The angry Old Testament prophet Hosea warned Israel that those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind.
For Donald Trump, the wind was sown through his long support of the “birther” conspiracy theory, and the whirlwind is the growing political, racial and religious animosity — and violence — during his presidency.
Beginning in 2011 and continuing for more than five years, Trump repeatedly questioned President Obama’s birth and citizenship. Trump took credit when Obama released his long-form birth certificate in 2012, but continued to question the President’s citizenship and did not publicly reject the birther conspiracy theory until forced by the Republican Party on Sept. 16, 2016.
This isn’t “fake news.” Twitter has archived all of Trump’s tweets, many borderline racist in tone. Two examples:
When I was 18, people called me Donald Trump. When he was 18, @BarackObama was Barry Soweto. Weird.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2012
An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office and told me that @BarackObama‘s birth certificate is a fraud.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2012
Whether or not Trump actually believed this conspiracy theory, and despite his eventual rejection of it, his public support established his credibility among America’s white racist fringe. For example, remarks after the neo-Nazi riot in Charlottesville about “very fine people on both sides” drew effusive thanks from KKK leader David Duke in a tweet:
Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa https://t.co/tTESdV4LP0
— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) August 15, 2017
Let’s give the President the benefit of the doubt and call it dirty but effective politics. He questioned the legitimacy of the first African American president and secured the far-right wing of his base.
As a proud American, I can’t bring myself to believe that our President is truly racist. And Trump has an Orthodox Jewish daughter, so he certainly can’t be anti-Semitic.
But his long embrace of a vile conspiracy theory arguably opened the door to increased political animosity in the United States by empowering the white racist fringe.
President Trump isn’t directly responsible for the recent violence. He didn’t drive the car in Charlottesville, he didn’t mail the pipe bombs to Democrats, and he didn’t fire the assault rife in Pittsburgh. And he has publicly condemned each of these tragedies.
But he did sow the racist political atmosphere that has become a growing — and violent — whirlwind.
Chris Jennewein is editor and publisher of Times of San Diego.