TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Racist groups in the United States are starting to be aggressive. President Trump seems to be encouraging them.
Because of his flirtation with radical groups, United States President Trump is facing a storm of criticism. And this criticism is questioning the very basis of his political morality.
Rather than immediately condemning the racial violence that broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Saturday before last, President Trump was reluctant to blame the neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan followers and white supremacists who ran amok, attacking their opponents and one of them even drove a car into a group of opponents.
Admittedly, it is difficult for Trump to blame the extreme right constituency that gave him so many votes, assistance and support in the US presidential election. But the president must not forget that he is the head of state, who must stand above these groups and, as president of a democratic nation, should at heart have an egalitarian stance that does not favor one race over another. Trump must clearly state that he is not one of the ultranationalists who was waving the confederate flag or carrying shields with swastikas on that day in Charlottesville.
There is no avoiding the fact that after the disgusting racial incident on the University of Virginia campus, Trump has suddenly become a mutual enemy for many people. Both camps from the Democratic Party that strongly oppose him and from the Republican Party that took him to the presidency believe he has given encouragement to Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists and their sympathizers.
Every US president, from Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama has faced racial disturbances during their administrations. But this time, President Donald Trump has dealt with it badly. The moral link between Trump and (some of) his constituents who hold racist views did not emerge from thin air. To those unhappy with the quick and dramatic changes in values and the economy, Trump offered a return to the past through the campaign slogan, Make America Great Again.
Unfortunately, Trump's populism was not only a success during the campaign, but also now encouraged radical and ultranationalist groups to come out of hiding. Now, they openly organize parades as shows of force on the streets, while in Charlottesville they shouted racist slogans and prepared to do battle with groups opposing them.
As a result of this flirtation with radical groups with a long history of violence, President Donald Trump is beginning to be isolated from his supporters in the Republican Party. The stance of the businessman-turned-president is slowly bringing together his long-divided opponents into one camp opposing him.
This is a blunder. But more than that, the president of United States has damaged the principle of egalitarianism in American democracy.
Read the full story in this week’s edition of Tempo English Magazine
