You Probably Missed This Trump Act of Racism

For a crowd of 500 at a fundraiser in the Hamptons, President Donald Trump made fun of the leaders of the European Union, South Korea, and Japan, including by imitating the accents of the Asian countries’ leaders. The fundraiser was at the home of real estate developer Joe Farrell in Bridgehampton on Friday, according to the New York Post.

First, Trump beat his ol’ drum that the EU member nations don’t pay their share of NATO costs. Then, he moved onto South Korean President Moon Jae-in. According to the Post, Trump praised South Korea’s TV manufacturing and general economy before saying, “So why are we paying for their defense? They’ve got to pay.”

Then, Trump imitated the president’s accent while, as the Post put it, “describing how he caved in to Trump’s tough negotiations.”

But it didn’t end there! Trump also imitated a Japanese accent to talk about his recent conversations with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe! (An aside: Is the Post trying to be…. generous? by saying he imitated two separate accents as if the president understands the nuances between the two languages?) Trump recounted a conversation he had with his Japanese counterpart about Abe’s father, a kamikaze pilot.

Via the Post:

Trump asked Abe if the kamikaze pilots were drunk or on drugs. Abe said no, they just loved their country. Trump remarked, “Imagine they get in a plane with a half a tank of gas and fly into steel ships just for the love of their country!”

These are allegedly U.S. allies.

Since he started talking about Asian leaders, Trump had to discuss his friendship with Kim Jong Un. “I just got a beautiful letter from him this week. We are friends,” Trump said, according to the tabloid. “People say he only smiles when he sees me.”

The president of the U.S. then said the grossest sentence I have read in at least three days: “If I hadn’t been elected president we would be in a big fat juicy war with North Korea.”

I realize Trump had a different childhood than most of us — i.e. parents who explained basic codes of conduct — but it’s never too late to learn. Don’t imitate people’s accent. It doesn’t come off as funny; it’s just racist. Don’t do it.