Yale philosophy professor and fascism expert said that the United States is facing an emergency, following what he called “one of the single most racist moments in modern American political history” at the Trump rally on Wednesday.
Professor Jason Stanley took to Twitter to express his utter shock after seeing a footage of Trump supporters chanting “send her back, send her back” at the rally where the president was railing against Democratic congresswomen, especially against Minnesota Representative Illhan Omar, who migrated to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia when she was just eight years old.
Newsweek reported that Trump used the 2020 campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, to launch a fresh series of racist attacks on Omar and three other Democratic representatives: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, who have collectively branded themselves “The Squad.”
During his speech, Trump branded the four congresswomen, who are all women of color, “hate-filled extremists,” in a renewal of the racist assault the U.S. leader launched on Sunday when he tweeted that Omar, Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and Pressley should “go back” to the “crime-infested places from which they came.”
Omar became a U.S. citizen in 2000 at the age of 17, while the three other members of “the squad” were born in the U.S. and are U.S. citizens.
“I am not easily shocked,” Stanley wrote on Twitter after viewing footage of the crowded Trump rally, where the words “send her back, send her back” rung out.
“We are facing an emergency,” the philosopher and author of the book How Fascism Works, wrote. “Journalists must not get away with sugar-coating this,” he warned. “This is the face of evil.”
In his post, Stanley shared a tweet from writer and activist Shaun King, who described the moment the “send her back” chants broke out at the rally as “one of the single most racist moments in modern American political history.”
“As Trump began attacking my friend, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the crowd began chanting, ‘SEND HER BACK, SEND HER BACK.’ It’s utterly despicable and dangerous,” King said.
“We are here. We are in THAT time,” he added. “UGLY.”
Stanley and King are from being alone in condemning the President’s racist language.
World leaders, including Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, have spoken out to condemn Trump’s racist words, joining lawmakers in the U.S.
In a 245-187 House vote on Tuesday night, U.S. representatives officially condemned Trump’s racism, with 240 Democrats in favor of and 187 Republicans opposed to the resolution, which is a statement of opinion and not legally binding.
Only four Republicans, Reps. Will Hurd, Susan Brooks, Fred Upton and Brian Fitzpatrick, voted in favor of the measure, along with Independent Justin Amash, who parted ways with the GOP earlier this month.
In a tweet, Omar appeared to respond to the president’s renewed attacks on Wednesday, writing: “I am where I belong, at the people’s house.”
“You’re just gonna have to deal,” she said.
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