The more one looks at your father-in-law, the more examples one finds of him articulating the belief that apologizing for or distancing himself from racist comments is a sign of weakness. So even if it is unfair that Trump’s critics tar and feather him with the most vile rhetoric emanating from some of his supporters, his refusal to dissociate himself from such rhetoric, his refusal to reprimand supporters who do say such vile things, is the opposite of political leadership. It’s almost as if your father-in-law is afraid of losing the ardent support of his most racist followers.
This is the position in which Americans not related to Trump find ourselves: We can either take the word of a close relative that he is not a racist or an anti-Semite, or we can look and listen at what he says and does. And because most Americans are not in a trusting mood at the moment, we’re probably going to adopt the latter strategy. And based on what Trump has saidand done during his campaign, it’s really, really hard to ignore his apparent bigotry.
