From comments on curry to fried chicken, we take a look at how racially charged views have gone viral in the US presidential campaign. We find out how the latest controversy began with a tweet by right-winger influencer Laura Loomer. We also dive into how racial identity is a hot topic, and a potentially precarious one, in the election campaign.
This Entre Nous aired on Paris Direct, September 19, 2024. A programme produced by Amanda Alexander, Marina Pajovic and Georgina Robertson.
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This Entre Nous aired on Paris Direct, September 19, 2024. A programme produced by Amanda Alexander, Marina Pajovic and Georgina Robertson.
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
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NewsTranscript
00:00Now, it's time to get a check on the latest from the presidential campaign in the United
00:04States with Solange Mougin.
00:05Solange, great to see you.
00:07Today you're focusing on racism and specifically comments about curry that went viral.
00:12Tell us more.
00:13Yeah.
00:14Over the past week, there has been a great deal of buzz about the Trump campaign's relationship
00:21to curry, the food, the spices that you eat.
00:24And I'm going to break down where these comments came from and how the Republican Party knows
00:29that they and other racist comments could be a liability for Trump.
00:33To do this, I need to tell you about a woman.
00:35Her name is Laura Loomer.
00:37She is a 31-year-old right-wing influencer and conspiracy theorist.
00:42As she said that 9-11 was, quote-unquote, an inside job.
00:45She is also a self-proclaimed racist.
00:48She has described Islam as, quote, a cancer on humanity.
00:52She signs tweets with the hashtag proud Islamophobe.
00:55She has over a million followers on X.
00:59Earlier this month, she traveled with Donald Trump to the debate and to 9-11 memorial services.
01:04She also tweeted the following statement three days before those services on September 8th.
01:10She wrote, quote, if Kamala Harris wins, the White House will smell like curry and the
01:15White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center.
01:21Wow.
01:23Now this statement rightfully has received a lot of backlash.
01:26Yeah, the tweet refers to Harris's South Asian heritage.
01:30Her mother was born in India and her father is from Jamaica.
01:33And it was quickly criticized by Democrats and Republicans, even ones that you wouldn't
01:38necessarily expect.
01:40Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has a history of controversial statements, she wrote, quote,
01:45this is appalling and extremely racist.
01:48It does not represent who we are as Republicans or MAGA.
01:52And a Republican senator tweeted that she that Loomer is hurting Trump's chances of
01:58winning.
01:59Laura Loomer is a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters discouraging, disgusting
02:04garbage intended to divide Republicans.
02:06Now, JD Vance also weighed in on television on Meet the Press, saying that Loomer's comments
02:12were not important.
02:14And then and this is where the story gets even more racially charged.
02:18He said, quote, whether you're eating curry at your dinner table or fried chicken, things
02:23have gotten more expensive thanks to her Kamala Harris's policies.
02:27Now, there was immediate backlash to that comment, saying that Vance was now also making
02:33anti-Black commentary by referring to fried chicken.
02:36One commentator called him on social media a quote unquote KKK whisperer.
02:42Vance in turn said all of this was a media frenzy over nothing, that he grew up eating
02:46fried chicken.
02:47As a side note here, it's also important to note that Vance's wife is of Indian ancestry.
02:53She attended an event after the comment where they kissed after the interview.
02:59As for Donald Trump's response, it is a mixed bag.
03:02On the one hand, Trump has said he disagrees with Loomer's statements, but he's also said
03:05that he doesn't control her and that she's a free spirit.
03:09And she has, of course, been traveling with him since those comments.
03:12Exactly.
03:13So she clearly she has his ear.
03:15Now, are we giving too much attention to this person's comments?
03:18Well, you could argue that.
03:19And that is actually what the Vance camp has been trying to do, which begs the question
03:23of why are they doing that, especially considering the history of racially charged comments from
03:28Trump and his team, and considering also that some, but not all, of his supporters buy into
03:34this notion of white grievance or that they've been left behind in favor of minorities.
03:39So what's interesting here is the bigger picture, the role that racial identity is playing in
03:45the campaign.
03:46Take, for example, this past summer, there was backlash when Trump questioned Harris's
03:51ethnicity with these words.
03:54She was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage.
03:59I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black
04:04and now she wants to be known as black.
04:06So I don't know.
04:07Is she Indian or is she black?
04:09Now, since then, Trump has backpedaled at the debate.
04:13He did so saying that Harris can be whatever she wants to be, all the while pushing as
04:18well racially charged and false accusations about Haitians, about immigrants eating pets.
04:24Now, political analysts say that the Republican Party wants to stay as far away as possible
04:29from racially charged comments in this campaign, because while it may speak to a white supremacist
04:35minority, it does the opposite in regard to minority voters and also even white moderate
04:41voters that Trump needs to win the election.
04:45And studies show that not only have white American voters become more sympathetic to
04:49minorities and to racial unfairness since the Obama administration, but studies also
04:54show that explicit racism often backfires in campaigns because overt racism violates
05:01social norms and the ideals of equality that many voters have.
05:05Both Republicans and Democrats, they know this.
05:08Harris today, for example, is doing a live stream with Oprah Winfrey called Unite for
05:13America.
05:14And as for the Republicans, well, some Trump critics say in his party wonder if he'll be
05:19able to toe the line of not too many racially charged comments and not too many scary influencers.
05:27Do you like curry?
05:28I do love curry.
05:29I love a good curry.
05:31Of course.
05:32It has to be spicy.
05:33What else?
05:34Thank you very much for that, Solange Mougent, on the state of the race.