City hosting GOP's next convention condemns Trump's 'racist and xenophobic' attacks

More than a year before the Republican convention to renominate Trump, the host city of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed a resolution letting Trump know that his brand of racism isn’t welcome there.

In a 9-2 vote on Monday, the city council passed a resolution strongly condemning Trump’s “racist and xenophobic social media tweets and comments.”

The Republican National Convention is scheduled to be held in Charlotte from Aug. 24-27, 2020.

The resolution rebukes Trump for racist comments that go back more than two years. It mentions Trump’s attacks on immigrants from Haiti and his comment that they “all have AIDS.” It also includes a mention of when Trump said Nigerians would never “go back to their huts” in Africa after visiting the United States.

The resolution also calls out Trump for praising white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville as “very fine people” and mentions Trump’s most recent attacks on four congresswoman.

On July 14, Trump attacked Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), saying the four women of color should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

At a North Carolina campaign rally a few days later, Trump smiled onstage as a largely white audience chanted “send her back” about Omar, a Somali-born congresswoman who now lives in Minnesota.

The city of Charlotte’s resolution condemning this racist attack is in line with the views of the overwhelming majority of Americans. In a recent poll, 59 percent of Americans said Trump’s attack on the congresswomen was “un-American.”

In 2016, hate crimes skyrocketed in cities where Trump held campaign rallies. Charlotte is preparing to host what will likely be Trump’s largest campaign rally in the convention.

More than a year before Trump comes, the city council is already putting out a warning.

The resolutions acknowledges that many of the city’s residents are immigrants and people of color. In addition to Trump’s offensive comments, it condemned “all hate speech, bigotry, racism, and discrimination, wherever it may occur, especially from the highest levels of government.”

The Charlotte City Council is making it clear that Trump’s racism is not welcome in their fine city.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.