Racism drives Trump 'like rocket fuel' — but even for him, this is 'shocking and disgraceful': WaPo journalist

On Monday's edition of CNN's "The Situation Room," Washington Post reporter David Swerdlick told anchor Wolf Blitzer that there's nothing truly new about President Donald Trump's racist social media assaults on Democratic congresswomen of color — but that there is something uniquely horrible about the latest episode.

"People are suggesting what the president has said in the past day or two represents a new low," said Blitzer. "But when you look at the president's history ... the president claiming Barack Obama wasn't born here in the United States, his comments about Charlottesville. This clearly isn't a one-off."

"No, it's not a one-off," agreed Swerdlick. "And a couple points here, Wolf. Yes, it's not a one off in the sense that President Trump, for years and years, flirted with running for president. It wasn't until he latched on to a racial conspiracy, Birtherism, that his political rise was like with rocket fuel. And he finally had an issue he latched onto that got him his base of support. So in that sense this goes way back, it goes back even further in the president's history. you can talk about Charlottesville as well."

"I still think, though, this is a new, in this sense — For those who can remember the movie "Do the Right Thing," there's the famous scene where John Turturro's character ends his monologue with, "Go the F back to Africa," said Swerdlick. "That's all that was missing from those tweets from the president yesterday. It's shocking and disgraceful and in that sense, it is new."

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