The former president just made a campaign stop in Howell, Michigan, where white supremacists recently held a march and voiced support for Trump, Hitler, Nazis and the KKK.

Donald Trump’s appearance in Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday sparked controversy before he even arrived. That’s because the visit continued his notable tradition of scheduling campaign stops in locations known as hotbeds for racist extremism.

Just last month, a group of white supremacists marched in Howell and expressed their support for Trump and Adolf Hitler. As journalist Jon King wrote for the Michigan Advance, the event evoked memories of Howell’s racist — and in some cases, fairly recent — history of public bigotry and the Ku Klux Klan.

  • octopus_ink
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    27 days ago

    I don’t think he needs a defense, honestly. If ever there was a legitimate right-wing claim of free speech it’s a presidential candidate being able to visit with and address whoever he or she chooses.

    But the rest of us are also free to deduce what we will from who he chooses to stump to.

    • lettruthout@lemmy.world
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      27 days ago

      Agreed. It’s good that they’re now saying the quiet parts out loud. We can see that there’s definitely a pattern of racism in Trump’s actions. Those of us that are secure don’t have to support it.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      27 days ago

      Agreed. But it seems odd he’s out there preaching to the choir while Harris is touring battleground states.

      • octopus_ink
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        27 days ago

        But it seems odd he’s out there preaching to the choir while Harris is touring battleground st

        That’s a fair point but I think it comes down to the fact that the only part of his mind that hasn’t been consumed by whatever brain rot he’s got going on seems to be his ego. In that light, it’s totally logical. (for Trump)

        • Nyxon@lemmy.world
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          27 days ago

          Not to put words in the previous posters mouth but my thoughts are that he is riling up his militant base in anticipation of either getting jail time or losing the election so that the most violent individuals in his base of support would maybe protect and fight for him. I think that was what the previous poster was inferring.

          • octopus_ink
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            27 days ago

            Ah good point I didn’t catch that. Stochastic terrorism is definitely a Trump MO, so I agree there also!

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        26 days ago

        Sure, but anyone has the right to address who they want. (And as noted, have that pattern noticed…)

        • ultramaven@sh.itjust.works
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          26 days ago

          I’m just saying that’s the reason it matters, I could address myself as a Presidential Candidate but no one is gonna care until Im the nominee. Beyond that, Trump’s immunity comes from that fact, or at least some semblance of it.

  • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    Trump’s defense: “I have a history of racist comments, actions, and business policies. No one should be alarmed or surprised by this.”

    • EvilBit@lemmy.world
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      27 days ago

      “In fact, since I’m so clearly, openly, and historically a racist piece of shit, it’s kind of your fault for not stopping me more effectively, isn’t it?”

    • sudo@lemmy.today
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      27 days ago

      I mean, I also support Hitler’s most recent political statement to depose Hitler. Executed with German efficiency.

  • bstix@feddit.dk
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    27 days ago

    He needed a crowd or what?

    Let him. He has destroyed everything and anyone that he has ever been close to. Let him mingle with the Nazi and KKK as well…

    If he manages to encourage them to do stupid shit that’ll land them in prison, just like anyone else who supported or worked for him, I’ll be grateful for his service, though it’s through the most backwards way.

    Hopefully he’s going to make America great again by absorbing all the shit and letting democracy wring it out like a shitty orange sponge.

  • CM400@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    But Trump seems to think he found an airtight defense for his Michigan visit. When a reporter on Tuesday asked about his response to criticism over his visit, he responded with a question of his own: “Who was here in 2021?” The answer he was fishing for — and received — was “Joe Biden.”

    Of course, the big difference is that the president wasn’t visiting right after racists praised him and Hitler simultaneously.

    • dalekcaan@lemm.ee
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      27 days ago

      In his defence, the only argument he’s ever capable of making, this one included, is “No u.”

  • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    I bet you all those marching in support for Trump and Hitler went showing their faces, cause they’re cowards

  • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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    26 days ago

    I hate click-bait.

    “Who was here in 2021?” (Biden)

    The obvious difference is Trump is courting white supremacists and refuses to denounce anything they do in his name…