Trump masterfully navigates ‘Send her back’ controversy
By Michael Goodwin
July 18, 2019 | 10:21pm | Updated
Presidents, like most politicians, don’t apologize. They don’t admit mistakes, either.
President Trump just did both.
By saying he “disagreed with†and “wasn’t happy†with the audience chants of “Send her back†at his Wednesday rally, Trump effectively walked back his own tweet that went too far. On Sunday, he had criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar and three other rookie Democrats by saying they should “go back†to their home countries.
The president took an enormous media and political pounding for those words, and Democrats in the House voted to condemn his comments. Some Republicans also complained, as did daughter Ivanka Trump, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Although I talked to the president about his initial comments and don’t believe he had any racial intent, I did argue that “go back†carries painful historic baggage among African Americans and immigrants. “Go back†to Africa or Ireland or Italy or Israel or Mexico was rarely said without contempt.
more
https://nypost.com/2019/07/18/trump-masterfully-navigates-send-her-back-controversy/
