Walker's past comments show a willingness to take the low road against political adversaries, cowardice to condemn allies when necessary
Gov. Scott Walker, who briefly ran against Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican primary, is taking a weak stand against the comments made by the president regarding violent white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
In the most notable example, Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old woman who was protesting the presence of white nationalist in Charlottesville, was killed by a supremacist who purposefully drove his vehicle into her and more than a dozen others.
Walker spoke out against the bigotry, but stopped short of being critical of the president’s reactions.
“My comment on this is I denounce the bigotry and hatred and I’ll let the president and his team speak for him,” he said last week.
That’s a cop-out that shouldn’t be seen as acceptable to the people of this state.
In fact, a poll out today shows that most Wisconsinites don’t approve of Trump’s conduct in office. Only 34 percent give him passing marks, while 56 percent say they disapprove of his time as president so far.
With numbers like those, Walker should be less afraid of speaking against the president. But again, Walker shows a preference for keeping his thoughts to himself when it could hurt someone in his own party.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “there comes a time when silence is betrayal.” In the case of Walker’s silence on Donald Trump, that time is now. Walker is betraying his constituents by refusing to say anything, critical or even supportive, of the president’s words.
Indeed, his silence on Trump is even more pronounced when you take into consideration how much he criticized the president before him, Barack Obama. One instance sticks out to me in particular — when Walker suggested that he didn’t know if Obama loved America or not.
“You should ask the president [at the time, Barack Obama] what he thinks about America,” Walker said in 2015. “I’ve never asked him so I don’t know.”
Walker's comments came in response to Rudy Giuliani suggesting at that time that Obama didn't love the country. Walker refused to denounce Giuliani's comments, instead deferring by saying we should ask Obama personally — again, a cop-out that shows he puts his party before country on questions like these.
Walker proved that he was willing to take the low road when he made those comments about Obama. And this past week Walker proved that he’s willing to take the cowardly way out of condemning a president worthy of criticism, solely because Trump happens to be part of the same political party as he is.
That’s hardly bold leadership that Walker frequently claims he possesses.
Good stuff, Chris. And the answer why is obvious. Scott Walker and the GOP need the racist vote to have a chance to win. That same poll has Scotty at 39% favorability among all adults, and how low would it be if they didn't pander to racist trash?
ReplyDeleteThat's also why Robbin' Vos offered "reflection" against racism, but won't consider taking up a bill that would end the voter ID and early voting laws that have been struck down as racist due to its effect of restricting the ability of minorities to vote.
Actions speak much louder than "thoughts and prayers."