Donald Trump fielded a question about the war with Iran during an unrelated White House event on Monday afternoon, and as is often the case, the president responded with a meandering, five-minute answer that touched on a variety of subjects that had nothing to do with the initial subject.
But it’s where this particular tangent ended up that matters.
“Like, look at the blue cities,” the Republican said. “What do they have in common, aside from massive crime? Much more crime. The Republicans have very little crime. But what do the blue cities have in common? And also, you can say this with nations, when they go bad, the blue cities have something in common— crime, high crime, vicious, violent crime — but what do they have in common?
“They’re all dirty. They’re filthy, dirty. Their streets are dirty, their streets smell, their storefronts are broken, their trees are all gross. Everything about the place is dirty, and I don’t want to mention any specific city. It’s really all of them.”
In case that weren’t quite enough, the president soon after added that he considers cities led by Democratic officials to be “disgusting.”
For those who keep an eye on Trump’s day-to-day activities, the rhetoric probably wasn’t too surprising, but his tirade was a timely reminder that the incumbent president doesn’t just favor cities and states that voted for him; he also expresses routine contempt for communities filled with Americans he sees as unworthy of resources, support or even some modicum of respect.
I’m trying to imagine what would happen if Barack Obama or Joe Biden publicly declared their disgust and disdain for Republican-led areas of their own country. It’s a safe bet the reaction would be overwhelming, and for good reason: Presidents are supposed to represent the interests of the United States, not the parts filled with voters they like.
Trump, however, shares his revulsion toward many American cities and states with such frequency that it has become little more than the background noise of our civic lives.
Worse, it’s not just a matter of baseless public condemnations. Last week, we learned that Trump overrode officials in his own administration to deny federal disaster aid to Democratic-led states. Less than a week earlier, Team Trump acknowledged in a court filing that it scrapped federal energy grants to blue states, terminating funds “based solely” on political criteria, targeting projects in Democratic-led states where voters opposed the GOP ticket in 2024.
Team Trump has also curtailed federal healthcare funds, but only for states the White House doesn’t like. Team Trump has also tried to freeze $10 billion in funding for social services programs in five states, but only blue states were affected. Team Trump has also launched a supposed crackdown on fraud in social insurance programs, but its sole focus is on Democratic cities and states.
It’s not that the president is failing to bring the country together, it’s that he seems wholly disinterested in even trying.
During Richard Nixon’s second term, Patrick Buchanan was credited with arguing in a memo, “If we tear the country in half, we can pick up the bigger half.” Nearly six decades later, it’s a concept a different Republican president is embracing with a bit too much enthusiasm.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
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