Eric Trump speaks at a press conference outside of Manhattan Criminal Court in defense of his father Donald Trump on May 28, 2024, in New York City. | Source: David Dee Delgado / Getty
Last week, Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, got himself dragged across the internet over what was either a Freudian slip or a case of saying the quiet part out loud when he wrongly predicted in front of a large crowd that his father would be found not guilty in his New York hush money trial because “we’re white.”
Of course, Eric claims he actually said, “right” not “white,” and either way he ended up being wrong 34 times about how the trial would turn out. But now that his father has been found guilty, Eric is hitting the right-wing media circuit to whine about it, and, once again, he’s using language that is raising eyebrows across social media as a lot of folks on the web are asking him one question:
Who TF you calling a “spade,” Eric?
On Sunday, during an appearance on Fox News, Eric parroted a popular white conservative talking point regarding his father’s criminal cases and how they’re causing Trump to resonate more with Black people, who know what it’s like to be mistreated by the justice system.
“For the first time, they realize that the system’s coming down, that he’s the victim, he’s the victim that oftentimes some of their communities were,” Eric told host Maria Bartiromo. “You see them swinging. Look at the African American vote, right? That’s swinging over to Donald Trump in spades.”
Now, if we’re going to be fair about this, “spade” is a very old-school racial slur that isn’t really used much anymore, so it’s possible Eric never made the connection. Still, a white man can’t be out here “accidentally” making a statement that suggests he’s keenly aware that he and his family have the complexion for protection one day and then “accidentally” using a racial slur while talking about Black people the next without people starting to doubt that these were just slips of the tongue. Next thing you know, Eric will be in his next interview saying, “Black people are flocking to Trump like monkeys gathering on his porch. Oops, wait, that’s not what I meant. I’m just saying Trump loves the Blacks and the Blacks love Trump, so we should all be chucking spears at Trump’s haters together! What—what did I say?”
So, yeah—people weren’t going to let his latest slip-up slide.
Here’s the thing: Even if Eric wasn’t calling Black people spades on the sly, he still said plenty we should be offended by.
Actually, let’s back up a bit.
In February, Donald Trump spoke at the Black Conservative Federation Gala in South Carolina where he said: “I got indicted for nothing, for something that is nothing. And a lot of people said that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there’s something there.”
Now, Eric is on the same white nonsense as he and other white conservatives cling to polls that show a moderate uptick in Black Trump support that certainly doesn’t amount to anything remotely like Black people “swinging over to Donald Trump in spades.” (And, by the way—”swinging?” Are we sure he ain’t also calling us monkeys?) But the real issue is that Trump, his son, and many other Republicans are desperately trying to connect Trump’s legal woes with judicial racism against Black people after years of claiming emphatically that such racism doesn’t exist.
Trump spearheaded the propaganda-reliant attack on critical race theory—an academic framework to examine systemic racism in America—based on the notion that systemic racism against Black people doesn’t exist. He also issued an executive order banning diversity training in the workplace during his presidency, and even now, he’s promising to end all DEI programs across America if he’s elected again—based on the notion that systemic racism against Black people doesn’t exist. Conservative Supreme Court justices torched affirmative action and MAGA America rails against DEI—based on the notion that systemic racism against Black people doesn’t exist. White conservatives have been offended and resentful over the very existence of Black Lives Matter—based on the notion that systemic racism against Black people doesn’t exist.
But now they all want to believe Black people are “swinging” their way, and Republicans desperately want to shed the party’s image as the “old white party,” so suddenly they want to kind of, sort of acknowledge that “possibly, maybe, there’s something there” regarding systemic racism against Black people? Mind you, they’re still going to rally against CRT, DEI, BLM and anything they even perceive as affirmative action. It’s not like they’re turning over a new leaf in exchange for Black voters, they’re just diverging a little from their typical white nationalist, racism-denying narratives in favor of some quick, superficial, self-serving pandering to the Black community, which they know their lily white constituents will forgive if it means more votes for their MAGA messiah.
The truth is neither Donald, Eric nor the rest of the Trumpanzees give a damn about Black people or the Black struggle. We’re not people to them, we’re political commodities. We’re utilities—inanimate tools used to deflect from the party’s demonstrable racism. That’s what we should truly feel offended by.
Let’s just call a spade a spade.
SEE ALSO:
Why Donald Trump’s Felony Conviction Has No Impact On Black Voters
Trump, Now A Felon, Earns His Stripes As The Grand Dragon Of Political Racism
