“It’s About the Criticism”: Watch as Lindsey Graham Explains Why Trump’s Focus on The Squad Is Not About Race

Earlier today, Red State‘s Brandon Morse wrote a good piece about the “send her back” chant that took place at President Trump’s rally in Greenville, NC last night.

The “her” in the chant was Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), one of the members of the so-called “Squad” of Democratic freshman Reps. that also include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ayanna Pressley (MA), and Rashida Tlaib (MI). Trump had been criticizing Omar shortly before the chants began.

In the immediate aftermath of the chants, the condemnations starting coming in from the media, the left, and the right. The media and the left were predictably more critical, attributing the chant – and Trump’s critiques of Omar – to, of course, “racism.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a 2020 presidential candidate, was one of the many Democrats to echo this sentiment:

My parents watched George Wallace on TV in black and white—tonight millions of Americans saw him in living color. pic.twitter.com/LyjTXYKQ5n

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) July 18, 2019

On the other hand, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) explained in an interview clip posted by The Hill on Thursday as to why he believes Trump’s focus on The Squad is not about their race or the fact they are women.

What it boils down to, he said, are their policy positions and criticisms, which he says Trump feels are “over the top” and dangerous:

“Here’s what I think. I think the president is playing on the 1968 ‘Love it or Leave it’. I’ve said before, that if you’re a Somali refugee wearing a MAGA hat, he doesn’t want to send you back — you’ll probably have dinner at the White House. What does that tell me? It is about the criticism and the critic, that the president believes that what they’re doing is over the top.

We’re not running concentration camps. So when you start accusing people of running concentration camps who work for the United States government, you’re gonna be met with some pretty fiery responses.

I don’t like it. I’m not going around telling anybody to leave the country who is an American citizen. To a naturalized citizen, this is much your home as much as mine.”

Watch Graham talk about the issue below:

Sen. Lindsey Graham: “If you’re a Somali refugee wearing a MAGA hat, he doesn’t want to send you back. You’ll probably have dinner at the White House.” pic.twitter.com/8c12b0Vlij

— The Hill (@thehill) July 18, 2019

Graham touched on something that I ranted on a bit last night in a short Twitter thread. I’m going to share what I wrote there here with addition comments. Here’s how it started:

Here’s the thing ppl conveniently forget about Trump: If the Squad were made up of 4 white ppl, Trump would still target them. He’s shown time & again he is an equal opportunity disser. As distasteful as the chant was, Trump himself is not targeting the Squad bc of their race. https://t.co/8kr5r48fQw

— Sister Toldjah (@sistertoldjah) July 18, 2019

It just so happens that the four people who are saying awful things about America are WOC. It’s a mistake to think he’d hold back if they happened to be white. Think of all the people he’s targeted during his administration – even in his own party. Many have been white.

Saying he targets The Squad because they are WOC is as foolish as saying Pelosi dissed them because they are WOC. They just happen to be the loudest ones in the crowd, & loud folks tend to get noticed more. This is not about race, no matter how badly politically opportunistic people want it to be.

Not only are they loud voices, but the anti-Semitic tendencies of Tlaib and Omar are particularly concerning. AOC’s policies would turn this country into something it shouldn’t be, and Pressley is hell-bent on excluding any minority voices from the conversation that don’t meet with her approval.

In other words, Trump and other Republicans view them as very reckless and concerning. To make matters worse, the media absolutely adores The Squad, and frequently amplifies their message and acts as apologists when they face even the mildest of critisisms.

Think about this, too: Democratic members of the Hispanic & Black Caucuses have political targets on their backs as well. Who is targeting them? AOC’s Justice Democrats group. The CBC insinuated last week the targeting was race-based. See what I mean about making accusations without thinking about them?

AOC’s Justice Democrats view those caucus members as standing in the way of progress. They want them out. Trump is not any different in that regard to how he feels about The Squad.

Related to that, Trump has torched Republicans he doesn’t like, or who otherwise stand in the way of his agenda, too. Think about the war of words with McCain. He treated him as contemptuously as he does the Squad. If you want to say he’s a jerk to people, fine, but saying it’s racism is inflammatory and wrong.

Again, he’s an equal opportunity “disser.” He was like this in 2016 against Republicans and Democrats alike, and he hasn’t changed. And won’t.

I wish people wouldn’t say and do stupid things at rallies. But Democrat and Republican supporters both do it, as we saw in 2016 …and beyond.

Those fanning the flames of racism the most are members of the mainstream media and Democrats who call everyone who disagrees with them racists. They made what was probably only a minor issue in 2016 into something major, have stirred the pot out of spite, & here we are. It’s out of control & sad.

Related –>> Hot Take: After Lindsey Graham Called Her A Communist, AOC Says The Label Is A Tool For White Supremacy

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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –

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