Trump Unexpectedly Tells The Truth About "Woke"

By Zeesham Aleem at MSNBC.com:

In a curious turn of events, former President Donald Trump said Thursday he doesn’t like the term “woke” anymore. His remarks may have been a swipe at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, but in the process he gave away exactly why so many on the MAGA right — including him — constantly use the term.

Trump’s surprising comment came as an aside during a rambling set of transphobic remarks at the Westside Conservative Breakfast in Urbandale, Iowa, during which he referred to trans identity as “sick” and deliberately misgendered people. He then detoured into why he is wary of using the word "woke."

“It’s gotten sick, and I don’t like the term woke, because I hear woke, woke, woke. You know it’s like just a term they use half the people can’t even define it. They don’t know what it is,” Trump said.

It’s not exactly clear who was he referring to when he said “they,” but it’s likely he meant people on the right who use the term to discredit or fearmonger about any policy vaguely associated with the principle of social equality or inclusiveness. It could even be a jab at DeSantis, who has made opposing “wokeness” one of the animating principles of his presidential campaign.

It was also one of those rare moments in which Trump said something true, and maybe even slightly introspective. The term “woke” dates back to at least the early 20th century, and was originally used by people who positively affiliated with the term as a shorthand for awareness of social injustice and bigotry. But in recent years, the right has appropriated the term and rendered it unintelligible. First, right-wing users of “woke” used it to discredit any attempt at social inclusion as extremist ideology. Over time it evolved into a catch-all culprit for anything that conservatives view as a social problem. The right has blamed “wokeness” for everything from the collapse of banks to military recruitment underperformance to mass shootings. DeSantis’ 2024 campaign launch last week was so packed with jargon tied to the anti-woke crusade that it was hard to understand what he was really saying. Trump is right: The term doesn’t mean much anymore when used by the right.

But that’s precisely why he and his political movement deploy the term so often. It’s advantageous for a bad faith movement to make use of language that evokes a strong emotional response from its audience but isn’t bound by pesky little things like definitions. Every week there’s a new story on the right detailing a new instance of “woke extremism” to help keep the political base angry and mobilized; even basic corporate diversity initiatives that were uncontroversial in the pre-Trump era provide fodder for the right-wing fear machine. Leaders of the MAGA right wants the base to believe that phenomena like bank collapses and the military’s recruitment woes are all tied to “wokeness” because it directs their attention to the chief villains of the white nationalist imagination: people from marginalized communities and their allies. Instead of thinking about issues in policy-specific terms, attention is directed to culture wars and demographics.

Trump’s alleged disregard for the term shouldn’t be taken particularly seriously. He’s used the term many, many times over the course of his career. He’s sold merchandise using it. On Sunday he slammed Disney for being “woke.” In fact later on the same day that he said he wasn’t a fan of the term, he called the military “woke.” It's just too tempting of a weapon for him to forgo entirely. And even if Trump doesn’t use the actual word as much as DeSantis, opposing social equality will remain a core pillar of his worldview. But for a moment he admitted that the whole thing is a bit of a scam. 

GOP Is Saying Banks Are Failing Because Of "Wokeism"

The Silicon Valley Bank failed because Republicans deregulated banking - allowing bankers to do stupid and dangerous things with the money they were entrusted. But Republicans don't want to admit they were wrong, so they are ridiculously blaming the bank failure of the bank being "woke". Here's how James Downie describes this new Republican nonsense at MSNBC.com:

In the latest edition of The Wall Street Journal’s “Inside View,” columnist Andy Kessler ponders last week’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history. The autopsy might seem straightforward: The bank was unusually vulnerable to interest rate hikes because most of its holdings were in long-term debt and because its customer base was disproportionately startups and other industries that needed more cash as interest rates rose.

But Kessler suggests another possible cause. "In its proxy statement," he writes, "SVB notes that besides 91% of their board being independent and 45% women, they also have '1 Black,' '1 LGBTQ+' and '2 Veterans.' I’m not saying 12 white men would have avoided this mess, but the company may have been distracted by diversity demands."

Now, there’s nothing “woke” about woefully inadequate risk management. White men have excelled at that for millennia. But, regardless, as MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle put it, “This has absolutely NOTHING to do with a bank being ‘woke.’” 

Missing the point in times of crisis is nothing new for the Journal’s opinion pages. This is the same publication whose editorial board, after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, suggested President George W. Bush should use the tragedy to pass “pro-growth tax cuts.” But in this case, Kessler, far from having the “Inside View,” is merely repeating Republican talking points. 

“We see now coming out they were one of the most woke banks,” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. Referring to diversity, equity and inclusion policies, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox News: “I mean, this bank, they’re so concerned with DEI and politics and all kinds of stuff. I think that really diverted from them focusing on their core mission.”

“SVB is what happens when you push a leftist/woke ideology and have that take precedent over common sense business practices,” tweeted Donald Trump Jr. (The executive vice president of the Trump Organization did not elaborate nor say whether “common sense business practices” include those that led to his employer’s being convicted of tax fraud.)

This tactic long predates SVB's collapse: “Say ‘woke’ in case of emergency” has become a favorite Republican strategy. At first, denunciations of “wokeism” were mostly used in attempts to oppose gay rights and scrub school curricula of mentions of Black history. But more recently, Republicans have expanded their use of the term. After the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., wondered whether “Norfolk Southern’s DEI policies [were] directing resources away from the important things like greasing wheel bearings.” As Republicans scramble for politically palatable budget cuts, lawmakers such as House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York have tried to target the Defense Department’s “woke agenda.” When a former student shot up a Texas elementary school, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin blamed “wokeness.” And when Memphis, Tennessee, police fatally beat Tyre Nichols, Trump Jr. was one of the conservatives who blamed Memphis police for hiring “woke DEI candidates” as officers. 

Why are conservatives using one word to explain everything from a train derailment to a bank failure to the police wrongly beating a motorist? Because it lets them duck the consequences of their ideas.

They could acknowledge that SVB might still be around today but for deregulation signed by former President Donald Trump that was supported almost unanimously by Republicans (and even some Democrats). But it’s easier to blame the “woke agenda.” They could admit that school shootings are more common because of lax gun laws. But it’s easier to blame the “woke agenda.” They could accept that American policing may be in desperate need of reform. But it’s easier to blame the “woke agenda.”

While debate continues over whether SVB has received (or should have received) a bailout, it’s useful to think of the word “woke” as its own bailout — for conservatives. Whether it’s explaining away an inconvenient news development or creating a stopgap reason to oppose a Democrat, criticizing what it calls wokeness is the one-size-fits-all solution for today’s right. An intellectually healthy party would engage with the news, react to the developments, reconsider its priorities when necessary and strengthen its policies as a result.

But it’s easier to rail against an imaginary “woke agenda.”