Donald Trump Condemns Black Lives Matter As A 'Symbol Of Hate,' Faces Severe Backlash For Misplaced Priorities

U.S. President Donald Trump sparked nationwide outrage yet again after terming the words Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate” on Wednesday, July 1.

While the U.S. continues to suffer major upheavals in the socio-political arena, opponents decry that Trump continues to play the divide and rule cards, milking on the widening cultural divisions in an attempt to persuade and appeal to voters concerned about safety and order. Trump’s Twitter feed is peppered with wanted posters of suspected vandals.

While Trump took down a controversial video of a man screaming “white power” to a crowd of protestors, another video of similar racial intent -- a video of two White homeowners in St. Louis guarding their stone mansion with firearms as an active group of demonstrators of the Black Lives Matter march went past. Speculations are rife that the president is inadvertently stoking racial tensions by evoking memories of segregation politics.

Even off-Twitter, Trump and his allies have prioritized issues surrounding vandalizations of statues and monuments over a raging coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, Trump’s administration officials were asked to focus on the same, while the Department of Homeland Security made an official reveal about developing a task force to “protect American monuments, memorials, and statues.”

Scores of advisors in his ministry are concerned about the president’s misplaced priorities in the face of a global health crisis. And, Trump is adamant to not change course. “This is a battle to save the Heritage, History, and Greatness of our Country!” he wrote on Tuesday, using his campaign hashtag #MAGA2020.

Trump’s handling of race is working against him, and the same was evidenced in a recent New York Times polls that point to a sizeable 64% of women stating they disapproval of the president’s handling of race relations.

Despite the numbers, Trump stood his ground and sided publicly with those who asked for the maintenance of iconic statues linked America’s racist past. “I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill!” tweeted Trump, while openly condemning decisions to remove names Woodrow Wilson and John Wayne from towers and buildings across the U.S.