On Sunday, US President Donald Trump took a break from complimenting the buttocks of Republican senator Jon Husted to admire someone else’s.
asserted
Trump → take → someone
“I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before – Nicki Minaj,” he said of the well-endowed rapper, who attended the president’s rally in Michigan.
asserted
who → look → Michigan
“That’s hard to miss.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
As polling day nears, the US president’s daily rally speeches have become looser and less inhibited.
asserted
speeches → near → ?
For the most part, this has manifested in funny, harmless ways, such as his routine about examining men’s bodies.
asserted
this → manifest → bodies
Some observers have interpreted this as an indication that Trump, 80, is mentally ailing and failing to conceal a latent bisexuality.
asserted
Trump → interpret → bisexuality
A better explanation is simply that, as with previous campaigns, he has stumbled upon a bit that gets laughs.
asserted
that → stumble → laughs
While complaining about his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded by a Norwegian committee, the president bemoaned that Norway “sucks” and has “become a shit-house country, actually”.
asserted
Norway → complain → committee
Over the weekend, Trump boasted to a crowd in Georgia that the US oil and gas industry was making billions of dollars – trillions, even – while Americans paid higher prices for petrol due to the war with Iran.
asserted
Americans → boast → Iran
“I can just see the fake headlines: President Trump is talking about all the money they’re making while people are suffering at the pump,” he mused.
asserted
he → see → pump
“I said, ‘I don’t give a damn, I’m going to say it.’
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I → say → it
We’re making a freakin’ fortune.”
asserted
We → make → fortune
Trump’s increasing crudity, profanity and radical candour can probably be dismissed as symptoms of daily, two-hour speeches that have started to bore even the man himself.
asserted
that → increase → man
A more sinister matter is the spiralling racism.
asserted
matter → spiral → ?
The president has labelled Democratic candidate for the US Senate Abdul El-Sayed a “vicious, violent jihadist”.
asserted
president → label → Sayed
He also delights in calling the Muslim man “Mohamed”, and has incorporated a joke into his rallies where he suggests that if you call someone from the Middle East “Mohamed”, you’ll be correct most of the time.
uncertain
you → delight → time
Speaking in Michigan on Sunday, Trump’s rhetoric turned even more overtly prejudiced.
asserted
rhetoric → speak → Sunday
“He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate,” the president said of El-Sayed.
asserted
president → have → Sayed
“I want him to have a metal detector!”
asserted
him → want → detector
Trump also invoked the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks perpetrated against America by Islamic jihadists and said the people of Michigan must vote to stop a jihadist walking into the US Senate.
asserted
people → invoke → Senate
He welcomed to the stage David Beamer, the father of 9/11 hero Todd Beamer, who was among the passengers on Flight 93 who fought back against the hijackers and prevented the plane from being flown towards Washington.
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who → welcome → Washington
Beamer questioned whether El-Sayed, who was born in Rochester Hills, Michigan, was really American in the full sense of the word.
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who → question → word
“Abdul has a birth certificate.
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Abdul → have → certificate
A birth certificate says he’s a citizen of America.
asserted
he → say → America
You know what?
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You → know → what
A birth certificate doesn’t make you American,” Beamer said to applause.
asserted
Beamer → make → applause
“He’s not an American, he’s anti-American …
asserted
he → ’ → ?
He has blood that’s red; however, he has chosen to remove any strain of white and blue.
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he → have → white
Although El-Sayed was probably always going to be tarred in this way, he has brought some of it on himself.
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he → go → himself
He has been reluctant to engage with questions about alleged links between members of his Egyptian family and the Muslim Brotherhood, a designated terrorist organisation in Egypt and the United States.
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He → engage → Egypt
He was slow to disavow such groups, arguing he shouldn’t have to, and to distance himself from remarks by his friend Hasan Piker – a rabble-rousing Marxist podcaster who says the US deserved 9/11 and professes to hate America.
asserted
US → disavow → America
El-Sayed believes he is only facing these questions because he is Muslim, and calls it out.
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he → believe → it
Trump has seized on this, labelling it arrogance.
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Trump → seize → it
“He’s a nasty guy … he’s worse than I am,” Trump said at Sunday’s rally.
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Trump → ’ → rally
Recently, El-Sayed launched a campaign ad featuring testimony from Tucker Carlson, among other right-wing pundits.
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Sayed → launch → pundits
Carlson is best known now for his sharp turn against Israel, and the ad will do nothing to tamp down accusations of antisemitism levelled against El-Sayed.
asserted
ad → know → Sayed
Adrian Hemond, chief executive of bipartisan, Michigan-based public relations consultancy Grassroots Midwest, says when it comes to inflammatory rhetoric in the Michigan Senate race, you can “take your pick”.
asserted
you → base → pick
“El-Sayed has made antisemitic podcasters a key issue in the campaign,” he says.
asserted
he → make → campaign
“Republicans are turning over every rock looking for people who don’t like Arabs or Islam.
asserted
who → turn → Arabs
A shit-house rat smells better than this campaign.”
asserted
rat → smell → campaign
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
