By — Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas By — Erica R. Hendry Erica R. Hendry Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-thats-such-a-racist-question-trump-says-when-asked-if-rhetoric-emboldens-white-nationalists Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH: ‘That’s such a racist question,’ Trump says when asked if his rhetoric emboldens white nationalists Politics Nov 7, 2018 2:11 PM EDT President Donald Trump pushed back Wednesday against the idea his rhetoric could be emboldening white nationalists, telling the PBS NewsHour’s Yamiche Alcindor: “That’s such a racist question.” Alcindor asked Trump about his rhetoric ahead of the midterm elections along with his claim that he was a “nationalist,” and whether those were contributing to a perception that the Republican Party supported white nationalists. “What you just said is so insulting to me,” he added. “Why do I have my highest poll numbers ever with African-Americans?” Trump said. The president may have been referring to an Oct. 29 Rasmussen Reports poll he tweeted last week, which showed 40 percent of African-Americans approved of his performance. Politico points to another poll taken 12 days earlier by Fox, which showed 29 percent of non-white registered voters approved of Trump’s performance in office. New Fox Poll shows a “40% Approval Rating by African Americans for President Trump, a record for Republicans.” Thank you, a great honor! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2018 “I love our country, I do. You have nationalists, you have globalists, I also love the world and I don’t mind helping the world but we have to straighten out our country first.” By — Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas is the arts editor for the NewsHour. He can be reached at jbarajas@newshour.org. @Josh_Barrage By — Erica R. Hendry Erica R. Hendry Erica R. Hendry is the managing editor for digital at PBS NewsHour. @ericarhendry
President Donald Trump pushed back Wednesday against the idea his rhetoric could be emboldening white nationalists, telling the PBS NewsHour’s Yamiche Alcindor: “That’s such a racist question.” Alcindor asked Trump about his rhetoric ahead of the midterm elections along with his claim that he was a “nationalist,” and whether those were contributing to a perception that the Republican Party supported white nationalists. “What you just said is so insulting to me,” he added. “Why do I have my highest poll numbers ever with African-Americans?” Trump said. The president may have been referring to an Oct. 29 Rasmussen Reports poll he tweeted last week, which showed 40 percent of African-Americans approved of his performance. Politico points to another poll taken 12 days earlier by Fox, which showed 29 percent of non-white registered voters approved of Trump’s performance in office. New Fox Poll shows a “40% Approval Rating by African Americans for President Trump, a record for Republicans.” Thank you, a great honor! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2018 “I love our country, I do. You have nationalists, you have globalists, I also love the world and I don’t mind helping the world but we have to straighten out our country first.”