Trump's denunciation of hate wasn't enough: Montel Williams

Having served almost two decades as a naval officer, I’m hard-wired toward deference to the commander in chief. But these are unprecedented times. These are times when facts don’t matter, when confidential national security matters are discussed on a dining patio at a ball that could have been an episode of The real Housewives of Palm Beach, and when hate is tossed about haphazardly.

I’ve known President Trump for more than 20 years, and before his obsession with birtherism, I thought well of him — this isn’t personal, this is about what he has said and done. It’s not about him; it’s about his policies.

I’ve had it with Trump's reluctance to issue a strong condemnation of the recent wave of bigotry in America. I had hoped that Trump would follow in the footsteps of President Reagan, who famously on television made clear that bigots were not welcome in the party of Lincoln. Why couldn’t Trump — who spends every waking hour on Twitter — have shared a link to this powerful speech, under the words “this goes double for me”?

The answer is obvious: Trump is afraid to alienate a wide and rabid portion of his base — the bigots — whom he has been mobilizing and emboldening for more than a decade. With his approval rating at about 40%, Trump simply can’t afford to lose 25% of his base, even if they espouse despicable views. No president in modern times has built a coalition around this group of people. The fact that the first one to do so now sits in the Oval Office is incredibly dangerous.

And no, I was not satisfied by Trump's “condemnation” of recent anti-Semitic incidents. I found the statement to be ironically tepid, given his string of vehement attacks against the likes of Nordstrom, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton and the news media. This statement (which clearly wasn’t written by him, judging by its lack of bluster and its proper grammar) assures bigots, if anything, that they’ll receive only a slap on the wrist, and a carefully scripted one at that, during his presidency.

Trump and the crisis of the meritocracy: Glenn Reynolds

It's time to speak up about racism in Flint water crisis: Column

Reading the statement, I decided that I could no longer remain silent in good conscience. For months, I’ve waited for Trump to condemn the increasingly troubling outbursts of bigotry in America, and the carnival barkers who’ve helped to incite them. When Richard Spencer infamously led a “heil Trump” cheer that went viral, I had hoped that Trump — as the father of a Jewish daughter and the grandfather of Jewish grandchildren — would have expressed outrage on par with his outrage toward journalists. I had hoped that he'd denounce, once and for all, the congratulatory tweets by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and anyone else who holds bigoted views, with the same scorched-earth approach he has applied to his war with the news media. 

It makes sense that Trump would be reluctant to offer a strong criticism of bigotry. After all, this bigotry is largely a result of the hate that he spent more than a year sowing and normalizing during his campaign. As we know from history, normalizing hate towards one minority group (Muslims, in this case) often spills over to other minority groups (now, the Jews). It’s also worth noting that the vast majority of anti-Semites in this country are equal-opportunity bigots. Trump's rhetoric and dog whistles throughout his campaign and during this the first month of his presidency have empowered America’s extremists and vindicated their bigotry. With Trump going after journalists harder than the Klan, we should brace ourselves for more hate — and for that hate to manifest itself in action.

POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media

Trump effort to protect cops doesn't match facts: Column

Finally, where in the hell are congressional Republicans? Why haven’t they spoken up, loudly, and in large numbers, to clarify what the GOP stand for? Where is the conservative movement? If politicians, especially in the party of Lincoln, fear the political cost of condemning bigotry, we’ve already lost everything that makes America exceptional. With a bigot like Milo Yiannopoulos going from a “fellow traveler” of the alt-right to a fellow traveler of the conservative movement (or so went the justification for his now rescinded invitation to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference), the very essence of the party of Lincoln is at stake.

Racism, religious bigotry and scapegoating are not issues to be “fellow travelled” with in the name of political expediency. They’re to be condemned with overwhelming force, each and every time they rear their ugly head. History has taught us much about what happens when hate becomes normalized.

Trump voters beware, you own that which you do not condemn.

Montel Williams is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who served in the Marine Corps and the Navy. He hosted the Montel Williams Show from 1991 to 2008.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @USATOpinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To submit a letter, comment or column, check our submission guidelines.