QOTD: Trump's New Rapper Bud

"As my colleague Philip Bump wrote: 'Since 2017, even Trump’s base is more skeptical about his views on race. Among Republicans, the density of those who say he respects racial minorities fell 14 points over the past two years. Less than two-thirds of evangelicals now think Trump respects minorities; nearly three-quarters did two years ago.'

"This leads some to believe that the attention the president is paying to a black rapper incarcerated abroad is not mainly about winning over black Americans but keeping existing supporters, mostly white Americans, from defecting." -- The Washington Post's Eugene Scott, writing on bigot Donald "Send Her Back" Trump's manufactured concern for rapper A$AP Rocky, whom you can bet he'd never heard of before.  It took mentally unstable musician and Trump fan Kanye West urging Trump to intervene with the Swedish government on Rocky's behalf, and Trump saw an opportunity.

That his base is more "skeptical" about Trump's easily grasped racism likely doesn't translate to him losing their votes. He's simply waving a shiny object to distract the mainstream press and low-information voters from his racist "send her back" scandal.