vox--2020-08-13--Trump’s long history of racism, from the 1970s to 2020

If you ask President Donald Trump , he isn ’ t racist .
To the contrary , he ’ s repeatedly said that he ’ s “ the least racist person that you ’ ve ever encountered.
” Trump ’ s actual record , however , tells a very different story .
On the campaign trail , Trump repeatedly made explicitly racist and otherwise bigoted remarks , from calling Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists , to proposing a ban on all Muslims entering the US , to suggesting a judge should recuse himself from a case solely because of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trend has continued into his presidency .
From stereotyping a Black reporter to pandering to white supremacists after they held a violent rally in Charlottesville , Virginia , to making a joke about the Trail of Tears , Trump hasn ’ t stopped with racist acts after his 2016 election .
Most recently , Trump has called the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus the “ Chinese virus ” and “ kung flu ” — racist terms that tap into the kind of xenophobia that he latched onto during his 2016 presidential campaign ; Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called “ kung flu ” a “ highly offensive ” term .
And Trump insinuated that Sen. Kamala Harris , who ’ s Black , “ doesn ’ t meet the requirements ” to run for vice president — a repeat of the birther conspiracy theory that he perpetuated about former President Barack Obama .
This is nothing new for Trump .
In fact , the very first time Trump appeared in the pages of the New York Times , back in the 1970s , was when the US Department of Justice sued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he has repeatedly appeared in newspaper pages across the world as he inspired more similar controversies .
This long history is important .
It would be one thing if Trump misspoke one or two times .
But when you take all of his actions and comments together , a clear pattern emerges — one that suggests that bigotry is not just political opportunism on Trump ’ s part but a real element of his personality , character , and career .
Here ’ s a breakdown of Trump ’ s history , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ list for Vox and an op-ed by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times : • 1973 : The US Department of Justice — under the Nixon administration , out of all administrations — sued the Trump Management Corporation for violating the Fair Housing Act .
Federal officials found evidence that Trump had refused to rent to Black tenants and lied to Black applicants about whether apartments were available , among other accusations .
Trump said the federal government was trying to get him to rent to welfare recipients .
In the aftermath @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreeing not to discriminate to renters of color without admitting to previous discrimination .
• 1980s : Kip Brown , a former employee at Trump ’ s Castle , accused another one of Trump ’ s businesses of discrimination .
“ When Donald and Ivana came to the casino , the bosses would order all the black people off the floor , ” Brown said .
“ It was the eighties , I was a teenager , but I remember it : They put us all in the back.
” • 1989 : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been characterized as a modern-day lynching , four Black teenagers and one Latino teenager — the “ Central Park Five ” — were accused of attacking and raping a jogger in New York City .
Trump immediately took charge in the case , running an ad in local papers demanding , “ BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY .
BRING BACK OUR POLICE !
” The teens ’ convictions were later vacated after they spent seven to 13 years in prison , and the city paid $ 41 million in a settlement to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said he still believes they ’ re guilty , despite the DNA evidence to the contrary .
• 1991 : A book by John O ’ Donnell , former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City , quoted Trump ’ s criticism of a Black accountant : “ Black guys counting my money !
I hate it .
The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day .
… I think that the guy is lazy .
And it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a trait in blacks .
It really is , I believe that .
It ’ s not anything they can control.
” Trump later said in a 1997 Playboy interview that “ the stuff O ’ Donnell wrote about me is probably true.
” • 1992 : The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino had to pay a $ 200,000 fine because it transferred Black and women dealers off tables to accommodate a big-time gambler ’ s prejudices .
• 1993 : In congressional testimony , Trump said that some Native American reservations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because “ they don ’ t look like Indians to me.
” • 2000 : In opposition to a casino proposed by the St. Regis Mohawk tribe , which he saw as a financial threat to his casinos in Atlantic City , Trump secretly ran a series of ads suggesting the tribe had a “ record of criminal activity [ that ] is well documented.
” • 2004 : In season two of The Apprentice , Trump fired Kevin Allen , a Black contestant , for being overeducated .
“ You ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ education , and you haven ’ t done anything , ” Trump said on the show .
“ At some point you have to say , ‘ That ’ s enough.
’ ” • 2005 : Trump publicly pitched what was essentially The Apprentice : White People vs. Black People .
He said he “ wasn ’ t particularly happy ” with the most recent season of his show , so he was considering “ an idea that is fairly controversial — creating a team of successful African Americans versus a team of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea or not , it is somewhat reflective of our very vicious world.
” • 2010 : In 2010 , there was a huge national controversy over the “ Ground Zero Mosque ” — a proposal to build a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan , near the site of the 9/11 attacks .
Trump opposed the project , calling it “ insensitive , ” and offered to buy out one of the investors in the project .
On The Late Show With David Letterman , Trump argued , referring to Muslims , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us up .
Somebody ’ s blowing up buildings , and somebody ’ s doing lots of bad stuff.
” • 2011 : Trump played a big role in pushing false rumors that Obama — the country ’ s first Black president — was not born in the US .
He even sent investigators to Hawaii to look into Obama ’ s birth certificate .
Obama later released his birth certificate , calling Trump a “ carnival barker.
” The research has found a strong correlation between birtherism , as the conspiracy theory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump has reportedly continued pushing this conspiracy theory in private .
• 2011 : While Trump suggested that Obama wasn ’ t born in the US , he also argued that maybe Obama wasn ’ t a good enough student to have gotten into Columbia or Harvard Law School , and demanded Obama release his university transcripts .
Trump claimed , “ I heard he was a terrible student .
Terrible .
How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard ?
” For many people , none of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : One of these alone might suggest that Trump is simply a bad speaker and perhaps racially insensitive ( “ politically incorrect , ” as he would put it ) , but not overtly racist .
But when you put all these events together , a clear pattern emerges .
At the very least , Trump has a history of playing into people ’ s racism to bolster himself — and that likely says something about him , too .
And , of course , there ’ s everything that ’ s happened @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As a candidate and president , Trump has made many more racist comments On top of all that history , Trump has repeatedly made racist — often explicitly so — remarks on the campaign trail and as president : • Trump launched his campaign in 2015 by calling Mexican immigrants “ rapists ” who are “ bringing crime ” and “ bringing drugs ” to the US .
His campaign was largely built on building a wall to keep these immigrants out of the US .
• As a candidate in 2015 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Muslims coming into the US .
His administration eventually implemented a significantly watered-down version of the policy .
• When asked at a 2016 Republican debate whether all 1.6 billion Muslims hate the US , Trump said , “ I mean a lot of them .
I mean a lot of them.
” • He argued in 2016 that Judge Gonzalo Curiel — who was overseeing the Trump University lawsuit — should recuse himself from the case because of his Mexican heritage and membership in a Latino lawyers association .
House Speaker Paul @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called such comments “ the textbook definition of a racist comment.
” • Trump has been repeatedly slow to condemn white supremacists who endorse him , and he regularly retweeted messages from white supremacists and neo-Nazis during his presidential campaign .
• He tweeted and later deleted an image that showed Hillary Clinton in front of a pile of money and by a Jewish Star of David that said , “ Most Corrupt Candidate Ever !
” The tweet had some very obvious anti-Semitic imagery , but Trump insisted that the star was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said his campaign shouldn ’ t have deleted it .
• Trump has repeatedly referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( D-MA ) as “ Pocahontas , ” using her controversial — and later walked-back — claims to Native American heritage as a punchline .
• At the 2016 Republican convention , Trump officially seized the mantle of the “ law and order ” candidate — an obvious dog whistle playing to white fears of Black crime , even though crime in the US is historically low .
His speeches , comments , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continued this line of messaging .
• In a pitch to Black voters in 2016 , Trump said , “ You ’ re living in poverty , your schools are no good , you have no jobs , 58 percent of your youth is unemployed .
What the hell do you have to lose ?
” • Trump stereotyped a Black reporter at a press conference in February 2017 .
When April Ryan asked him if he plans to meet and work with the Congressional Black Caucus , he repeatedly asked her to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she insisted that she ’ s “ just a reporter.
” • In the week after white supremacist protests in Charlottesville , Virginia , in August 2017 , Trump repeatedly said that “ many sides ” and “ both sides ” were to blame for the violence and chaos that ensued — suggesting that the white supremacist protesters were morally equivalent to counterprotesters who stood against racism .
He also said that there were “ some very fine people ” among the white supremacists .
All of this seemed like a dog whistle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them took it as one , with white nationalist Richard Spencer praising Trump for “ defending the truth.
” • Throughout 2017 , Trump repeatedly attacked NFL players who , by kneeling or otherwise silently protesting during the national anthem , demonstrated against systemic racism in America .
• Trump reportedly said in 2017 that people who came to the US from Haiti “ all have AIDS , ” and he lamented that people who came to the US from Nigeria would never “ go back to their huts ” once they saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ever made these comments .
• Speaking about immigration in a bipartisan meeting in January 2018 , Trump reportedly asked , in reference to Haiti and African countries , “ Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here ?
” He then reportedly suggested that the US should take more people from countries like Norway .
The implication : Immigrants from predominantly white countries are good , while immigrants from predominantly Black countries are bad .
• Trump denied making the “ shithole ” comments , although some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happened .
The White House , meanwhile , suggested that the comments , like Trump ’ s remarks about the NFL protests , will play well to his base .
The only connection between Trump ’ s remarks about the NFL protests and his “ shithole ” comments is race .
• Trump mocked Elizabeth Warren ’ s presidential campaign , again calling her “ Pocahontas ” in a 2019 tweet before adding , “ See you on the campaign TRAIL , Liz !
” The capitalized “ TRAIL ” is seemingly a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a horrific act of ethnic cleansing in the 19th century in which Native Americans were forcibly relocated , causing thousands of deaths .
• Trump tweeted later that year that several Black and brown members of Congress — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-NY ) , Ayanna Pressley ( D-MA ) , Ilhan Omar ( D-MN ) , and Rashida Tlaib ( D-MI ) — are “ from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe ” and that they should “ go back ” to those countries .
It ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and brown people , particularly immigrants , should go back to their countries of origin .
Three of the four members of Congress whom Trump targeted were born in the US .
• Trump has called the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus the “ Chinese virus ” and “ kung flu.
” The World Health Organization advises against linking a virus to any particular region , since it can lead to stigma .
Trump ’ s adviser , Kellyanne Conway , previously described the term “ kung flu ” as “ highly offensive.
” Meanwhile , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them due to the spread of the coronavirus .
• Trump suggested that Kamala Harris , who ’ s Black and South Asian , “ doesn ’ t meet the requirements ” to be former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ’ s running mate — yet another example of birtherism .
This list is not comprehensive , instead relying on some of the major examples since Trump announced his candidacy .
But once again , there ’ s a pattern of racism and bigotry here that suggests Trump isn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he is .
Are Trump ’ s actions and comments “ racist ” ?
Or are they “ bigoted ” ?
One of the common defenses for Trump is that he ’ s not necessarily racist , because the Muslim and Mexican people he often targets don ’ t actually comprise a race .
Disgraced journalist Mark Halperin , for example , said as much when Trump argued Judge Curiel should recuse himself from the Trump University case because of his Mexican heritage , making the astute observation that “ Mexico isn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similar point in the New York Times : “ My view is that ‘ racist ’ can be a loaded word , a conversation stopper more than a clarifier , and that we should be careful not to use it simply as an epithet .
Moreover , Muslims and Latinos can be of any race , so some of those statements technically reflect not so much racism as bigotry .
It ’ s also true that with any single statement , it is possible that Trump misspoke or was misconstrued.
” This critique @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For one , the argument is tremendously semantic .
It ’ s essentially probing the question : Is Trump racist or is he bigoted ?
But who cares ?
Neither is a trait that anyone should want in a president — and either label essentially communicates the same criticism .
Another issue is that race is socially malleable .
Over the years , Americans considered Germans , Greeks , Irish , Italians , and Spaniards as nonwhite people of different races .
That ’ s changed .
Similarly , some Americans today consider @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , some people with Muslim and Jewish backgrounds as part of a nonwhite race too .
( As a Latin man , I certainly consider myself to be of a different race , and the treatment I ’ ve received in the course of my life validates that . )
So under current definitions , comments against these groups are , indeed , racist .
This is all possible because , as Jenée Desmond-Harris explained for Vox , race is entirely a social construct with no biological basis .
This doesn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of race don ’ t have real effects on many people — of course they do — but it means that people ’ s definitions of race can change over time .
But really , whatever you want to call it , Trump has made racist and bigoted comments in the past .
That much should be clear in the long lists above .
Trump ’ s bigotry was a key part of his campaign Regardless of how one labels it , Trump ’ s racism or bigotry was a big part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the many white Americans who harbor racial resentment .
One paper , published in January 2017 by political scientists Brian Schaffner , Matthew MacWilliams , and Tatishe Nteta , found that voters ’ measures of sexism and racism correlated much more closely with support for Trump than economic dissatisfaction , after controlling for factors like partisanship and political ideology .
Another study , conducted by researchers Brenda Major , Alison Blodorn , and Gregory Major Blascovich shortly before the 2016 election , found that if people who strongly identified as white were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people in 2042 , they became more likely to support Trump .
And a study , published in November 2017 by researchers Matthew Luttig , Christopher Federico , and Howard Lavine , found that Trump supporters were much more likely to change their views on housing policy based on race .
In this study , respondents were randomly assigned “ a subtle image of either a black or a white man.
” Then they were asked about views on housing policy .
The researchers found that Trump supporters were much more likely to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black man .
After the exposure , they were not only less supportive of housing assistance programs , but they also expressed higher levels of anger that some people receive government assistance , and they were more likely to say that individuals who receive assistance are to blame for their situation .
In contrast , favorability toward Hillary Clinton did not significantly change respondents ’ views on any of these issues when primed with racial cues .
“ These findings indicate that responses to the racial cue varied as a function of feelings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about Hillary Clinton — during the 2016 presidential election , ” the researchers concluded .
There is also a lot of other research showing that people ’ s racial attitudes can change their views on politics and policy , as Dylan Matthews and researchers Sean McElwee and Jason McDaniel previously explained for Vox .
Simply put , racial attitudes were a big driver of Trump ’ s election — just as they long have been for general beliefs about politics and policy .
( Much more on all the research in Vox ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supremacist groups have openly embraced Trump .
As Sarah Posner and David Neiwert reported at Mother Jones , what the media largely treated as gaffes — Trump retweeting white nationalists , Trump describing Mexican immigrants as “ rapists ” and criminals — were to white supremacists real signals approving of their racist causes .
One white supremacist wrote , “ Our Glorious Leader and ULTIMATE SAVIOR has gone full-wink-wink-wink to his most aggressive supporters.
” Some of them even argued that Trump has softened the greater public to their racist messaging .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proves that our views resonate with millions , ” said Rachel Pendergraft , a national organizer for the Knights Party , which succeeded David Duke ’ s Knights of the Ku Klux Klan .
“ They may not be ready for the Ku Klux Klan yet , but as anti-white hatred escalates , they will.
” And at the 2017 white supremacist protest in Charlottesville , David Duke , the former KKK grand wizard , said that the rally was meant “ to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.
” So while Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at some level his supporters seem to get it .
As much as his history of racism shows that he ’ s racist , perhaps who supported him and why is just as revealing — and it doesn ’ t paint a favorable picture for Trump .
Every day at Vox , we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos , and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

If you ask President Donald Trump, he isn’t racist. To the contrary, he’s repeatedly said that he’s “the least racist person that you’ve ever encountered.”
Trump’s actual record, however, tells a very different story.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly made explicitly racist and otherwise bigoted remarks, from calling Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists, to proposing a ban on all Muslims entering the US, to suggesting a judge should recuse himself from a case solely because of the judge’s Mexican heritage.
The trend has continued into his presidency. From stereotyping a Black reporter to pandering to white supremacists after they held a violent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, to making a joke about the Trail of Tears, Trump hasn’t stopped with racist acts after his 2016 election.
Most recently, Trump has called the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus the “Chinese virus” and “kung flu” — racist terms that tap into the kind of xenophobia that he latched onto during his 2016 presidential campaign; Trump’s own adviser, Kellyanne Conway, previously called “kung flu” a “highly offensive” term. And Trump insinuated that Sen. Kamala Harris, who’s Black, “doesn’t meet the requirements” to run for vice president — a repeat of the birther conspiracy theory that he perpetuated about former President Barack Obama.
This is nothing new for Trump. In fact, the very first time Trump appeared in the pages of the New York Times, back in the 1970s, was when the US Department of Justice sued him for racial discrimination. Since then, he has repeatedly appeared in newspaper pages across the world as he inspired more similar controversies.
This long history is important. It would be one thing if Trump misspoke one or two times. But when you take all of his actions and comments together, a clear pattern emerges — one that suggests that bigotry is not just political opportunism on Trump’s part but a real element of his personality, character, and career.
Trump has a long history of racist controversies
Here’s a breakdown of Trump’s history, taken largely from Dara Lind’s list for Vox and an op-ed by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times:
For many people, none of these incidents, individually, may be damning: One of these alone might suggest that Trump is simply a bad speaker and perhaps racially insensitive (“politically incorrect,” as he would put it), but not overtly racist.
But when you put all these events together, a clear pattern emerges. At the very least, Trump has a history of playing into people’s racism to bolster himself — and that likely says something about him, too.
And, of course, there’s everything that’s happened through and since his presidential campaign.
As a candidate and president, Trump has made many more racist comments
On top of all that history, Trump has repeatedly made racist — often explicitly so — remarks on the campaign trail and as president:
This list is not comprehensive, instead relying on some of the major examples since Trump announced his candidacy. But once again, there’s a pattern of racism and bigotry here that suggests Trump isn’t just misspeaking; it is who he is.
Are Trump’s actions and comments “racist”? Or are they “bigoted”?
One of the common defenses for Trump is that he’s not necessarily racist, because the Muslim and Mexican people he often targets don’t actually comprise a race.
Disgraced journalist Mark Halperin, for example, said as much when Trump argued Judge Curiel should recuse himself from the Trump University case because of his Mexican heritage, making the astute observation that “Mexico isn’t a race.”
Kristof made a similar point in the New York Times: “My view is that ‘racist’ can be a loaded word, a conversation stopper more than a clarifier, and that we should be careful not to use it simply as an epithet. Moreover, Muslims and Latinos can be of any race, so some of those statements technically reflect not so much racism as bigotry. It’s also true that with any single statement, it is possible that Trump misspoke or was misconstrued.”
This critique misses the point on two levels.
For one, the argument is tremendously semantic. It’s essentially probing the question: Is Trump racist or is he bigoted? But who cares? Neither is a trait that anyone should want in a president — and either label essentially communicates the same criticism.
Another issue is that race is socially malleable. Over the years, Americans considered Germans, Greeks, Irish, Italians, and Spaniards as nonwhite people of different races. That’s changed. Similarly, some Americans today consider Latinos and, to a lesser degree, some people with Muslim and Jewish backgrounds as part of a nonwhite race too. (As a Latin man, I certainly consider myself to be of a different race, and the treatment I’ve received in the course of my life validates that.) So under current definitions, comments against these groups are, indeed, racist.
This is all possible because, as Jenée Desmond-Harris explained for Vox, race is entirely a social construct with no biological basis. This doesn’t mean race and people’s views of race don’t have real effects on many people — of course they do — but it means that people’s definitions of race can change over time.
But really, whatever you want to call it, Trump has made racist and bigoted comments in the past. That much should be clear in the long lists above.
Trump’s bigotry was a key part of his campaign
Regardless of how one labels it, Trump’s racism or bigotry was a big part of his campaign — by giving a candidate to the many white Americans who harbor racial resentment.
One paper, published in January 2017 by political scientists Brian Schaffner, Matthew MacWilliams, and Tatishe Nteta, found that voters’ measures of sexism and racism correlated much more closely with support for Trump than economic dissatisfaction, after controlling for factors like partisanship and political ideology.
Another study, conducted by researchers Brenda Major, Alison Blodorn, and Gregory Major Blascovich shortly before the 2016 election, found that if people who strongly identified as white were told that nonwhite groups will outnumber white people in 2042, they became more likely to support Trump.
And a study, published in November 2017 by researchers Matthew Luttig, Christopher Federico, and Howard Lavine, found that Trump supporters were much more likely to change their views on housing policy based on race. In this study, respondents were randomly assigned “a subtle image of either a black or a white man.” Then they were asked about views on housing policy.
The researchers found that Trump supporters were much more likely to be impacted by the image of a Black man. After the exposure, they were not only less supportive of housing assistance programs, but they also expressed higher levels of anger that some people receive government assistance, and they were more likely to say that individuals who receive assistance are to blame for their situation.
In contrast, favorability toward Hillary Clinton did not significantly change respondents’ views on any of these issues when primed with racial cues.
“These findings indicate that responses to the racial cue varied as a function of feelings about Donald Trump — but not feelings about Hillary Clinton — during the 2016 presidential election,” the researchers concluded.
There is also a lot of other research showing that people’s racial attitudes can change their views on politics and policy, as Dylan Matthews and researchers Sean McElwee and Jason McDaniel previously explained for Vox.
Simply put, racial attitudes were a big driver of Trump’s election — just as they long have been for general beliefs about politics and policy. (Much more on all the research in Vox’s explainer.)
Meanwhile, white supremacist groups have openly embraced Trump. As Sarah Posner and David Neiwert reported at Mother Jones, what the media largely treated as gaffes — Trump retweeting white nationalists, Trump describing Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and criminals — were to white supremacists real signals approving of their racist causes. One white supremacist wrote, “Our Glorious Leader and ULTIMATE SAVIOR has gone full-wink-wink-wink to his most aggressive supporters.”
Some of them even argued that Trump has softened the greater public to their racist messaging. “The success of the Trump campaign just proves that our views resonate with millions,” said Rachel Pendergraft, a national organizer for the Knights Party, which succeeded David Duke’s Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. “They may not be ready for the Ku Klux Klan yet, but as anti-white hatred escalates, they will.”
And at the 2017 white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, David Duke, the former KKK grand wizard, said that the rally was meant “to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.”
So while Trump may deny his racism and bigotry, at some level his supporters seem to get it. As much as his history of racism shows that he’s racist, perhaps who supported him and why is just as revealing — and it doesn’t paint a favorable picture for Trump.


vox--2020-08-13--The Trump campaign attack on Kamala Harris’s citizenship is right out of the birther playbook

If you thought Trumpworld moved past birtherism , think again .
Hours after presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden formally introduced Kamala Harris as his presidential running mate on Wednesday , the Trump campaign got busy trying to revive racist conspiracy theories of the sort Donald Trump rode to political prominence back in 2011 .
Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis retweeted an op-ed written by law professor John Eastman in which he argues Harris is “ not entitled to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment as originally understood , ” citing a fringe legal theory holding that children of temporary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ citizenship even if they are born here .
Ellis is clearly trying to gin up controversy about whether Harris , a Black woman who is a natural-born citizen to immigrant parents from India and Jamaica , is actually an American citizen , and therefore eligible to serve as vice president .
Asked for comment by ABC ’ s Will Steakin , Ellis did not back down , saying Harris ’ s eligibility is “ an open question.
” In reality , Harris ’ s eligibility is not up for debate .
But Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harris ’ s citizenship during a news conference on Thursday , when he said of her that “ I just heard it today that she doesn ’ t meet the requirements ” to be vice president .
Then , in a quintessentially Trumpian moment , immediately after amplifying the unfounded idea that Harris isn ’ t actually an American citizen , Trump tried to distance himself from it , saying , “ I have no idea if that ’ s right.
” Kamala Harris is a “ natural born citizen ” under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parents in Oakland , California .
That fact alone makes her a “ natural born citizen , ” and thus eligible to serve as either president or vice president .
Under the 14th Amendment , “ all persons born or naturalized in the United States , and subject to the jurisdiction thereof , are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.
” Thus , with a narrow exception for individuals not subject to the “ jurisdiction ” of the United States — that is , people who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ born in this country is automatically a citizen .
The Supreme Court explained the narrow scope of this “ jurisdiction ” exception in United States v. Wong Kim Ark ( 1898 ) , a case holding that a Chinese American man born in San Francisco was a US citizen .
Certain Native Americans , who historically were exempt from US taxation and primarily subject to tribal law , were not considered citizens even if they were born within US borders .
Similarly , the children of foreign diplomats ( who enjoy diplomatic immunity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the children of alien enemies , born during and within their hostile occupation ” are also not citizens by birth .
But Harris ’ s parents were not foreign diplomats , and they certainly weren ’ t part of an invading army .
That makes her a natural-born citizen .
Nevertheless , in the Newsweek opinion piece promoted by Ellis , Chapman University law professor John Eastman attempts to lay out a case for Kamala Harris birtherism .
Eastman ’ s primary argument is that there is a missing word in the 14th @ @ @ @ @ @ @ persons born or naturalized in the United States , and subject to the jurisdiction thereof ” are citizens .
The phrase “ subject to the jurisdiction thereof , ” Eastman claims , means “ subject to the complete jurisdiction , not merely a partial jurisdiction such as that which applies to anyone temporarily sojourning in the United States ( whether lawfully or unlawfully ) .
” Thus , Eastman suggests , Harris is not a citizen if her parents were not “ lawful permanent residents at the time of her birth.
” This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the jurisdiction thereof ” actually mean “ subject to the complete jurisdiction ” is not a new one — in fact , it is very old .
In Wong Kim Ark , the two dissenting justices made a similar claim .
“ Born in the United States , and subject to the jurisdiction thereof , ” according to Chief Justice Melville Fuller ’ s dissent in Wong Kim Ark , means born “ under such circumstances as to be completely subject to that jurisdiction.
” Fuller took an even stingier view of citizenship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggests that only the children of US citizens are entitled to birthright citizenship .
But the fact that the Wong Kim Ark dissent and Eastman both read the word “ complete ” into an amendment that does not use that word deeply undercuts Eastman ’ s argument .
It should go without saying that a dissenting opinion is not the law .
There are also good reasons to believe that the Wong Kim Ark majority opinion is correct and that the dissent misread the 14th Amendment .
The Wong Kim Ark majority produced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the history of birthright citizenship back to the English common law that existed prior to US independence .
“ The fundamental principle of the common law with regard to English nationality was birth within the allegiance , ” Wong Kim Ark explains .
This rule of citizenship was “ not restricted to natural-born subjects and naturalized subjects , or to those who had taken an oath of allegiance ; but were predicable of aliens in amity , so long as they were within the kingdom.
” This English common law rule , Wong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force in all the English Colonies upon this continent down to the time of the Declaration of Independence , and in the United States afterwards , and continued to prevail under the Constitution as originally established.
” Indeed , the principle that “ all children , born within the dominion of the United States , of foreign parents holding no diplomatic office , became citizens at the time of their birth , does not appear to have been contested or doubted until more than fifty years after the adoption of the Constitution.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ departure from the rule of birthright citizenship .
In Dred Scott v. Sandford ( 1857 ) , an infamous pro-slavery decision , the Court held that Black people are “ regarded as beings of an inferior order , and altogether unfit to associate with the white race , either in social or political relations ” — and thus not entitled to the rights of citizenship .
But one of the primary purposes of the 14th Amendment was to overturn Dred Scott .
As the Wong Kim Ark majority explained , the amendment sought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ negroes , which had been denied in the opinion delivered by Chief Justice Taney in Dred Scott.
” This history , in other words , suggests that birthright citizenship was the American rule long before the 14th Amendment was ratified .
This general rule inevitably came into conflict with chattel slavery — which could only exist in a nation that denied enslaved people the full rights of citizenship — but the nation chose birthright citizenship over slavery as part of the settlement that ended the Civil War .
And that settlement was written @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amendment was ratified .
There is simply no basis , in other words , to deny that the child of immigrants — someone like Kamala Harris — is a natural-born citizen .
It ’ s not a shock that the Trump campaign would so quickly resort to pushing conspiracy theories of this sort about the first Black and Indian American woman to appear on a major party ’ s presidential ticket .
Trump has a long and sordid history of doing the same about America ’ s first Black president .
During the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reelection campaign in 2012 , Trump endeared himself to the far right by pushing conspiracy theories about Obama ’ s place of birth .
For instance , during an April 2011 appearance on CNN , Trump said , “ he could have been born in Kenya and gone over to the United States .
Everybody wants to be a US citizen , and his grandparents put an ad in saying he was born in the United States because of all the benefits you get from being born in the United States.
” Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his long-form birth certificate .
But even then , Trump wouldn ’ t admit he was wrong , and in the months that followed , he repeatedly claimed Obama ’ s birth certificate was fake .
When then-Republican presidential nominee Trump finally addressed his history of birtherism during a September 2016 press conference , he went as far as to suggest he deserved praise for raising the issue , saying unapologetically , “ I finished it .
President Obama was born in the United States — period.
’ ’ But there are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ birtherism persisted into the White House .
In November 2017 , the New York Times reported that Trump “ used closed-door conversations to question the authenticity of President Barack Obama ’ s birth certificate.
” Reached for comment on Thursday afternoon , Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates said Trump “ was the national leader of the grotesque , racist birther movement with respect to President Obama and has sought to fuel racism and tear our nation apart on every single day of his presidency .
“ So it ’ s unsurprising , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ makes a fool of himself straining to distract the American people from the horrific toll of his failed coronavirus response that his campaign and their allies would resort to wretched , demonstrably false lies in their pathetic desperation , ” Bates added .
The Trump campaign didn ’ t immediately respond to an inquiry about whether Ellis ’ s comments reflect the official position of the campaign .
Will you become our 20,000th supporter ?
When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would go .
Today , we ’ re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in .
The reason is both lovely and surprising : Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it , too .
We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy .
That ’ s never been more important than today , during a public health crisis , racial justice protests , a recession , and a presidential election .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and advertising alone won ’ t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will help keep Vox free for all .
Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

If you thought Trumpworld had moved past birtherism, think again.
Hours after presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden formally introduced Kamala Harris as his presidential running mate on Wednesday, the Trump campaign got busy trying to revive racist conspiracy theories of the sort Donald Trump rode to political prominence back in 2011.
Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis retweeted an op-ed written by law professor John Eastman in which he argues Harris is “not entitled to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment as originally understood,” citing a fringe legal theory holding that children of temporary visitors to the country are not conferred citizenship even if they are born here.
Ellis is clearly trying to gin up controversy about whether Harris, a Black woman who is a natural-born citizen to immigrant parents from India and Jamaica, is actually an American citizen, and therefore eligible to serve as vice president.
Trump campaign legal advisor Jenna Ellis RTs a link to that birther op-ed about @KamalaHarris, putting the campaign's handprint on something that Democrats are very happy to rebut/talk about. pic.twitter.com/qopyGpZCfY — Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) August 13, 2020
Asked for comment by ABC’s Will Steakin, Ellis did not back down, saying Harris’s eligibility is “an open question.”
In reality, Harris’s eligibility is not up for debate. But Trump himself gave voice to this attack on Harris’s citizenship during a news conference on Thursday, when he said of her that “I just heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements” to be vice president.
Then, in a quintessentially Trumpian moment, immediately after amplifying the unfounded idea that Harris isn’t actually an American citizen, Trump tried to distance himself from it, saying, “I have no idea if that’s right.”
Holy shit. Trump pushes a baseless, birther-style theory about Kamala Harris that holds she's not a citizen because birthright citizenship isn't a thing.
"I just heard it today that she doesn't meet the requirements ... I have no idea if that's right." pic.twitter.com/ZIXYrleuVf — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2020
Kamala Harris is a “natural born citizen” under the Constitution
Sen. Harris was born to immigrant parents in Oakland, California. That fact alone makes her a “natural born citizen,” and thus eligible to serve as either president or vice president.
Under the 14th Amendment, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” Thus, with a narrow exception for individuals not subject to the “jurisdiction” of the United States — that is, people who are not subject to US law — anyone born in this country is automatically a citizen.
The Supreme Court explained the narrow scope of this “jurisdiction” exception in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), a case holding that a Chinese American man born in San Francisco was a US citizen. Certain Native Americans, who historically were exempt from US taxation and primarily subject to tribal law, were not considered citizens even if they were born within US borders. Similarly, the children of foreign diplomats (who enjoy diplomatic immunity from US law), and “the children of alien enemies, born during and within their hostile occupation” are also not citizens by birth.
But Harris’s parents were not foreign diplomats, and they certainly weren’t part of an invading army. That makes her a natural-born citizen.
Nevertheless, in the Newsweek opinion piece promoted by Ellis, Chapman University law professor John Eastman attempts to lay out a case for Kamala Harris birtherism. Eastman’s primary argument is that there is a missing word in the 14th Amendment’s declaration that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” are citizens.
The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” Eastman claims, means “subject to the complete jurisdiction, not merely a partial jurisdiction such as that which applies to anyone temporarily sojourning in the United States (whether lawfully or unlawfully).” Thus, Eastman suggests, Harris is not a citizen if her parents were not “lawful permanent residents at the time of her birth.”
This argument that the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” actually mean “subject to the complete jurisdiction” is not a new one — in fact, it is very old. In Wong Kim Ark, the two dissenting justices made a similar claim. “Born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” according to Chief Justice Melville Fuller’s dissent in Wong Kim Ark, means born “under such circumstances as to be completely subject to that jurisdiction.”
Fuller took an even stingier view of citizenship than Eastman — Fuller’s dissent suggests that only the children of US citizens are entitled to birthright citizenship. But the fact that the Wong Kim Ark dissent and Eastman both read the word “complete” into an amendment that does not use that word deeply undercuts Eastman’s argument. It should go without saying that a dissenting opinion is not the law.
There are also good reasons to believe that the Wong Kim Ark majority opinion is correct and that the dissent misread the 14th Amendment.
The Wong Kim Ark majority produced an unusually scholarly opinion, which traced the history of birthright citizenship back to the English common law that existed prior to US independence. “The fundamental principle of the common law with regard to English nationality was birth within the allegiance,” Wong Kim Ark explains. This rule of citizenship was “not restricted to natural-born subjects and naturalized subjects, or to those who had taken an oath of allegiance; but were predicable of aliens in amity, so long as they were within the kingdom.”
This English common law rule, Wong Kim Ark continues, “was in force in all the English Colonies upon this continent down to the time of the Declaration of Independence, and in the United States afterwards, and continued to prevail under the Constitution as originally established.” Indeed, the principle that “all children, born within the dominion of the United States, of foreign parents holding no diplomatic office, became citizens at the time of their birth, does not appear to have been contested or doubted until more than fifty years after the adoption of the Constitution.”
There was one very significant early American departure from the rule of birthright citizenship. In Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), an infamous pro-slavery decision, the Court held that Black people are “regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations” — and thus not entitled to the rights of citizenship.
But one of the primary purposes of the 14th Amendment was to overturn Dred Scott. As the Wong Kim Ark majority explained, the amendment sought to “establish the citizenship of free negroes, which had been denied in the opinion delivered by Chief Justice Taney in Dred Scott.”
This history, in other words, suggests that birthright citizenship was the American rule long before the 14th Amendment was ratified. This general rule inevitably came into conflict with chattel slavery — which could only exist in a nation that denied enslaved people the full rights of citizenship — but the nation chose birthright citizenship over slavery as part of the settlement that ended the Civil War.
And that settlement was written into the Constitution itself when the 14th Amendment was ratified.
There is simply no basis, in other words, to deny that the child of immigrants — someone like Kamala Harris — is a natural-born citizen.
Once a birther, always a birther
It’s not a shock that the Trump campaign would so quickly resort to pushing conspiracy theories of this sort about the first Black and Indian American woman to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket. Trump has a long and sordid history of doing the same about America’s first Black president.
During the runup to President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012, Trump endeared himself to the far right by pushing conspiracy theories about Obama’s place of birth. For instance, during an April 2011 appearance on CNN, Trump said, “he could have been born in Kenya and gone over to the United States. Everybody wants to be a US citizen, and his grandparents put an ad in saying he was born in the United States because of all the benefits you get from being born in the United States.”
Obama responded that same month by releasing copies of his long-form birth certificate. But even then, Trump wouldn’t admit he was wrong, and in the months that followed, he repeatedly claimed Obama’s birth certificate was fake.
An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2012
When then-Republican presidential nominee Trump finally addressed his history of birtherism during a September 2016 press conference, he went as far as to suggest he deserved praise for raising the issue, saying unapologetically, “I finished it. President Obama was born in the United States — period.”
But there are indications that Trump’s interest in birtherism persisted into the White House. In November 2017, the New York Times reported that Trump “used closed-door conversations to question the authenticity of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate”:
One senator who listened as the president revived his doubts about Mr. Obama’s birth certificate chuckled on Tuesday as he recalled the conversation. The president, he said, has had a hard time letting go of his claim that Mr. Obama was not born in the United States. The senator asked not to be named to discuss private conversations.
Reached for comment on Thursday afternoon, Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates said Trump “was the national leader of the grotesque, racist birther movement with respect to President Obama and has sought to fuel racism and tear our nation apart on every single day of his presidency.
“So it’s unsurprising, but no less abhorrent, that as Trump makes a fool of himself straining to distract the American people from the horrific toll of his failed coronavirus response that his campaign and their allies would resort to wretched, demonstrably false lies in their pathetic desperation,” Bates added.
The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about whether Ellis’s comments reflect the official position of the campaign.
Will you become our 20,000th supporter? When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions, we weren’t sure how it would go. Today, we’re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in. The reason is both lovely and surprising: Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it, too. We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy. That’s never been more important than today, during a public health crisis, racial justice protests, a recession, and a presidential election. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive, and advertising alone won’t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will help keep Vox free for all. Contribute today from as little as $3.


vox--2020-08-14--Problems with the Postal Service are getting worse

The United States Postal Service is dealing with crippling backlogs of letters and packages .
A postmaster in upstate New York recently told their union that the regular mail was two days behind and , for the first time in their career , Express Priority Mail was not going out on time .
Despite a surge in package delivery during the pandemic , postal workers are no longer able to work overtime , and fewer mail trucks are on the road .
If your own mail seems delayed or unpredictable , it ’ s not a one-off problem .
Mail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks due to a series of factors .
While the USPS has been suffering financially for years , the coronavirus pandemic has delivered an existential threat to the agency .
The self-funded Postal Service has been seeking billions in aid from Congress — an effort that ’ s been stymied by President Trump , who has long had a contentious relationship with the USPS and has pushed to privatize it .
And now , the USPS is adjusting to cost-cutting policies put in place by its new postmaster general , Louis DeJoy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longtime Republican fundraiser .
DeJoy announced a major restructuring of the Postal Service in a memo released on August 7 .
The plan involves the reassignment of 23 postal executives in an overhaul that , according to the Washington Post , “ deemphasizes decades ’ worth of institutional postal knowledge ” and “ centralizes power around DeJoy.
” The shift in power stands to further complicate the new postmaster general ’ s relationship with Democrats in Congress , who want him investigated .
The Postal Service ’ s problems have continued to batter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 14 that the agency sent a letter to 46 states and Washington , DC , in late July warning it could not guarantee the on-time delivery of all of their mail-in ballots and calling for states to reconsider their ballot deadlines .
Records show that these warnings were planned before the recent cost-cutting measures were implemented , meaning that the present delays could slow down the delivery of ballots even more .
Among those measures are the removal of 10 percent of the Postal Service ’ s high-speed sorting machines .
A large @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flat mail like ballots , are being removed from key battleground states like Pennsylvania , Michigan , and Florida .
All of this means the future of the Postal Service is in jeopardy .
It was actually in big trouble months ago , when postal leaders warned that without intervention from Congress , the USPS could run out of cash as soon as September .
What ’ s happening now is even more urgent .
Decisions being made by Trump allies are leading to delays that could motivate the Postal Service ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ competitors like UPS and FedEx .
And according to some , the strategy could have devastating consequences .
“ It is unimaginable to think of an America without the Postal Service , ” said John McHugh , chairman of the Package Coalition , a trade group that counts Amazon and eBay as members .
“ But if things go toward a worst-case scenario in this instance , which is entirely possible , that ’ s what would have to occur.
” It gets worse .
A more serious and immediate consequence of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ led to concern that the delays could interfere with the November election , when a record number of people are expected to vote by mail due to the pandemic .
Given the facts and the president ’ s ongoing public criticism of mail-in voting , some are accusing Trump of intentionally kneecapping the Postal Service in an attempt to sabotage the election , as he trails Joe Biden in the polls .
Democrats in Congress are worried enough about the reported delays and their potential effect on democracy that they called the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ August to demand he reverse the new policies .
The story of how we got here is complicated , and there is disagreement about what ’ s really going on .
However , according to postal leaders and Democrats , the way to fix the mail in time for the election involves an infusion of cash and an end to the delays .
Even then , the Postal Service faces a tough road ahead .
It ’ s tempting to blame all of the Postal Service ’ s service problems on the new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wouldn ’ t be entirely fair .
After years of money problems tied to a decline in certain types of mail and an obligation to prefund its retirement benefits , the USPS suffered a very serious financial blow when the pandemic hit .
Starting in March , the volume of first-class mail began to plummet ( though a surge in package delivery has helped make up for that lost revenue ) .
Meanwhile , tens of thousands of postal workers got sick or began quarantining , leading to a labor shortage and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Postal Service also spent hundreds of millions of dollars on personal protective equipment ( PPE ) and on retrofitting post offices with more plexiglass and more space for social distancing .
This is why postal leaders asked Congress for $ 75 billion when the CARES Act was being negotiated in April .
( This is not something the USPS likes to do , by the way .
It ’ s been 40 years since the Postal Service took taxpayer dollars . )
In response , President Trump called the Postal Service “ a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bill if it included any money for the USPS .
Despite the president ’ s attempts to avoid giving the Postal Service any money at all , the agency ended up making an agreement with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for a $ 10 billion loan with strict terms .
Postmaster General DeJoy took office in mid-June amid the coronavirus crisis .
It ’ s worth pointing out that DeJoy was not appointed by President Trump .
He was appointed by the six members of the Postal Service Board of Governors , all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was after DeJoy got to work that the mail delays began , according to multiple postal service-related union leaders and trade groups interviewed by Recode .
DeJoy , a former logistics executive with no Postal Service experience , started his new gig by launching a series of pilot programs designed to slash USPS spending .
Multiple postal worker unions reported that DeJoy ’ s policies limited mail transportation , causing mail to be left at the sorting plant for days longer than it normally would .
Meanwhile , a crackdown on overtime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down before the day ’ s work is done .
( “ If the plants run late , they will keep the mail for the next day , ” read one USPS memo obtained by the Washington Post . )
As a result , mail is sitting undelivered across the country .
In response to questions about the recent issues , USPS spokesperson David Partenheimer used variations of the word “ efficient ” six times in explaining how the agency is adjusting its operations .
“ Of course we acknowledge that temporary service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efforts to conform to the current operating plans , ” Partenheimer said , “ but any such impacts will be monitored and temporary , as the root causes of any issues will be addressed as necessary and corrected as appropriate.
” It ’ s not entirely clear how temporary the delays will be .
In fact , none of the postal workers Recode spoke to were exactly sure what the new policies entailed , since DeJoy and his lieutenants did not communicate the details of the pilot programs to the unions or to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we don ’ t have the details — only that we can ’ t approve overtime , only the district manager can , ” explained a postmaster who runs a post office in the Northeast and spoke on the condition of anonymity as they ’ re not authorized to speak to the press .
“ I ’ m in a delivery unit , so I can ’ t speak for delayed mail in a plant .
But by cutting the overtime , it would certainly delay a lot of mail.
” Individual @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rules , they said , but with such poor communication from DeJoy , it ’ s hard to tell exactly what ’ s happening .
The postmaster , who is a 20-year veteran of the USPS , added , “ Amazon parcels are given priority over everything at a national level.
” None of this confusion has helped DeJoy win any popularity contests in his short tenure as postmaster general .
Some have called DeJoy “ a crony , ” and many are scrutinizing his background and political ties .
As a former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counted the USPS as a client , and his family has invested $ 30.1 million to $ 75.3 million in USPS competitors or contractors , including UPS .
DeJoy is also a celebrated Republican party fundraiser who contributed over $ 1.5 million to Trump ’ s campaigns in 2016 and 2020 .
His wife , Aldona Wos , served as ambassador to Estonia in the George W. Bush administration and has been nominated by President Trump to be the next ambassador to Canada .
Others want to give DeJoy a chance .
After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tough job at a struggling agency in the middle of a pandemic .
“ Just to be honest , we ’ re very suspicious of this new postmaster general .
We have a healthy bit of skepticism , ” said Jim Sauber , chief of staff for the National Association of Letter Carriers .
“ But I know my boss and officers are not going to level charges that we can ’ t substantiate , and we ’ re not gon na jump to a conclusion until we can get a better fix @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seem less accommodating with regard to what DeJoy has done so far .
After the new postmaster general confirmed the details of the operational changes to the Postal Service in their early August meeting , Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded that DeJoy reverse the new policies .
The Democrats said this and preserving funds for the Postal Service are essential for a deal on a new coronavirus relief package .
Still , even if the Postal Service does get an infusion of cash — you might call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s future remains uncertain .
Whatever damage to the reputation of the USPS that ’ s being done now stands to affect the broader perception of the agency under the new postmaster general .
We might be hearing more about privatizing the Postal Service in the future , whether we like it or not .
Trump ’ s campaign against voting by mail Considering DeJoy ’ s connections to Trump and the Republican Party and the reports of worsening mail delays with the election approaching , many are afraid that the president is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by casting doubt on the dependability of mail-in voting .
“ The Trump administration ’ s ongoing campaign to sabotage the US Postal Service is a direct attack on our democracy , ” Rep. Gerry Connolly ( D-VA ) , chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations , which oversees the USPS , told Recode .
“ Rural and urban , Democrat , Republican , or independent , every American has come to rely on the Postal Service , and our election is increasingly dependent on it .
Congress must with one voice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not allowed to falter.
” Delays and political connections aside , we don ’ t have much hard evidence of a Trump-led plot to overthrow the Postal Service .
It does look bad that the USPS appears to be facing an existential crisis just weeks after a Trump donor took over as postmaster general .
It looks worse that the president has spent months attacking the broader use of mail-in voting , even threatening executive action to stop it .
But these things don ’ t quite add up to proof of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The notion that the postmaster general makes decisions concerning the Postal Service at the direction of the president is wholly misplaced and off-base , ” Partenheimer , the USPS spokesperson , told Recode .
“ With regard to election mail , the Postal Service remains fully committed to fulfilling our role in the electoral process when public policymakers choose to utilize the mail as a part of their election system , and to delivering election mail in a timely manner consistent with our operational standards.
” Still , Trump seems to be doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ confidence in mail-in voting .
There are so many tweets : And that might be all he needs to discourage people from voting by mail .
Different states have different laws about how mail-in ballots work .
Currently , 34 states — including swing states like Arizona , Michigan , Minnesota , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin — require ballots to be received by election authorities by Election Day , so any delay in the mail could lead to untold numbers of votes going uncounted .
Rules about when states count the mail-in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bound to be delayed in states like New York , where ballots can only be counted after the polls close .
It ’ s especially discouraging for voters that postal leaders felt the need to warn states that delays around Election Day could be so bad that voters could be disenfranchised .
The Postal Service and postal unions are quick to point out that they take mail-in voting very seriously , and the process for delivering ballots is tried and tested .
“ The Postal Service has always given special attention to mail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In general , in most places in the country , during election time , if the Postal Service has mail ballots , they move heaven and earth to make sure it ’ s delivered .
They give top priority to the ballots.
” “ We ’ ve been doing mail ballots as postal workers for generations , ” said Mark Dimondstein , president of the American Postal Workers Union .
“ It ’ s been increasing in popularity .
In the last election , 31 million people voted by mail .
There ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can update their laws governing mail-in voting before November .
Aware of this fact , the Trump campaign has sued state and local governments across the country over mail-in ballot rules .
One suit , in Pennsylvania , argues that mail-in ballot drop boxes — which are designed to handle ballots , look like mailboxes , and are monitored closely — are unconstitutional and should be removed .
Another lawsuit from the Trump campaign and other Republicans seeks to overturn a new law in Nevada that would require the state to mail everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ laws remain as they are , disrupting the Postal Service is an obvious way to hinder the mail-in ballot process .
If slowing down the mail isn ’ t enough on its own , even creating a perception of problems with the mail could be enough to discourage some Americans from mail-in voting .
And it looks like Trump is being effective at doing this — perhaps too effective .
A June-July poll suggested that some voters in Florida , Pennsylvania , and Michigan have become so distrustful of mail-in voting that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rely on mail-in ballots .
Not long after this poll was published , Trump assured voters in Florida that mail-in voting was safe there .
“ We ’ ll be able to deliver .
There won ’ t be a problem with vote-by-mail , ” said Ronnie Stutts , president of the National Rural Letter Carriers ’ Association .
“ I think even President Trump is starting to see that .
I think he ’ s lightened up a little bit.
” The most anxiety-inducing part of all this is that there seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do .
The Postal Service is an independent agency , and there ’ s only so much Congress can do to shape its policies .
Rep. Carolyn Maloney ( D-NY ) , chair of the House government oversight committee , has called DeJoy to Capitol Hill to testify .
If he doesn ’ t show up , there ’ s a possibility Maloney would subpoena him , though it ’ s terribly clear at this point that members of the Trump administration don ’ t necessarily care about subpoenas or showing up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Postal Service ’ s problems extend well beyond Trump ’ s war on vote-by-mail .
The election will come and go , and there ’ s a decent chance the USPS will still be in trouble .
Depending on how negotiations go around the new coronavirus stimulus package , these recent delays could continue .
Growing backlogs mean the mail delays could actually get worse in the weeks and months to come .
Ongoing delays could chase big package senders like Amazon and eBay away from the USPS , and without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be in even more serious trouble .
After all , these customers have long been concerned about whether it might be better for their business to go through UPS or FedEx .
What the Postal Service needs right now — both to deliver mail and to keep existing — is money .
What it needs in the long term , some say , is a bit of restructuring .
“ If you think of the analogy of a house , it needs to be remodeled , ” said Arthur B. Sackler , manager @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Postal Service , whose members include not only Amazon and eBay but also catalog and greeting card companies .
“ And , at the same time , this house you ’ re remodeling , the roof is on fire .
So you ’ ve got to put the fire out first before you can remodel.
” The vast majority of Americans do not want to let the house burn down , by the way .
Americans don ’ t just rely on the Postal Service .
They love it .
For years , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government agency in the United States .
According to a Pew Research Center study released in April , 91 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Postal Service , and roughly the same percentage of Americans want to bail out the agency .
Similarly , countless companies that do business with the Postal Service are fans .
Online retailers , including Amazon , even spent millions of dollars on an ad campaign begging lawmakers to save the Postal Service .
These facts leave us with a very curious situation .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s never been more important .
It ’ s critical to get prescriptions to the homes of people during a pandemic and to deliver ballots to state election boards .
It ’ s even prized by huge corporations like Amazon , who could easily give their money to a competing private company but would rather work with the Postal Service .
At the same time , President Trump seems to disdain the agency , and the new postmaster general seems to be doing more harm than good .
The upshot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ survived difficult moments in the past .
The agency can trace its roots back to the days of the American Revolution .
Two and a half centuries later , mail service has never been more essential .
If anything , a crisis like this could serve to remind the country how much it needs the Postal Service , despite what a handful of powerful people might believe .
Correction : A previous version of this story misstated the first name of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin .
Every day at Vox , we aim @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide you , and our audience around the world , with information that has the power to save lives .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
Vox ’ s work is reaching more people than ever , but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles , videos @ @ @ @ @ @ @ volume that this moment requires .
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today .

The United States Postal Service is dealing with crippling backlogs of letters and packages. A postmaster in upstate New York recently told their union that the regular mail was two days behind and, for the first time in their career, Express Priority Mail was not going out on time. Despite a surge in package delivery during the pandemic, postal workers are no longer able to work overtime, and fewer mail trucks are on the road. If your own mail seems delayed or unpredictable, it’s not a one-off problem.
Mail service has been disrupted nationwide in recent weeks due to a series of factors. While the USPS has been suffering financially for years, the coronavirus pandemic has delivered an existential threat to the agency. The self-funded Postal Service has been seeking billions in aid from Congress — an effort that’s been stymied by President Trump, who has long had a contentious relationship with the USPS and has pushed to privatize it. And now, the USPS is adjusting to cost-cutting policies put in place by its new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, who is a top Trump donor and longtime Republican fundraiser.
The policies include eliminating overtime for postal workers, limiting the number of mail trucks, and removing hundreds of sorting machines from postal facilities, including those in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida. DeJoy also implemented a major restructuring of the Postal Service that, according to the Washington Post, “deemphasizes decades’ worth of institutional postal knowledge” and “centralizes power around DeJoy.” These abrupt changes have led to delays in the delivery of everything from paychecks to prescriptions. There’s also widespread concern that these delays could interfere with the November election, when a record number of people are expected to vote by mail due to the pandemic.
Given the facts and the president’s ongoing public criticism of mail-in voting, many are accusing Trump of intentionally kneecapping the Postal Service in an attempt to sabotage the election, as he trails Joe Biden in the polls. In mid-August, Trump himself admitted to holding back funding for the USPS in order to limit mail-in voting. Soon thereafter, news emerged that the Postal Service had sent a letter to 46 states and Washington, DC, in late July warning that it could not guarantee their mail-in ballots would be delivered in time to be counted.
Democrats in Congress are investigating the new postmaster’s policies and working to secure funding for the USPS. Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the House back early from its summer recess to vote on a Postal Service bill, and DeJoy has agreed to testify before the Oversight Committee on August 24. “Lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy are under threat from the President,” she said in a letter that referred to DeJoy as a “complicit crony.” Meanwhile, two Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are urging the FBI to open a criminal investigation into DeJoy, and at least six state attorneys general are exploring lawsuits to prevent the Trump administration from delaying mail ahead of the election.
Postmaster General DeJoy responded to criticism of his new initiatives in an August 18 statement. Pointing broadly to working toward “significant reforms” of the Postal Service, he said, “To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.” The statement also said that postal workers’ overtime would be “approved as needed” and that processing equipment and collection boxes “will remain where they are.” DeJoy did not say whether any actions taken under earlier policies would be reversed or whether any of the dozens of sorting machines already removed from postal facilities would be returned before the election.
All of this means the future of the Postal Service is in jeopardy. It was actually in big trouble months ago, when postal leaders warned that, without intervention from Congress, the USPS could run out of cash as soon as September. What’s happening now is even more urgent. Decisions being made by Trump allies are leading to delays that could motivate the Postal Service’s biggest customers to send their packages through competitors like UPS and FedEx. And according to some, the strategy could have devastating consequences.
“It is unimaginable to think of an America without the Postal Service,” said John McHugh, chairman of the Package Coalition, a trade group that counts Amazon and eBay as members. “But if things go toward a worst-case scenario in this instance, which is entirely possible, that’s what would have to occur.”
The story of how we got here is complicated, and there is disagreement about what’s really going on. However, according to postal leaders and Democrats, the way to fix the mail in time for the election involves an infusion of cash and an end to the delays. Even then, the Postal Service faces a tough road ahead.
The Postal Service’s controversial new policies, explained
It’s tempting to blame all of the Postal Service’s service problems on the new postmaster general, DeJoy, but it wouldn’t be entirely fair. After years of money problems tied to a decline in certain types of mail and an obligation to prefund its retirement benefits, the USPS suffered a very serious financial blow when the pandemic hit.
Starting in March, the volume of first-class mail began to plummet (though a surge in package delivery has helped make up for that lost revenue). Meanwhile, tens of thousands of postal workers got sick or began quarantining, leading to a labor shortage and the need for more overtime hours. The Postal Service also spent hundreds of millions of dollars on personal protective equipment (PPE) and on retrofitting post offices with more plexiglass and more space for social distancing.
This is why postal leaders asked Congress for $75 billion when the CARES Act was being negotiated in April. (This is not something the USPS likes to do, by the way. It’s been 40 years since the Postal Service took taxpayer dollars.) In response, President Trump called the Postal Service “a joke” and threatened to veto the bill if it included any money for the USPS. Despite the president’s attempts to avoid giving the Postal Service any money at all, the agency ended up making an agreement with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for a $10 billion loan with strict terms.
Postmaster General DeJoy took office in mid-June amid the coronavirus crisis. It’s worth pointing out that DeJoy was not appointed by President Trump. He was appointed by the six members of the Postal Service Board of Governors, all of whom were appointed by Trump. And it was after DeJoy got to work that the mail delays began, according to multiple postal service-related union leaders and trade groups interviewed by Recode.
DeJoy, a former logistics executive with no Postal Service experience, started his new gig by launching a series of pilot programs designed to slash USPS spending. Multiple postal worker unions reported that DeJoy’s policies limited mail transportation, causing mail to be left at the sorting plant for days longer than it normally would. Meanwhile, a crackdown on overtime hours meant that sorting machines are shut down before the day’s work is done. (“If the plants run late, they will keep the mail for the next day,” read one USPS memo obtained by the Washington Post.) The Postal Service also began the process of decommissioning 10 percent of its mail-sorting machines, which are designed to process flat mail, like letters and ballots. As a result, mail is sitting undelivered across the country.
In response to questions about the recent issues, USPS spokesperson David Partenheimer used variations of the word “efficient” six times in explaining how the agency is adjusting its operations. “Of course we acknowledge that temporary service impacts can occur as we redouble our efforts to conform to the current operating plans,” Partenheimer said, “but any such impacts will be monitored and temporary, as the root causes of any issues will be addressed as necessary and corrected as appropriate.”
It’s not entirely clear how temporary the delays will be. In fact, none of the postal workers Recode spoke to were exactly sure what the new policies entailed, since DeJoy and his lieutenants did not communicate the details of the pilot programs to the unions or to individual postmasters.
“In the field, we don’t have the details — only that we can’t approve overtime, only the district manager can,” explained a postmaster who runs a post office in the Northeast and spoke on the condition of anonymity as they’re not authorized to speak to the press. “I’m in a delivery unit, so I can’t speak for delayed mail in a plant. But by cutting the overtime, it would certainly delay a lot of mail.”
Individual managers might be selectively enforcing the new rules, they said, but with such poor communication from DeJoy, it’s hard to tell exactly what’s happening. The postmaster, who is a 20-year veteran of the USPS, added, “Amazon parcels are given priority over everything at a national level.”
None of this confusion has helped DeJoy win any popularity contests in his short tenure as postmaster general.
Some call DeJoy “a crony,” and many are scrutinizing his background and political ties. As a former logistics executive, DeJoy ran companies that counted the USPS as a client, and his family has invested $30.1 million to $75.3 million in USPS competitors or contractors, including UPS. DeJoy is also a celebrated Republican party fundraiser who contributed over $1.5 million to Trump’s campaigns in 2016 and 2020. His wife, Aldona Wos, served as ambassador to Estonia in the George W. Bush administration and has been nominated by President Trump to be the next ambassador to Canada.
Others want to give DeJoy a chance. After all, he did take on a tough job at a struggling agency in the middle of a pandemic.
“Just to be honest, we’re very suspicious of this new postmaster general. We have a healthy bit of skepticism,” said Jim Sauber, chief of staff for the National Association of Letter Carriers. “But I know my boss and officers are not going to level charges that we can’t substantiate, and we’re not gonna jump to a conclusion until we can get a better fix on this.”
Democratic leaders in Congress seem less accommodating with regard to what DeJoy has done so far. After the new postmaster general confirmed the details of the operational changes to the Postal Service in their early August meeting, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded that DeJoy reverse the new policies. The Democrats said this and preserving funds for the Postal Service are essential for a deal on a new coronavirus relief package.
Still, even if the Postal Service does get an infusion of cash — you might call it a bailout — the agency’s future remains uncertain. Whatever damage to the reputation of the USPS that’s being done now stands to affect the broader perception of the agency under the new postmaster general. We might be hearing more about privatizing the Postal Service in the future, whether we like it or not.
Trump’s campaign against voting by mail
Considering DeJoy’s connections to Trump and the Republican Party and the reports of worsening mail delays with the election approaching, many are afraid that the president is plotting to rig the election in November by casting doubt on the dependability of mail-in voting.
“The Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to sabotage the US Postal Service is a direct attack on our democracy,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, which oversees the USPS, told Recode. “Rural and urban, Democrat, Republican, or independent, every American has come to rely on the Postal Service, and our election is increasingly dependent on it. Congress must with one voice and clear action ensure service standards are not allowed to falter.”
Delays and political connections aside, we don’t have much hard evidence of a Trump-led plot to overthrow the Postal Service. It does look bad that the USPS appears to be facing an existential crisis just weeks after a Trump donor took over as postmaster general. It looks worse that the president has spent months attacking the broader use of mail-in voting, even threatening executive action to stop it. But these things don’t quite add up to proof of a conspiracy against the Postal Service.
“The notion that the postmaster general makes decisions concerning the Postal Service at the direction of the president is wholly misplaced and off-base,” Partenheimer, the USPS spokesperson, told Recode. “With regard to election mail, the Postal Service remains fully committed to fulfilling our role in the electoral process when public policymakers choose to utilize the mail as a part of their election system, and to delivering election mail in a timely manner consistent with our operational standards.”
Still, Trump seems to be doing everything he can to undermine American voters’ confidence in mail-in voting. There are so many tweets:
With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote??? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2020
And that might be all he needs to discourage people from voting by mail.
Different states have different laws about how mail-in ballots work. Currently, 34 states — including swing states like Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — require ballots to be received by election authorities by Election Day, so any delay in the mail could lead to untold numbers of votes going uncounted. Rules about when states count the mail-in ballots also vary, so results are bound to be delayed in states like New York, where ballots can only be counted after the polls close. It’s especially discouraging for voters that postal leaders felt the need to warn states that delays around Election Day could be so bad that voters could be disenfranchised.
The Postal Service and postal unions are quick to point out that they take mail-in voting very seriously, and the process for delivering ballots is tried and tested.
“The Postal Service has always given special attention to mail ballots,” said Sauber. “In general, in most places in the country, during election time, if the Postal Service has mail ballots, they move heaven and earth to make sure it’s delivered. They give top priority to the ballots.”
“We’ve been doing mail ballots as postal workers for generations,” said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union. “It’s been increasing in popularity. In the last election, 31 million people voted by mail. There’s virtually no fraud.”
Individual states can update their laws governing mail-in voting before November. Aware of this fact, the Trump campaign has sued state and local governments across the country over mail-in ballot rules. One suit, in Pennsylvania, argues that mail-in ballot drop boxes — which are designed to handle ballots, look like mailboxes, and are monitored closely — are unconstitutional and should be removed. Another lawsuit from the Trump campaign and other Republicans seeks to overturn a new law in Nevada that would require the state to mail everyone a ballot.
Still, assuming all laws remain as they are, disrupting the Postal Service is an obvious way to hinder the mail-in ballot process. If slowing down the mail isn’t enough on its own, even creating a perception of problems with the mail could be enough to discourage some Americans from mail-in voting. And it looks like Trump is being effective at doing this — perhaps too effective. A June-July poll suggested that some voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have become so distrustful of mail-in voting that they might rather not vote at all than rely on mail-in ballots. Not long after this poll was published, Trump assured voters in Florida that mail-in voting was safe there.
“We’ll be able to deliver. There won’t be a problem with vote-by-mail,” said Ronnie Stutts, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association. “I think even President Trump is starting to see that. I think he’s lightened up a little bit.”
The most anxiety-inducing part of all this is that there seems to be little for the average American to do. The Postal Service is an independent agency, and there’s only so much Congress can do to shape its policies. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), chair of the House government oversight committee, and House leaders are calling on DeJoy and Robert Duncan, chair of the Postal Service Board of Governors to testify on August 24. Democrats in the Senate are also pressing DeJoy to reverse his new policies, which they say would disenfranchise millions of American voters.
But again, the Postal Service’s problems extend well beyond Trump’s war on vote-by-mail. The election will come and go, and there’s a decent chance the USPS will still be in trouble. Depending on how negotiations go around the new coronavirus stimulus package, these recent delays could continue. Growing backlogs mean the mail delays could actually get worse in the weeks and months to come. Ongoing delays could chase big package senders like Amazon and eBay away from the USPS, and without that revenue, the Postal Service would be in even more serious trouble. After all, these customers have long been concerned about whether it might be better for their business to go through UPS or FedEx.
What the Postal Service needs right now — both to deliver mail and to keep existing — is money. What it needs in the long term, some say, is a bit of restructuring.
“If you think of the analogy of a house, it needs to be remodeled,” said Arthur B. Sackler, manager of the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, whose members include not only Amazon and eBay but also catalog and greeting card companies. “And, at the same time, this house you’re remodeling, the roof is on fire. So you’ve got to put the fire out first before you can remodel.”
The vast majority of Americans do not want to let the house burn down, by the way. Americans don’t just rely on the Postal Service. They love it.
For years, the USPS has been the most popular government agency in the United States. According to a Pew Research Center study released in April, 91 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Postal Service, and roughly the same percentage of Americans want to bail out the agency. Similarly, countless companies that do business with the Postal Service are fans. Online retailers, including Amazon, even spent millions of dollars on an ad campaign begging lawmakers to save the Postal Service.
These facts leave us with a very curious situation. The Postal Service is seriously struggling, but it’s never been more important. It’s critical to get prescriptions to the homes of people during a pandemic and to deliver ballots to state election boards. It’s even prized by huge corporations like Amazon, who could easily give their money to a competing private company but would rather work with the Postal Service. At the same time, President Trump seems to disdain the agency, and the new postmaster general seems to be doing more harm than good.
The upshot of it all is that the USPS has survived difficult moments in the past. The agency can trace its roots back to the days of the American Revolution. Two and a half centuries later, mail service has never been more essential. If anything, a crisis like this could serve to remind the country how much it needs the Postal Service, despite what a handful of powerful people might believe.
Additional reporting by Jason Del Rey.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the first name of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.