Coronavirus and xenophobia: 'Blame China' is Trump's 2020 version of 'Build the wall'

[kentuck]

https://www.desertsun.com/story/opinion/2020/05/06/trump-blame-china-coronavirus-new-blame-mexico-build-wall-column/3085647001/

<snip>
In 2016, Donald Trump fueled his improbable presidential victory with an arsenal of catch-phrases designed to incite and excite the Fox News and Breitbart audience that lives in fear of America’s diversity and inevitable demographic changes. “Make America Great Again” and “Build the Wall” were staples of Trump’s road show. As the 2020 campaign comes into focus, Trump is looking to recreate the success of 2016 by refreshing his xenophobic rhetoric and channeling it toward China.

The coronavirus has presented the president with an adversary unlike any other he has confronted. It cannot be intimidated by angry tweets. It cannot be dismissed with a nickname. It cannot be diminished by calling it a “hoax,” as he did in February. And as the death toll rises, while Trump’s poll numbers fall, a new, old strategy is taking shape.

Candidate Trump declared in 2016 that Mexico was “sending people that have lots of problems” to the United States. “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” he claimed. He declared that “They’re taking our jobs…They’re taking our money,” creating an “us-vs-them” dynamic to justify his foray into anti-immigrant hate-speech.

Four years later, Trump and his Republican enablers are offering the country what amounts to a remix of 2016, this time replacing Mexico with China. On April 18th, the president tweeted, “China wants Sleepy Joe sooo badly. They want all of those billions of dollars that they have been paying to the U.S. back, and much more. Joe is an easy mark, their DREAM CANDIDATE!”

[dalton99a]

1. And it's not just Trump. All Republicans are running on that theme

[still_one]

2. I think it is somewhat like Iraq has WMDs