Like Many of Us, Mary Trump Wants Her Racist Uncle to Resign

As Donald Trump went on a truly incredible bender of white grievance, resentment, and incoherence on Tuesday, his niece Mary Trump and the author of the tell-all Too Much and Never Enough called on her racist uncle to resign.

Speaking with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos in her first interview since a judge lifted a gag order against her, Mary Trump didn’t mince words when Stephanopoulos asked her what she’d want to say to his face. “If you’re in the Oval Office today, what would you say to him?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“Resign,” she said. “He is utterly incapable of leading this country, and it’s dangerous to allow him to do so,” she added.

If that’s akin to saying water is wet by now, the shit that came out of Trump’s mouth all day on Tuesday only underscored his niece’s critique. In two separate interviews, one with CBS News and the other with Townhall, Trump said some truly vile shit that makes it clear he’s doubling down on racism and white grievance, because quite frankly, that’s all he has left to offer his base.

When asked by CBS News’s senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge why Black people are being killed by police officers, his only response was, “But think of the whites!”

“So are white people. So are white people. What a terrible question to ask. So are white people,” he said. “More white people, by the way. More white people.”

This is one of the classic responses from racists when asked about police violence—why are Black people so upset when white people are also victims of police violence? It’s an argument that I’ve always found odd—if you are white and love white people, wouldn’t you be upset that your fellow whites are also being shot and killed by cops? The illogic of whiteness! (And it completely ignores the fact that Black people are killed by police officers at a far higher rate than white people.)

Naturally, the interview also turned to Trump’s thoughts on the Confederate flag. “Back in 2015, you said the Confederate battle flag belongs in a museum. Do you still believe that?” Herridge asked.

“All I say is freedom of speech, very simple,” Trump replied. He added, “Like it, don’t like it, it’s freedom of speech.”

She pressed him more, asking, “Would you be comfortable with your supporters displaying the Confederate battle flag at political events?

“You know, it depends on what your definition is. But I am comfortable with freedom of speech. It’s very simple,” he said.

Herridge continued to try her best to give Trump an out. “But you understand why the flag is a painful symbol for many people because it’s a reminder of slavery,” Herridge said.

Instead, Trump lumped people’s love of a racist symbol with a movement for justice. “I just think it’s freedom of speech, whether it’s Confederate flags or Black Lives Matter, or anything else you want to talk about. It’s freedom of speech.”

One extremely fucked up interview from Trump each day has become par for the course, but on Tuesday, he then gave an interview to the “news outlet” Townhall, which at one point turned to Mark and Patty McCloskey, the two white attorneys who recently brandished guns at Black Lives Matter protesters who were marching on the street outside of their St. Louis mansion. Based on nothing more than his fear and hatred of Black people, Trump claimed the McCloskeys “were going to be beat up badly, if they were lucky.”

“The house was going to be totally ransacked and probably burned down, like they tried to burn down churches,” Trump added. “And these people were standing there, never used it, and they were legal, the weapons, and now I understand somebody local, they want to prosecute these people. It’s a disgrace.” (As for the prosecutor Trump was referring to, Kim Gardner, she had this to say to Trump: “Today, both the Governor and Donald Trump came after me for doing my job and investigating a case. While they continue to play politics with the handling of this matter, spreading misinformation and distorting the truth, I refuse to do so. As I always do, I am reviewing all available facts and the law and will apply them equally, regardless of the people involved.”)

Trump then decided it would be a good idea to end his day with a rambling press conference at the White House, which largely featured him incoherently attacking Joe Biden. If even the New York Times is describing Trump like this, you know shit is bad:

At times, it was hard to understand what he meant. He seemed to suggest that his presumptive Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., would get rid of windows if elected and later said that Mr. Biden would “abolish the suburbs.” He complained that Mr. Biden had “gone so far right.” (He meant left.)

Even for those who follow Mr. Trump regularly and understand his shorthand, it became challenging to follow his train of thought.

“Is there anyone around the president who shakes their head when they hear him rambling in the Rose Garden like this?” CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked the network’s White House correspondent Jim Acosta on Tuesday night. “No,” Acosta replied. (No shit!) “We are down to kool-aid drinkers and next of kin here at the Trump White House. There are no more adults who will level with the president and tell him he can’t deliver a rally-like rant at the Rose Garden.”

In the words of Mary Trump, resign, bitch!