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"Trump Defends Confederate Flag in Latest Race-Based Appeal to White Voters"
President Trump implied that NASCAR’s decision to prohibit Confederate flags at its races was a mistake while also falsely asserting that a top Black driver, Bubba Wallace, had engaged in a hoax involving a noose found in his stall."
July 6, 2020Updated 1:44 p.m. ET
"President Trump mounted an explicit defense of the Confederate flag on Monday, suggesting that NASCAR had made a mistake in banning it from its auto racing events, while falsely accusing a top Black driver, Darrell Wallace Jr., of perpetrating a hoax involving a noose found in his garage.
Mr. Trump’s reference to the Confederate flag, and its role in a sport whose mostly white fans Mr. Trump remains popular with, was the latest remark by the president as he tries to rally his culturally conservative base behind his struggling re-election effort.
While NASCAR and other organizations have moved to retire symbols of the Confederacy, and lawmakers in Mississippi voted to bring down the state flag featuring the Confederate emblem, Mr. Trump has increasingly used racist language and references to portray himself as a protector of the history of the American South. He has called the phrase 'Black Lives Matter' a 'symbol of hate,' and he has repeatedly tried to depict pockets of violence during protests against entrenched racism as representative of the protest movement as a whole.
Mr. Trump delivered official speeches over the weekend that emphasized defending American historical figures like Washington and some abolitionists, though he avoided explicit references to totems of the Confederacy."
President Trump implied that NASCAR’s decision to prohibit Confederate flags at its races was a mistake while also falsely asserting that a top Black driver, Bubba Wallace, had engaged in a hoax involving a noose found in his stall."
July 6, 2020Updated 1:44 p.m. ET
"President Trump mounted an explicit defense of the Confederate flag on Monday, suggesting that NASCAR had made a mistake in banning it from its auto racing events, while falsely accusing a top Black driver, Darrell Wallace Jr., of perpetrating a hoax involving a noose found in his garage.
Mr. Trump’s reference to the Confederate flag, and its role in a sport whose mostly white fans Mr. Trump remains popular with, was the latest remark by the president as he tries to rally his culturally conservative base behind his struggling re-election effort.
While NASCAR and other organizations have moved to retire symbols of the Confederacy, and lawmakers in Mississippi voted to bring down the state flag featuring the Confederate emblem, Mr. Trump has increasingly used racist language and references to portray himself as a protector of the history of the American South. He has called the phrase 'Black Lives Matter' a 'symbol of hate,' and he has repeatedly tried to depict pockets of violence during protests against entrenched racism as representative of the protest movement as a whole.
Mr. Trump delivered official speeches over the weekend that emphasized defending American historical figures like Washington and some abolitionists, though he avoided explicit references to totems of the Confederacy."
Trump Adds to Playbook of Stoking White Fear and Resentment (Published 2020)
With a defense of Confederate flags and a false accusation against a Black NASCAR driver, Bubba Wallace, President Trump is focusing on racial and cultural flash points to appeal to his base.
www.nytimes.com