Amid all of the Trump Twitter rants and various 45 scandals and controversies is the revitalized subject of the Trump N-word tape, a topic that came to light before the election. True enough, the mention of a tape of him using the N-word was at rumor stage before the election, but it keeps coming back like a bad penny, making many believe it does actually exist.
People have said they have heard Trump using the N-Word, and others have said they have heard the tape. And now everyone’s weighing in. Everyone from regular citizens on Facebook to professional editorial columnists to Kamau Bell have all said “So what?”
You don’t need a tape of Trump saying one of the most flexible and controversial words in modern day English to know he’s a racist. There is more than enough evidence for that, from consistent derogatory remarks about black people to his rants about Mexicans.
And Trump is the teflon Don. As many people have pointed out, if calling Mexicans murderers and rapists and saying he “grabs em’ by the pussy” haven’t sunk this guy, then how is hearing him shouting the N-word going to bring him down? He relates outrageous lies and scandalous comments all of the time, yet he’s still standing.
But believing he said that word and actually having explicit evidence of Trump using that word in a racially insensitive context are two different things. The chasm between them is vast.
Actually hearing Trump using the N-word would be a game changer. Some commentators have pointed out derogatory things he has said about some prominent African Americans, insulting the intelligence of Don Lemon and LeBron James, calling Maxine Waters “Low-IQ”, and referring to Omarosa as a “dog”. His defenders have countered that he’s said similarly bad things about many of his white opponents. And it’s true. In that way they do have a case. He has said similarly awful things about many of his adversaries who are white. As much as I hate to say it, those defenders do have a point. He can be disgraceful and repulsive to anyone, regardless of race, gender, or color.
But having explicit proof of Trump shouting that racial epithet would be a high-powered stamp on his character, one that would never come off. No one would be able to defend him as being “the least-racist”. No one could ever again deny his high-octane prejudice in any technical sense. The publication of his definitively racist attitude would be a game changer that would rock the political establishment.
With all due deference to friends and esteemed colleagues and well versed commentators, I have to say no, this will not be another deflected controversy, this will not be yet another utter disgrace that he will wriggle himself out of. I will not say it would be the tipping point that would ultimately sink him, but I believe it could very well be the final game changer. If it does not cause his downfall, it would start his downfall.
It would take Trump to the point of no return. It would ruin him.
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