from countries his administration deemed a threat (they were all originally majority-Muslim countries), then wanting to require immigrants to “speak English,” to now using the go-back-to-where-you-came-from-if-you-don’t-like-it line.

And that could be why such a high percentage of Americans strongly disapprove of the job the president is doing. This week’s controversy also highlights the challenges the president faces in reelection, as he tries to find something to not only rally his base, but also attempt to plant doubt with independents about the direction Democrats want to take the country.

Why the effort to elevate the four congresswomen?

Trump and his campaign are trying to make the four congresswomen the faces of the Democratic Party.

Why? He knows that their liberal policies are at odds with Democratic leadership and unpopular in swing parts of the country, so Trump is trying to tie them together.

He noted this week that his attack “forced” Democrats to rally around the women.

For Trump, the choice is binary — if you defend the four congresswomen in any way, then you endorse all of their statements and policies. That’s a slippery slope, but one Trump’s campaign is happy to sled down.

Just hours before Trump said he was “not happy” with the “send her back” chant at his rally, his campaign declined to distance itself from it.

“The Squad, as they call themselves, are now the leaders of the Democrat Party,” campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh told NPR’s Tamara Keith in a statement when asked if the campaign would disavow it. “Americans don’t like it when elected officials consistently disparage this country. All the Democrats are pushing socialist ideas that are terrible for America. They are all the same.”

Trump’s tweet about forcing Democrats to defend the four congresswomen and the campaign’s initial response to the rally chant make the political strategy plain. Facing reelection, the president hasn’t done much to reach out beyond his loyal base of supporters, who still very much support him, but he needs to win over independents. So try to make them think Democrats and their most extreme wing are one and the same while Democratic presidential candidates duke it out in their primary.

In other words, define Trump’s eventual opponent as too far left for the country even before there is a nominee.

Independents have been a bright red flashing warning light for this president

For much of the last two-and-a-half years since Trump became president, independents have tracked with Democrats on many issues (except on the question of whether to begin impeachment proceedings).

That support from independents helped propel Democrats to take back the House in 2018, and independents are especially vital for Republicans to win in presidential elections.

Just how much? Republicans have won independents in seven of the last 11 presidential elections, and they won six of those elections. 2012 was the exception with Mitt Romney winning independents by 5, but losing the election. In 2016, Trump won them by 4 points, according to exit polls, but lost the popular vote.

That demonstrates the need, even more so, for Republicans to win independents, as independents have become a larger share of the electorate – 31% in 2016 versus 26% in 2004.

Meanwhile, Trump is personally under water with independents. While he saw his highest quarterly approval rating on average this past quarter, according to Gallup — with an average of about 43% — that’s still lower than his percentage of the vote in 2016 (about 46%).

Dragging him down? Just 35% of independents approved of the job he’s doing. So it’s no surprise that Trump is grasping for something to sway them.

The GOP and conservative media have been vilifying Ocasio-Cortez and Omar, in particular – and a poll, leaked by Democrats, showed just how much Democrats don’t want them to be the focus. It found that both Ocasio-Cortez and Omar are fairly well known and unpopular with “swing voters,” whites without a college degree in swing House districts.

But what else is unpopular with independents and swing voters? Racism, or at least the appearance of it.

That could explain why Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the head of the committee tasked with electing Republicans to the House, said at a breakfast with reporters Thursday of the chant, “There’s no place for that kind of talk. I don’t agree with that.”

The fact remains that while Democrats are trying to figure out their way forward, Trump also has a lot of work to do to win reelection in 2020.

His campaign is banking on another very close election, one that sees a similar path to his victory in 2016. And remember, that only was decided by 78,000 votes across three Upper Midwest states — and Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million votes.

So strap in. This next election is going to be a turbulent ride for a country whose moral fabric is already being stretched perilously thin.

Entrepreneur, contributor, writer, and editor of Sostre News. With a powerful new bi-lingual speaking generation by his side, Sostre News is becoming the preferred site for the latest in Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Culture, Tech, Breaking and World News.

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Three Disney World Employees Among 17 Arrested in Florida Child Sex Sting

Three Disney World employees were among the 17 people arrested in a child sex sting operation in Florida, law enforcement officials announced on Wednesday.

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Three Disney World Employees Among 17 Arrested in Florida Child Sex Sting

Three Disney World employees were among the 17 people arrested in a child sex sting operation in Florida, law enforcement officials announced on Wednesday.

In the operation, dubbed “Operation Child Protector,” undercover officers posed as 13- and 14-year-old children on social media and online dating apps between July 27 and Aug. 1.

The undercovers made contact with each of the suspects before proposing they meet at a location in Polk County, where they were busted.

In total, the arrests led to 49 felony and two misdemeanor charges. Those arrested were aged 26 to 47. All were from Central Florida except for one 33-year-old man from California.

“What you see on this board … are deviants. Incredible deviants,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference on Tuesday, motioning to photos of the alleged pervs. “They travel from as far away as Clewiston, Florida. One even came from Los Angeles.”

“Much to their chagrin, instead of meeting with young children, they were met by law enforcement officers who were online undercover posing as children.”

Kenneth Javier Aquino, 26, a lifeguard at Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disney World, was arrested while still wearing his Disney polo shirt and swimsuit, according to the sheriff’s office.

Aquino engaged in an online conversation on social media with an officer, posing as a 13-year-old girl, authorities said. He then asked the “girl” to send photos, and sent her an explicit video of himself, police said.

Aquino told officers he is a Navy veteran and has a pregnant girlfriend.

Jonathan McGrew, a 34-year-old custodian at Disney World, was nabbed by an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.

disney-world

McGrew allegedly told the “girl” that he wanted her to come over and have sex with him and his girlfriend, 29-year-old Savannah Lawrence, who also works as a custodian at tourist mecca.

McGrew sent her explicit videos of him and Lawrence performing sexual acts on each other, authorities said.

A rep for Disney World didn’t immediately return a message.

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China Reports First Human Death from Monkey B Virus

China has reported the first human infection and death in the country caused by a rare infectious disease found in primates known as the Monkey B virus.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said a 53-year-old veterinary surgeon who worked in a research institute specializing in nonhuman primate breeding in Beijing dissected two monkeys in March and became ill about a month later.

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China Reports First Human Death from Monkey B Virus

China has reported the first human infection and death in the country caused by a rare infectious disease found in primates known as the Monkey B virus.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said a 53-year-old veterinary surgeon who worked in a research institute specializing in nonhuman primate breeding in Beijing dissected two monkeys in March and became ill about a month later.

He began experiencing nausea, vomiting, fever and neurological issues, and died in May.

Blood and saliva samples were tested and researchers in April found evidence of the Monkey B virus, also known as the herpes B virus.

Researchers said a male doctor and female nurse who were in close contact with the victim tested negative for the virus.

The Monkey B virus is prevalent among macaque monkeys but infection among humans is extremely rare. Since the virus was identified in 1932, just 50 cases have been reported, with the majority of those in North America. Untreated B virus infections in humans are serious, however, with a fatality rate of about 80 percent.

Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, and progress to more serious complications such as swelling of the brain and spinal cord.

Laboratory workers and veterinarians in close contact with the animals are most at risk as people typically get infected with the virus if they are bitten or scratched by an infected macaque, or have contact with the monkey’s eyes, nose or mouth.

But the virus is unlikely to mutate in a way that poses a problem to the general population. Just one case of human-to-human transmission of the virus has ever been documented.

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U.S. Remembers 9/11 Terrorist Attacks as The Pandemic Changes Tribute Traditions

Americans are commemorating 9/11 with tributes that have been altered by coronavirus precautions and woven into the presidential campaign, drawing both President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden to pay respects at the same memorial without crossing paths.

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U.S. Remembers 9/11 Terrorist Attacks as The Pandemic Changes Tribute Traditions

Americans are commemorating 9/11 with tributes that have been altered by coronavirus precautions and woven into the presidential campaign, drawing both President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden to pay respects at the same memorial without crossing paths.

In New York, a dispute over coronavirus-safety precautions is leading to split-screen remembrances Friday, one at the Sept. 11 memorial plaza at the World Trade Center and another on a nearby corner. The Pentagon’s observance will be so restricted that not even victims’ families can attend, though small groups can visit the memorial there later in the day.

Trump and Biden are both headed — at different times — to the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Trump is speaking at the morning ceremony, the White House said. Biden plans to pay respects there in the afternoon after attending the observance at the 9/11 memorial in New York.

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence is also due at ground zero — and then at the alternate ceremony a few blocks away.

In short, the anniversary of 9/11 is a complicated occasion in a maelstrom of a year, as the U.S. grapples with a health crisis, searches its soul over racial injustice and prepares to choose a leader to chart a path forward.

Still, 9/11 families say it’s important for the nation to pause and remember the hijacked-plane attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people at the trade center, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001, shaping American policy, perceptions of safety and daily life in places from airports to office buildings.

“I know that the heart of America beats on 9/11 and, of course, thinks about that tragic day. I don’t think that people forget,” says Anthoula Katsimatides, who lost her brother John and is now on the board of the National Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum.

Friday will mark Trump’s second time observing the 9/11 anniversary at the Flight 93 memorial, where he made remarks in 2018. Biden spoke at the memorial’s dedication in 2011, when he was vice president.

The ground zero ceremony in New York has a longstanding custom of not allowing politicians to speak, though they can attend. Biden did so as vice president in 2010, and Trump as a candidate in 2016.

Though the candidates will be focused on the commemorations, the political significance of their focus on Shanksville is hard to ignore: Pennsylvania is a must-win state for both. Trump won it by less than a percentage point in 2016.

Around the country, some communities have canceled 9/11 commemorations because of the pandemic, while others are going ahead, sometimes with modifications.

The New York memorial is changing one of its ceremony’s central traditions: having relatives read the names of the dead, often adding poignant tributes.

Thousands of family members are still invited. But they’ll hear a recording of the names from speakers spread around the vast plaza, a plan that memorial leaders felt would avoid close contact at a stage but still allow families to remember their loved ones at the place where they died.

But some victims’ relatives felt the change robbed the observance of its emotional impact. A different 9/11-related group, the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, set up its own, simultaneous ceremony a few blocks away, saying there’s no reason that people can’t recite names while keeping a safe distance.

The two organizations also tussled over the Tribute in Light, a pair of powerful beams that shine into the night sky near the trade center and evoke its fallen twin towers. The 9/11 memorial initially canceled the display, citing virus-safety concerns for the installation crew. After the Tunnel to Towers Foundation vowed to put up the lights instead, the memorial changed course with help from its chairman, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Tunnel to Towers, meanwhile, arranged to display single beams for the first time at the Shanksville memorial and the Pentagon.

Over the years, the anniversary also has become a day for volunteering. Because of the pandemic, the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance organization is encouraging people this year to make donations or take other actions that can be accomplished at home.

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