Donald Trump’s racist omission in his attack on NBA star Steph Curry
Donald Trump tried starting a public feud with NBA star Steph Curry today, formally rescinding his White House invitation to the NBA champion Golden State Warriors after Curry had hinted that his team wouldn’t be attending anyway. This elicited widespread backlash from numerous popular athletes, who were quick to slam Trump for the move. But it’s what Trump hasn’t said that’s the most telling.
Back when the New England Patriots were invited to Trump’s White House for winning the Super Bowl, the team’s star quarterback Tom Brady declined to attend. Brady never stated a clear reason for his decision, but it was widely assumed to have been in response to Trump’s racist nature. In response, Trump never publicly said a thing. He didn’t attack Tom Brady on Twitter. He didn’t rescind the Patriots’ invitation to the White House. We all know why.
Trump made a point of publicly attacking Steph Curry today for declining a White House invite, after he had kept quiet about Tom Brady’s decision to decline a similar White House invite, because Curry is black and Brady is white. That’s a damning accusation, but it’s a demonstrable one, because it fits a larger pattern of Trump’s behavior. Trump said nothing when Miss Texas, a white woman, condemned him for racism. But he attacked ESPN commentator Jemele Hill, a black woman, when she condemned him for the same. This pattern has also played out within Trump’s own ranks.
When the first three prominent CEOs all resigned from Donald Trump’s advisory council in protest of his racist response to the Charlottesville attack, Trump only responded by slamming the black CEO on Twitter, while not saying a word about the two white CEOs in question. In instance after instance, Trump has publicly attacked black people who criticize him, while not daring to attack white people who have made the same criticisms of him. Everyone knows precisely why.
