A president's words really do matter

Democrats and Republicans both sharply criticized President Trump for waiting almost 48 hours to denounce,  by name, the hate-filled, violence-prone white supremacist groups that gathered in Charlottesville for a rally -- one that resulted in the death of a peaceful counter-protester.

When he finally did manage to name the "KKK, Neo-Nazis, white supremacy, and other hate groups," he was reading from a script prepared for him.   They were not his own heart-felt words.

That was Monday afternoon.   Then he got to work sending out tweets -- and they were not reinforcements of his speech, nor expressions of regret for his tardy reluctance.   In fact, they seem more like dog whistles to reassure his base that he's still got their back.

In contrast to the 45 hours it took him to denounce hate groups, he needed only 45 minutes to send out a snarky, insulting response to the protest resignation of Kenneth Frazier, an African-American member of his Council on Manufacturing and the CEO of Merck Pharmaceutical Co.   As of this writing, now a total of five CEO's from that group have resigned in response to the president's delay in denouncing the alt-right groups.   And Trump's response to those resignations from his Council?  A tweet:

"For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!"
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2017

But put aside the back and forth attack and counterattack.   What are the facts on effects of a president's bully pulpit words?

Brian Lervin, of the Center for Study of Hate and Extremism, was interviewed by Ari Melber on MSNBC's "The Beat" Monday night.   Levin supplied the following data:
   1.  Following President George W. Bush's emotionally moving speech in the wake of 9/11, in which he said "Islam is peace" -- in the six days following that, there was a 66% DECREASE in hate crimes.

   2.  When then-presidential candidate Donald J. Trump first called for a Muslim ban, during the ensuing five days, there was an 87.5% INCREASE in hate crimes.

Another bit of evidence of the effectiveness (good or bad) of the bully pulpit -- even when the message comes in code or dog-whistle disguise:   just look at the response of David Duke and the bloggers representing the white supremacy groups.   They took it as good news for them that Trump didn't initially denounce them by name.   Even when he eventually did name the KKK, Neo-Nazis, and white supremacists, the long delay told them that he only did it for political expedience.   It did not come from his heart or his principles.

Former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke called Saturday's rally in Charlottesville "a turning point" for their groups who want to "take back our country" and "carry out President Trump's promises."   Eli Moseley, a leader of one of these new alt-right groups, told ProPublica that Trump has served as "a megaphone" for far-right ideas.

They know what he promised all during his campaign.   A delayed, scripted, forced speech for political expediency doesn't fool them.   A president's words from the bully pulpit can have a strong effect -- if his people believe he means it.   This president has no credibility, except with his base.   And he's losing that.

It's going to take strong action if he wants to undo that -- changing some policy initiatives, firing some people, speaking from his heart about his change of direction.   Otherwise, we're going to see more rallies from these folks, escalating violence, more chaos in the White House.   And a more divided country than we already are.

In order to save the country, Trump will have to lose his base.   Or else the Republican Party will have to lose Trump.   Maybe Mueller will give them convincing evidence to do just that.

Ralph

PS:   Once again, in this rapid news cycle we're in, news keeps upstaging what I had already written to post the next morning.   Trump spoke to the media again Tuesday afternoon -- and essentially went back to his original "many sides are to blame" for the violence.   "What about the alt-left?" he asked.    Some of them were armed, too, he claimed.   He seems incapable of understanding a moral position.

This media event showed an angry president, verbally almost out of control.  It was his reaction to being forced (by public pressure, by his staff) to read that statement yesterday.  He has to do something to retaliate.   We almost overlooked his first try at that Tuesday morning, when he said he was thinking about pardoning Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was recently convicted of contempt of court for not obeying a judge's order concerning over-zealous policy of ID checks of immigrants.