Sen. Tim Scott said that the post of the Obamas as apes is the e most racist thing the White House has done raising the question of what were the other most racist things they’ve done? The Bulwark helpfully compiled a top ten list:
10. Vice President JD Vance saying it’s “totally reasonable and acceptable” for Americans to not want to live next to people who speak a different language or come from “a totally different culture.”
If you’ve ever looked at the deed to homes built before the civil rights revolution you will see that it used to be common for there to be discriminatory restrictive covenants that created all-white neighborhoods for the delicate Americans who “reasonably” didn’t want to live around people of color. That’s what he was endorsing.
9. Greg Bovino, then-commander-at-large of the U.S. Border Patrol, saying his agents choose the people to arrest based partly on “how they look.”
8. Rallying around a DOGE staffer fired for racist posts.
There’s been a pattern in this administration: White man makes racist comments → loses his job → Trump finds out and rehires him. In this case, it was Marko Elez, a then-25-year-old DOGE employee who said in social media posts “you could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” that he would like to “normalize Indian hate,” that he “was racist before it was cool,” and that he “just want[s] a eugenic immigration policy.” Elezesigned after the bigotry came to light in February 2025. But Trump, Vance, and DOGEmeister Elon Musk jumped to Elez’s defense and hired him back.
7. Vance dismissing outrage at a Young Republicans group chat in which participants called black people monkeys and “watermelon people.”
Vance called the outcry “BS” and “pearl clutching.”
6. Trump cutting admissions for refugees from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, but making an exception for white Afrikaners from South Africa.
Speaks for itself.
5. Trump nominating Paul Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel.
Follow these steps and see if you can spot the racism:
- Trump chose Ingrassia, who had been working as a White House staffer, to head a key watchdog agency despite lacking relevant experience.
- Politico published texts from Ingrassia saying Martin Luther King Jr. Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell” and that he has “a Nazi streak.”
- Senators spoke out against Ingrassia and said his nomination wouldn’t pass.
- Trump pulled the nomination—but rather than toss Ingrassia aside, Trump made him the deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration, a job that does not require Senate confirmation. (As of this writing, he has been bumped up to the role of acting general counsel.)
4. Trump sharing a video of Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero while an AI-generated Chuck Schumer talks about illegal immigrants voting.
3. Trump disparaging Ilhan Omar and Somali Americans.
2. Trump blaming Reagan National Airport plane crash on DEI hiring standards.
It’s worth noting that when asked how he could conclude, even before an investigation took place, that DEI hiring practices caused the crash, Trump said: “Because I have common sense.” (Talk about baseless claims.)
1. Trump sharing a video depicting the Obamas as apes.
The post was eventually taken down, but Trump did not apologize, and insists he has no reason to do so: “No,” he told reporters on Air Force One, “I didn’t make a mistake.”
He doesn’t believe he made a mistake. It’s called common sense.
It’s interesting that some of the most racist statements in this term have come from JD Vance rather than Trump. He thinks because he’s married to a woman of Indian background that he can say anything and no one will be able to point out his racism. It’s the old, “some of my best friends are…” dodge but it only makes you feel sorry for the people of color to whom they’re related.
Vance is going to have a rude awakening about this. There is a strong strain of anti-Indian sentiment on the MAGA right as Vivek Ramaswamy is finding out in Ohio. And it will catch up to Vance as well. All the crude bigoted sentiments in the world won’t make up for Usha.
I’m a little bit surprised that none of Stephen Miller’s bleats made the list. But I suppose that since everything he says is racist it would have been impossible to decide.