Attorney
George Conway, whose wife
Kellyanne Conway works as a counselor to President
Donald Trump, said in a Washington Post op-ed on Monday that he had no more doubt: the president is a racist.
Conway, who initially supported Trump but has become one of the president's fiercest critics since he took office, said that despite his problems with Trump he had held off judging him to be a bigot. But after Trump's tweets Sunday telling a group of minority Democratic
Congresswomen – three of whom were born in the U.S. – to "go back" to the countries they "originally came from" he could no longer avoid the conclusion.
"No, I thought, President Trump was boorish, dim-witted, inarticulate, incoherent, narcissistic and insensitive. He’s a pathetic bully but an equal-opportunity bully – in his uniquely crass and crude manner, he’ll attack anyone he thinks is critical of him. No matter how much I found him ultimately unfit, I still gave him the benefit of the doubt about being a racist," Conway said.
"But Sunday left no doubt. Naivete, resentment and outright racism, roiled in a toxic mix, have given us a racist president."
He said Trump's comments about Reps.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York,
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota,
Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and
Rashida Tlaib of Michigan were "racist to the core."
"It doesn’t matter what these representatives are for or against – and there’s plenty to criticize them for – it’s beyond the bounds of human decency. For anyone, not least a president," wrote Conway, a Republican.
He sharply criticized Republican politicians who have not condemned Trump's remarks.
"They’re silent not because they agree with Trump. Surely they know better," he said. Rather they have "inured themselves to his wild statements," don’t "want to give succor to their political enemies" and "fear his wrath."
President Donald Trump's tweet telling four congresswomen to "go back to where they came from" sent a painful message to many Americans that they are not welcome in their own country. It echoed remarks they have heard throughout their lives. (July 15) AP, AP
He said Trump's remarks reminded him of a boyhood incident when he witnessed a woman in a supermarket parking lot tell his mother, who was an immigrant from the Philippines, to "go back to your country."
But "Trump is not some random, embittered person in a parking lot," Conway said. "He’s the president of the United States. By virtue of his office, he speaks for the country. What’s at stake now is more important than judges or tax cuts or regulations or any policy issue of the day. What’s at stake are the nation’s ideals, its very soul."