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Trump Praises “Good Genes” of White Audience, Cites Eugenics Theory

HeadlineSep 24, 2020

President Trump has expanded a ban on racial sensitivity training to include federal contractors — not just federal employees. This comes as The Washington Post reports Trump privately complained to senior aides that African Americans have themselves to blame in their struggle for racial equality, that he “could never understand” why first lady Melania Trump wanted to go to Africa, and that Jewish people are “only in it for themselves.” Last Friday, Trump praised a nearly all-white crowd at a campaign rally in Bemidji, Minnesota, in language echoing eugenicists.

President Donald Trump: “You have good genes. You know that, right? You have good genes. A lot of it’s about the genes, isn’t it? Don’t you believe? The racehorse theory. You think we’re so different? You have good genes in Minnesota.”

Carin Mrotz, executive director of Jewish Community Action, responded, “For Minnesota Jews, it’s chilling to hear this language, which echoes the 'race science' used by the Nazis to justify the extermination of so many of our ancestors.”

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