Demonstrating just how invidious and dangerous the president's rhetoric has become, the crowd at Donald Trump's campaign rally Wednesday night chanted "send her back" about Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota while he told a racist lie about her.
The chant echoed Trump's racist tweets over the weekend in which he called for Omar and a group of other Democratic congresswomen to "go back" to the countries they came from. Omar was the only member of the group in question who was, in fact, an immigrant, though all are women of color. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution condemning the remarks as racist, though most Republicans voted against it.
Trump has been particularly vicious toward Omar. Speaking to the crowd, he repeated the bogus charge that she claimed Al Qaeda "makes you proud." She never said anything close to this. It is just another racist lie, playing into the trope that Muslims like Omar are inherently tied to terrorism.
Some of his criticisms had some basis in fact, as he referred to remarks of Omar's that many have argued were anti-Semitic. These allegations, however, rest on a much subtler understanding of racism that Trump and his allies are entirely unwilling to apply to his own words. And while Omar's remarks have been criticized as playing into anti-Semitic tropes in criticizing Israel, Trump has even more blatantly invoked these prejudices in his rhetoric. And unlike Omar, Trump has never apologized.
But the most disturbing thing about Trump's comments and efforts to stir up hatred against Omar and others is how quickly they're becoming normalized among his fans. After facing blowback for his "go back" comments, Trump tried to mildly back down from the atrocious and racist demand, saying it was the congresswomen's "choice" whether to leave the United States or not. Now, though, he has fans cheering for him, as president, to literally forcibly deport a duly elected citizen and member of the opposite party.
It's a violent and fascist chant, and it should be condemned immediately by anyone of integrity.
Watch a live stream of the event below: