Trump claims he didn't know racist origin of his 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts' tweet (and WH retweet)

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/05/29/trump-claims-he-didnt-know-r.html

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Just a reminder that this is a man who unironically tweeted Mussolini quotes multiple times during the 2016 election.

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This is the same guy who made a Pocahontas comment about Warren while meeting with Navajo code talkers in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson. He’s the kind of guy who puts alot of effort into being racist so don’t believe for a second that he did not know the history of that phrase.

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Mark this day in your calendars: Trump admitting some form of ignorance. I never thought the day would come.

That said, I wouldn’t doubt he heard it live at the time and filed it away because he liked it so damned much. It appealed to his racist mind and stuck there until it was needed.

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I can believe he didn’t know that. I can believe he doesn’t know anything.

But even in 1968, shooting was not how you were supposed to respond to looting. Like, literally, that’s the opposite of what any actual law enforcement body will tell you. Shooting bullets into angry, disobedient crowds is just about the dumbest thing you can do as police, even if all you value is your own life.

He’s trying to incite that racial holy war his supporters are always talking about, and he’s probably too stupid to even realize that’s what he’s trying to do.

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He also claims he loves the KKK because he thought it stood for “Kittens, Kittens, Kittens!”

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estonia

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I don’t doubt it. He’s a fucking moron.

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jurassic park big pile of shit opti

I believe he knew exactly what he was saying. And I believe he thinks we’re stupid enough to buy his denial… nope, not buying it.

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Hey, he also claimed ignorance of David Duke and the KKK.

Funny how the few things he admits not knowing always happen to involve support from or association with avowed racists.

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I didn’t know the origins either, origins or not, it’s still a bullshit, evil, dangerous thing to say.

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Doesn’t matter if he didn’t know it. Its 2020, everybody and their grandma knows its a racist thing to say.
For a guy who hates Twitter, he just can’t break his addiction.

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More bald-faced lies. In the context of, “the military is with him,” there’s only one meaning to be inferred from “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

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I suspect he knew its racist origins since you don’t just say that without having learned it somewhere else, especially him, but he likely never considered or cared about the consequences of saying it out loud, just like the “good people on both sides” tone deafness.

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Likely they wore them in their hearts though.

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I’m willing to believe that he didn’t know the specifics, because he doesn’t ever pay attention to details, but was simply quoting something he’d heard or read recently. In other words, he was simply repeating a line from one of his many white supremacist buddies.

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The photo is an obvious fake for several reasons but we do have documented evidence that Fred Trump wore Klan robes, at least in his youth.

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Given how ignorant and Trump is, I actually buy this excuse. He simply doesn’t care about history - especially not black history. He probably heard it on Fox News or somewhere else, thought it was snappy, and decided to repeat it to sound “tough”.

That being said there’s no disputing the coding behind his use of “thug” and what he means when he says it.

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Hot take;

I don’t care if he knew or not. Bigot is as bigot does.

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