Bloomberg View (Opinion)
By Francis Wilkinson
July 20, 2015
Former
prisoners of war must take satisfaction at the sight of Republicans
rallying to denounce Donald Trump's idiotic treatment over the weekend
of Senator John McCain,
the former POW whom Trump suggested wasn't much of a hero.
The
headlines tell the story: "Trump Takes A Shot At John McCain, And
Republicans Push Back," announced NPR. "Trump's Criticism of McCain
Enrages Fellow Republicans,"
declared U.S. News & World Report.
Senator
Marco Rubio, whom McCain dismissed as a finger-in-the-wind politician
in a recent interview with the New Yorker, leapt to the Arizona
Republican's defense. "It's
not just absurd," Rubio said. "It's offensive. It's ridiculous. And I
do think it is a disqualifier as commander in chief."
The
Republican National Committee issued a statement in a similar spirit:
"Senator McCain is an American hero because he served his country and
sacrificed more than most
can imagine. Period. There is no place in our party or our country for
comments that disparage those who have served honorably."
Got that? "No place in our party."
Now,
let's review the Republican response to Trump's characterization of
immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and criminals. Or, as the headline
on this USA Today column
put it, "Republicans' shameful silence on Trump."
Florida
Governor Jeb Bush, who was a quiet voice of, well, consternation if not
outrage, proved the bravest of the presidential bunch in responding to
Trump's fiesta of
bigotry. Most of the Republican presidential candidates let the
comments slide, at least for a while. Republican National Committee
Chairman Reince Priebus used his bully pulpit to say that Trump's
comments were, under the circumstances and considering all
the mitigating factors, and meaning no disrespect to Mr. Trump, of
course, not the ideal utterances for this particular moment. (His actual
response was that Trump's comments were "not helpful.")
So
it was all well and good for Republicans to denounce Trump for
insulting McCain. It was the decent response to a vile statement.
Trouble is, the rivers of condemnation
flowing now pose a sharp contrast with Republicans' childlike fidgeting
after Trump insulted Mexicans -- and, by direct extension, the roughly
10 percent of the U.S. population that is of Mexican descent.
"The
contrast was clear," said immigration activist Frank Sharry by e-mail.
"Insult Mexicans, you get a slow and tepid response. Insult McCain, a
fast and furious response.
It's clear to Latinos and their allies who is 'them' and who is 'us'."
It's
hard to tell to what extent Hispanics consider Trump a mouthpiece of
the Republican Party. Perhaps not so much. At an awards show on the
Spanish-language network
Univision last Thursday, Hispanic rapper Pitbull seemed to have a
nonpartisan take on the mogul: "I want to tell Marco Rubio, step it up!
Jeb Bush, step it up! Hillary Clinton, step it up! Because Donald Trump
can't be president."
If
Hispanics distinguish Trump from his party, or never quite grasp which
party he belongs to, Republicans shouldn't suffer much for his behavior.
But the margin of error
for Republicans with Hispanics is very small. It's great that veterans
now see the party standing up for one of their own. Hooray for John
McCain. But Hispanic voters might like to see Republicans muster the
same outrage in their behalf. It hasn't happened
yet.
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