America’s racist president Donald Trump made a comment so racist the other day that even some of his fellow racists had to acknowledge it as racism.
Not all of them have done so, however – some have just kept their mouths shut. Unfortunately for the Tory leadership candidates, they aren’t in a position to avoid the subject. Instead, they played a game called:
Let’s Distance Ourselves from Trump’s Clearly Racist Comments Without Saying the Word Racism™.
Why are we scared of calling Trump racist? "Not helpful to use that kind of language", says Hunt. It either is or isn't racist, calling it out is not a slur or lowering the tone. Johnson's answer similarly wet. FFS.
— Arj Singh (@singharj) July 15, 2019
Dancing around the subject
The Tory leadership hopefuls realised they couldn’t just straight-up endorse racism. They also couldn’t properly call it out, as racists like Donald Trump wouldn’t like that. When asked how he’d describe Trump’s comments, Jeremy Hunt answered:
I’d probably say… prejudice-esque?
Johnson described it as:
Culturally unproductive?
The interviewer kept on the point – directly asking if they’d use the word ‘racism’ to describe the racist comments. In response, both men asked if they could describe their thoughts by way of charades.
Johnson performed what appeared to be a harrowing enactment of a person being racially abused – the sort of racism that he himself has encouraged. Hunt acted out the entirety of the crusades, which also felt ironic, as he’s currently pushing for another war in the Middle East.
Farce and farcer
On the one hand, it’s good that these two men have sort-of almost called Trump out.
On the other, we’re clearly facing the same situation we had with May, whose mixture of simpering appeasement and occasional mild criticism created a situation in which she didn’t seriously challenge the orange baboon, and yet he still treated her like a total fuckhead.
Featured image via YouTube – Guardian News
