In the past couple of days, the White House correspondent for the taxpayer-funded PBS NewsHour, Yamiche Alcindor, has been throwing around accusations of racism not only against a "large majority" of Donald Trump supporters who fear a "browning of America," but also against the U.S. generally, claiming that minorities are not "treated as equal citizens."
On Monday's Morning Joe on MSNBC, as the show's regulars freaked out over a Fox News poll finding that 47 percent of Americans still approve of how President Trump's job performance, MSNBC contributor and longtime show regular Donny Deutsch reiterated his recurring claims that racism is to blame for so many Americans supporting the President, proclaiming that his substantial support is a problem that "has to be dealt with."
Alcindor -- a journalist who should know better than to throw around accusations of racism against a large percentage of Americans -- recalled the case of an apparently racist white male Trump supporter she once spoke with who indefensibly complained that a black woman like her could make more money than him, and used it to paint most Trump supporters as racists.
As Deutsch concluded his commentary, he declared:
DEUTSCH: What is it that is so terrifying for white people -- and that's what this is about -- that people of color are threatening them so deeply that they are willing to dismiss democratic tenets? And I'm just repeating what I said earlier because I have no other explanation, Joe. There's nothing else there. We could put the 10 smartest scholars in the room. That's it -- I'm saying the quiet part out loud. It's no other explanation, and that's what we have to deal with in this country right now. .We're a divided country, and it's about race. I don't care what anybody else says.
Alcindor agreed with Deutsch's analysis and recounted::
ALCINDOR: There is this real elephant in the room -- even when you talk about policy that Trump supporters -- the ones that I've interacted with -- not all of them, but a large majority of them do bring up the issue of race. They do bring up their fears of the unknown -- of African Americans -- of Latinos -- of this kind of browning of America. That is just something that has been -- that needs to be covered -- that needs to be said out loud.
...And I keep thinking about that man in Wisconsin who looked at me and said, "How could you possibly have a job and make more money than me?" And I said, "Well, sir, my parents went to college, I went to college. That's part of how I earned this job." But he didn't want to hear it, and he didn't want to talk about health care even though that's what I wanted to talk to him about. He wanted to talk about the fact that he was worried that a black girl like me was a threat to his future.
The day before, on Sunday's Meet the Press on NBC, as Alcindor participated in the show's panel discussion, she complained about the Trump administration's response to the pandemic, and claimed that minorities are not treated as "equal citizens" in America as she cited disproportionately high rates of COVID deaths and police shootings affecting the black population:
I also want to point out the statistic that I think continues to stick with me which is that African Americans are more than two and a half, three times more likely to die than white Americans of the coronavirus pandemic in the same when African Americans are two and a half to three times more likely to be killed by the police than white Americans. So this was also a year where the pandemic exposed the long-standing inequalities in this country, and it shows that African Americans and people of color continue to not be treated as equal citizens in this country.
Alcindor ignored the CDC's suggestions that issues like minorities living in densely populated areas have impacted COVID infection rates as she asserted that the U.S. was somehow not treating minorities as "equal citizens." And a more recent study released by New York's Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, linked 74 percent of COVID infections to private social gatherings, which suggests there are substantial limits to what government regulations could do to prevent spread unless they applied to people's private homes.
Additionally, the racial breakdown of police shooting cases matches closely with crime patterns, whether compiled during the Barack Obama administration, the George W. Bush administration, or the Donald Trump administration.
The episode of MSNBC's Morning Joe was sponsored in part by USAA. Their contact information is linked.
Transcripts follow;
NBC
Meet the Press
December 20, 2020
YAMICHE ALCINDOR, PBS: The pandemic obviously is the thing that was the hallmark of 2020. There was so much mourning, so much loss, so much sadness in this country. And there was a presidency that really failed to meet the moment in ways objectively seen because the President downplayed the virus -- he didn't take it seriously. It's largely, in part, based on my reporting, why he lost the election.
I think you couple the pandemic terrible loss with the political upheaval, and I also want to point out the statistic that I think continues to stick with me which is that African Americans are more than two and a half, three times more likely to die than white Americans of the coronavirus pandemic in the same when African Americans are two and a half to three times more likely to be killed by the police than white Americans.
So this was also a year where the pandemic exposed the long-standing inequalities in this country, and it shows that African Americans and people of color continue to not be treated as equal citizens in this country. So I think that that is the thing that sticks with me, and so dual crises of health care and the economy as well as a racial reckoning that continues to happen.
(...)
MSNBC
Morning Joe
December 21, 2020
7:18 a.m. Eastern
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Donny, this guy is anti-democratic. He's -- he is some form of a fascist leader, and still 50 percent of Americans are supporting him, and now we are starting to see -- we, my family, my immediate family are seeing relatives and seeing friends of friends that we've grown up with for half a century actually showing pictures of people carrying guns saying, "We must fight back." Like, this is sick. It is a cult. It is dangerous, and, as you said, the problem is not Donald Trump. That can get -- that can be taken care of in 15 minutes by a couple of Republicans with a little bit of courage. The problem are the 50 percent who are still following this guy who wants to destroy American democracy -- who wants to destroy our voting process, and they're going along for the ride. It is without a doubt the most deeply disturbing political development of my lifetime. There's not a close second.
DONNY DEUTSCH, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Joe, first, a little -- not a little, but a lot of sunshine in that, guess what, our system held, you know, despite all of this -- and you've said this many times on this show, and hats off to our authors of the Madisonian democracy and even when a fascist shows up like this, and even when 50 percent of the country still is somehow behind him, our system holds. And that is something that we can all take a deep breath and say, 'Yay, the good guys do win in the end." Joe, when people want to throw out what we have, which is democracy, it means they're basically unhappy, and they're willing to just kind of stand by and watch anything go, and I'm just going to say again this is what we have to be honest about. I think it's race. I do.
There's no -- there's no other -- it's not his policies about China. And it's not his policies -- it's certainly not his COVID response, and it's certainly not his nonresponse to giving out relief to people. I just think this country -- and this is what has to be dealt with -- and this is something that's not -- it's not an easy solution is that, what is it that's -- what nerve did he hit by saying "Muslim ban," by saying about the Mexicans -- but that's where no President, no politician has ever gone before in any substantial office, at least not in the last 40 or 50 years.
What is it that's going on in the country now? What is it that is so terrifying for white people -- and that's what this is about -- that people of color are threatening them so deeply that they are willing to dismiss democratic tenets? And I'm just repeating what I said earlier because I have no other explanation, Joe. There's nothing else there. We could put the 10 smartest scholars in the room. That's it -- I'm saying the quiet part out loud. It's no other explanation, and that's what we have to deal with in this country right now. .We're a divided country, and it's about race. I don't care what anybody else says.
SCARBOROUGH: Yamiche, you've been covering the President for the better part of five years. What's your take on Donny's theory?
YAMICHE ALCINDOR, PBS NEWSHOUR: I think Donny's theory is a solid one because I have been talking to so many Trump supporters over the last few years, and I have to tell you, even when I talk to them about policies, about foreign policy, or about China, a lot of times the Trump supporters that I talk to -- they turn the issue back to race. Now, maybe it's because they're being interviewed by someone who's African American, but I can remember one of my first hints that this was going to be a running theme of the Trump administration was being in Wisconsin and talking to a man and trying to explain to him about health care and talking about why he supported the President's health care plan, and he kept on saying, "People think I'm racist, people think I'm racist."
And I finally said, "Well, sir, even though I'm talking to you about health care, why do people think you're racist?" And he said, "Well, look at you -- you're black," or "How could you get a job at the New York Times? I'm really concerned about all the African American people moving into my town." At that time, his town was 97 percent white.
When you fast forward, I'm thinking about another person I'm talking to who was talking to me about the fact that he was really concerned about the kind of the way -- the focus the nation was going. I asked him again, "Well, what are you really concerned about?" He started to talk about Antifa -- talking about African Americans taking over his town -- Mexicans coming for him. He was living in a gated community in Florida worried about African Americans and Latinos coming into his neighborhood when that community, again, was 98 percent white.
There is this real elephant in the room -- even when you talk about policy that Trump supporters -- the ones that I've interacted with -- not all of them, but a large majority of them do bring up the issue of race. They do bring up their fears of the unknown -- of African Americans -- of Latinos -- of this kind of browning of America. That is just something that has been -- that needs to be covered -- that needs to be said out loud. And I keep thinking about that man in Wisconsin who looked at me and said, "How could you possibly have a job and make more money than me?" And I said, "Well, sir, my parents went to college, I went to college. That's part of how I earned this job." But he didn't want to hear it, and he didn't want to talk about health care even though that's what I wanted to talk to him about. He wanted to talk about the fact that he was worried that a black girl like me was a threat to his future.
