Comment by edblarney | Hacker News Reader

Comment by edblarney | Hacker News Reader

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""When Mexico sends its people" was in reference to illegal aliens. "

A) He did not refer to illegals. He clearly said 'When Mexico sends it's people'. That's pretty clearly referring to 'Mexicans that come to America'.

B) Even if he was referring to people that cross the border illegally - he's still calling illegal migrants 'rapists'. This is super bigoted.

CNN is not out of line here.

Listen:

+ I do think that the press treats Trump unfairly, but he also does some things that give the press all the ammunition they need to mock him without needing to lie about it.

+ Trump is not stupid. He's calling 'Mexicans' rapists, and didn't use the term 'illegals' because he's trying to inflame populist bigotry among the population. It's a really, really sleazy thing to do, and it's basically bigoted.

Listen - I am 100% against illegal migration, 100% against sanctuary cities, and fully realize that the press is biased on this issue - and the press purposefully conflates 'legal' and 'illegal' migrant and tries to infer that 'anyone who is against illegals is racist'. So yes - the press is totally unfair.

BUT - that doesn't mean Trump didn't make a very racist statement, to purposefully incite bigotry. Which I believe he did. His statement does not gain validity because the press is also biased and wrong about him, and immigration as well. His statement is fairly bigoted, even if the press do misrepresent the truth.

Wrong. Trump did not even call all illegal immigrants rapists. He simply said that some of the illegal immigrants are rapists - one of the many groups of people coming over. We know this is true because they have been caught commiting rape here in America, and their home nations have shared their criminal records with us!

It is highly questionable to call trump bigoted for simply bringing up the obvious problems of unvetted immigration. And certainly the lies these fake news sites like CNN write about about Trump do not suddenly become true because of your social justice warrior conspiracy theory about trump's 'racist ulterior motives' for wanting to keep americans safe.

"He simply said that some of the illegal immigrants are rapists"

Listen man - you don't go saying 'Americans are rapists' or 'Black people are racists' and then hide behind this rubbish that 'I meant only some of them'.

If Trump meant only 'some' of them - then why did he make the statement at all?

He called 'Mexicans who come to America' rapists?

Why are you people defending him?

The statement is point-blank bigotry.

Trump is not stupid, in fact, he's a populist genius. He knows exactly what he's doing, and he's enciting populist bigotry - which is really, really a bad thing to do.

Again - I like Trump in some ways, and the press definitely treats him unfairly - and I actually don't think that he himself is a racist - but - this was point-blank racist/bigoted/repugnant - there is no way around it. He did it on purpose to rile up the bigot vote.

Trump played some seriously 'black magic' 'dark arts' cards to win that election - despite the fact that most Americans are not racist - it's pretty easy to get people angry over this stuff, and it takes responsible leadership. Words matter.

And you still have no clue why he won, although the nature of your statements have helped to it.

The more you'll repeat words like "racism" and "bigotry", the more this "black magic" will come to play. They have lost its real meaning by blanket use, people are desensitised by them and this shows with their support.

"And you still have no clue why he won, although the nature of your statements have helped to it. The more you'll repeat words like "racism" and "bigotry", the more this "black magic""

You don't seem to grasp the fact that I am not for or against Trump.

I don't care that he is President - I'm not even American - just a constant observer.

I've articulated a few times, that I don't think Trump is actually racist.

Listen TDKL - you don't get to say: "All n*ers are mongrels" and then say "oh, it's not racist because the press treats me unfairly"

What Trump said is point blank racist - how are you guys even defending it?

'Oh - he only meant immigrants' - still racist

'Oh - he only meant illegal migrants' - still racist

'Oh - he only meant some of them' - really, because 'some of every group' are rapists, ergo, still pretty racist.

And it doesn't matter what he 'meant' - it's going to be interpreted as racist.

So why did an intelligent man, who is probably not racist say such words?

Because he's running for president, and is going to say populist things to 'rile people' up. Including racist statements, to fire up the good chunk of his supporters who are bigots.

It's a dispassionate reasoning of the populist tactics that he's used during the campaign to get elected. That's it.

Of course he only meant some.

CNN's wording is incorrect indeed: Trump essentially said most Mexicans in the United States are rapists ("some [...] I assume" implies a minor percentage of the whole), not that all Mexicans in the US are rapists, or that all Mexicans, including those in Mexico, are rapists.

Now, what's with demanding nuance when reporting about someone who makes a point of eschewing nuance?

I'm wary of this "fake news" scapegoat, and I see how media bias is damaging to the electoral process, but Trump is now The Man, the establishment, the man with the secret codes. Imprecise, brash statements are OK when campaigning, but now that he's President (-elect), I expect the media to call him out on every such statement.

The media being lax on Obama is not an excuse.

Actually, Trump is saying Mexican are rapists and that he assumes some are good people. Presumably the default is that a Mexican is a rapist or drug dealer. Not the other way around. Full quote below:

> “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

It's not that hard to follow and I'm not sure why some of his defenders go to great lengths and creativity to try to explain how he was only referring to actual rapists. The idea itself of "Mexico sending people" is also some weird anthropomorphism of a country, as though Mexican politicians, rather than jailing their criminals and rapists, somehow force them to illegally immigrate into this country. Either way, nothing in his quote refers to the fact that "Mexico" is sending them into the country illegally.

Huffington Post: 80% Of Central American Women, Girls Are Raped Crossing Into The U.S.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/12/central-america-mig...

Are you are simultaneously arguing that he didn't say it, and that what he didn't say was right?

His statement was about illegal immigrants from MExico ("people they send"). Once you accept this point it all becomes clear.

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