(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Republicans still have a racism problem in 2026 [1] ['Emily Singer'] Date: 2026-08-06 Yes, yes, I know. Water is wet. The sky is blue. The sun rises in the east. And what comes up must come down. But Republicans’ racism problem—which the party has always bristled at despite evidence proving their racial biases—has been on full display this midterm election season. On Wednesday, attendees at a President Donald Trump campaign event in Las Vegas reflexively booed when Nevada GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo said the name “Officer Abdelnabi.” Abdelnabi is a police officer who had been killed in the line of duty one day prior. “No. We’re not booing him. He’s the officer that passed away here recently,” Lombardo had to tell the crowd before asking for a moment of silence to remember Abdelnabi. It was a painfully uncomfortable moment, but one that has happened before when Republican voters proudly expressed their disdain for people with Arabic sounding names. LOMBARDO: So I know the pastor spoke about Officer Abdelnabi– TRUMP RALLY CROWD: *Boooooo* LOMBARDO: No. We're not booing him. He's the officer that passed away here recently pic.twitter.com/olgvdNoyZg — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 5, 2026 Meanwhile, earlier that same day, Trump-backed congressional hopeful Amir Hassan—a Black man who said he converted to Christianity from Islam—lost a primary in Michigan to a man who had dropped out of the race and raised almost no money. And it was almost certainly because Hassan had an Arabic-sounding name. Hassan posted a video message on X after his loss, but refused to acknowledge that it was likely Islamophobia that led to his defeat. Disappointed not defeated. Thank you to all that supported. #FlipTheState pic.twitter.com/SsCFjj1sgz — Amir Hassan (@HassanforMi) August 5, 2026 That was even though Laura Loomer, a right-wing agitator who has Trump’s ear, admitted that Hassan lost because of his name. “‘Amir Hassan’ claims he’s not a Muslim, but it doesn’t matter. His name sounds like he’s fresh off the boat and MAGA voters reject the Islamic infiltration of our country and party,” Loomer wrote in a disgusting post on X. “This should be an eye opener to Trump’s advisors that we don’t want Muslims, Arabs or anyone who may even sound Arab or Islamic serving in office. We are done with the Islamic takeover of our country, but they won’t pass this message along to President Trump.” Other non-white Republican candidates across the country are facing similar racial animus from the GOP base this election cycle. In Arizona, conservative Republican Kimberly Yee had to battle racist ads that attempted to use her Chinese American heritage against her. She was hit with an ad that used Chinese imagery as it labeled her as the “empress of DEI.” And state Rep. Quang Nguyen, who is Vietnamese, was attacked by Turning Point USA Chief Operating Officer Tyler Bower, who in a post on X asked Nguyen if he “could speak English.” Nguyen was born in Vietnam but has lived in the United States since he was 12 years old and has served in the state legislature since 2021. Again, none of this behavior is surprising. Trump and the Republican Party have made very clear that they view minorities as lesser than white people, and have crusaded against minorities and DEI since Trump was sworn in again in January 2025. Trump’s evil mass deportation crusade has left the Latino community living in fear of being improperly detained or even killed simply because of how they look. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has done all he can push Trump’s racist, sexist, and xenophobia policies. AP Meanwhile, Trump Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been working overtime to fire or refuse to promote a number of non-white, female, and transgender military personnel, as well as erase mentions of heroic minority service members from the DOD website. And Trump is trying to block the teaching of America’s sad history of racism, removing slavery exhibits and trying to bully the Smithsonian into ridding its museums of mentions of slavery. Those are only a few of their despicable racist actions. It’s likely why Trump’s support among minority groups has absolutely tanked since he took office. The most recent Economist/YouGov survey found Trump’s approval among Black Americans at 18%, and 29% among Hispanics. That’s a major change from January 2025, when the same pollster found Trump at 29% approval from Black Americans and 41% among Hispanics. That shift away from Trump and Republicans will hurt the GOP in the midterms—especially in majority-Hispanic House districts that Republicans hoped were permanently trending red. Turns out, being racist has political consequences. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/6/800080469/elections/republicans-still-have-a-racism-problem-in-2026/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/