I’ve never been a fan of Rick Lazio so for him to actually make sense to me last week was a shocker.
But Lazio got it right for once as he told CNN, unless the Republican Party becomes more of a party that embraces “minorities,” it will be unable to win an election in the U.S. or lead beyond tough talk.
His comments came, of course, amid the furor over Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s pronouncement that he will “ban” Muslims from entering the U.S.
From Mexicans to women to disabled reporters to Muslims, Trump continues to open his pie hole and spit out revolting bile. Sadly, according to pollsters, there are many across the country happy to swallow it.
Trump remains in a commanding lead in the Republican race for the White House, a Reuters/Ipsos poll claims, even after his latest insane call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States was condemned worldwide. This comes even though once again it’s clear that Trump’s bile is also making victims of innocent Americans.
Recent reports indicate that in Astoria, Queens, a shop owner was savagely beaten by a stranger promising to “kill Muslims.” Meanwhile, in California, Rasheed Albeshari, a 31-year-old Muslim American, was playing volleyball and praying with some friends in a San Francisco Bay Area park when a woman approached him “talking … trash” about his religion, Albeshari told the Los Angeles Times. In Philadelphia, a severed pig’s head was tossed outside a mosque.
U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, a Muslim American, says he’s received a death threat, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee told USA Today that it had received complaints from people abruptly pulled off airplanes within the past week as well as multiple death threats and other abuse directed toward Muslims—all in the past week alone after Trump’s bile flowed free!
However, Trump continues to lead the pack of candidates seeking the Republican Party’s nomination in the 2016 election, with 35 percent of support from Republican voters, the opinion poll says.
What kind of insanity is this? Is it reflective of a semi-literate base of the GOP or just the continued rise of bigotry and fear that the “minority” base is growing bigger than the traditional Caucasian base?
Thankfully, the world is watching and moving to slap this global embarrassment of a candidate down. Last week, the backlash began as Trump’s real estate partner in the predominantly Muslim nation of Dubai, DAMAC Properties, said the controversial GOP presidential frontrunner’s brand will be removed from a $6 billion golf complex there.
Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was fierce in his condemnation, noting, “The state of Israel respects all religions and strictly guarantees the rights of all its citizens. At the same time, Israel is fighting against militant Islam that targets Muslims, Christians and Jews alike and threatens the entire world.”
Sadly, it is a global embarrassment for the United States of epic proportions. When, oh when, will this circus of clowns quit playing the racist card and get down to talking about solutions to real issues such as jobs, the economy, health care and immigration reform that actually builds America up instead of ripping our beautiful melting pot apart? If Lazio gets it, why don’t these clowns?
The writer is CMO of Hard Beat Communications, which owns the brands News Americas Now, CaribPR Wire and Invest Caribbean Now.