Donald Trump and Republicans, In Their Own Words

But with control of the Senate on the line this year, McConnell, in recorded remarks, spoke of "my friend, Donald Trump," even as he inveighed against Democrats and cynically warned that granting statehood to Washington D.C. would result "in two more liberal senators," making it impossible for Republicans to "undo the damage they've [Democrats] have done."

In a July analysis for Inside Elections, Jacob Rubashkin blew up that narrative, noting that “history reveals that two additional Democratic senators would rarely have made a difference in control of the Senate over the last half century.”

The Senate Republican resistance to D.C. statehood has always been rooted as much in fear of a dilution of political power as it has been in a racism that has trained them to view the overwhelmingly Black city as little more than a personal plaything. I covered Congress in 1997, during another push for D.C. statehood, and saw the same scenario unfold at the time.

Even the language that McConnell used Thursday was couched in racism. Democrats, he complained, wanted to cement their agenda by “making the swamp itself, Washington, D.C., America’s 51st state.” But it wasn’t a message for “Chocolate City,” as the increasingly diverse D.C. was once called. It was a scare-tactic and dog whistle for middle America.

McConnell, like other Republicans who flushed the GOP’s legacy this week, was simply following the lead of their Dear Leader. In Cleveland four years ago, Trump trafficked in racism and fear, warning of “illegal immigrants with criminal records” who were “roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.”

In Washington last week, Trump bleated that if “the left gains power they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other constitutional freedoms.”

During both conventions, Republicans claimed they had a bold, new vision for America. They don’t. They’re members of a party bereft of ideas that can only do one thing: Peddle division and fear.

It’s right there. In their own words.

Copyright 2020 John L. Micek, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. An award-winning political journalist, John L. Micek is Editor-in-Chief of The Pennsylvania Capital-Star in Harrisburg, Pa. Email him at jmicek@penncapital-star.com and follow him on Twitter @ByJohnLMicek.