Trump's 'kinship' with white nationalism informs his entire policy agenda: columnist

On Tuesday, writing for Vox, Sean Collins outlined how President Donald Trump has geared his presidency to form a "symbiotic relationship" with white nationalists.

Trump signaled his affinity for white nationalism early on by bringing Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller into his administration — the former of whom left, the latter of whom stayed and is still creating strategy. He has also given them a number of nods in his rhetoric, most notably when he said that there were "very fine people" among the neo-Nazi demonstrators in Charlottesville.

But, Collins wrote, these elements are just the beginning.

"Trump has given an overt platform to white nationalists in a way that is unprecedented in the modern political era," wrote Collins. "The issue isn’t just Trump’s rhetoric. His administration’s immigration policy has led to the separation of families, to children facing risk of exposure to disease like Covid-19 in detention facilities, and to the deaths of immigrants seeking asylum in the US. His criminal justice policy has led to a more punitive criminal justice system and to the weakening of police oversight, all of which disproportionately affect communities of color."

"His economic policies have rewarded those already holding wealth (a mostly white group), and his much-vaunted 'greatest economy' was not as great for people of color — particularly Black Americans, whose unemployment rate has been at least 2 percentage points higher than the general unemployment rate for the entirety of Trump’s tenure," wrote Collins. "In fact, a kinship with white nationalist ideas can be found in just about any part of the Trump administration’s policy, from health care to foreign affairs."

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