Donald Trump's Villages "White Power" Video Retweet

Overview

Donald Trump's Villages "White Power" Video Retweet refers to a controversy over a video shared by President Donald Trump in which two elderly Trump supporters yell "white power," a phrase affirming belief in white supremacy and racism, to each other. Trump praised the video in a comment but deleted the tweet following a backlash over the video's content.

Background

On June 27th, 2020, Twitter user @davenewworld_2 shared a video of residents of the Villages, a retirement community, protesting in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and against it. Two counterprotesters, both of whom express support of President Trump, yell "white power" to each other, in agreement, at the start of the video. Within two days, the video received 8.8 million views, 104,000 likes, 52,000 retweets and 11,000 comments (shown below).

The following day, on June 28th, President Trump shared the video, adding the comment, "Thank you to the great people of The Villages. The Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats will Fall in the Fall. Corrupt Joe is shot. See you soon!!!" Trump later deleted the tweet (shown below).

Developments

Online Reaction

The tweet became the subject of criticism online. Several threads on Reddit received more than 17,000 points, including posts on /r/SubredditDrama,^[1] /r/politics,^[2][3][4] /r/PoliticalHumor,^[5] /r/LeopardsAteMyFace^[6] and more.

Many people criticized the President's tweet. Podcaster Jon Favreau tweeted,^[7] "Whatever Trump’s intention, promoting a “white power” chant is not a diversion. It’s the President being openly, threateningly racist in the midst of a national reckoning. It’s morally repugnant, and the insinuation that it somehow helps him is contradicted by every single poll." The tweet received more than 18,000 likes and 2,700 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, left).

Twitter^[8] user @mmpadellan tweeted, "Hey, did i miss the tidal wave of Republicans denouncing trump's retweet of a white power video, and his inaction on Putin's bounty on American soldiers, or were they all just predictably silent?" The tweet received more than 40,000 likes and 9,300 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, center).

New York Times White House corresponded tweeted^[9] a statement from the White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, "'His point in tweeting out that video was to stand with his supporters, who are oftentimes demonized,' says @PressSec, on Fox, explaining why Trump tweeted out a video of a supporter at The Villages yelling 'white power.'" PBS News Hour reporter Yamiche Alcindo retweeted the post and wrote, "The WH press secretary is saying Pres Trump tweeted out a video of Trump supporters chanting 'white power' because those supporters are often 'demonized.' Note: Shouting white power is unequivocally racist and something that would lead to someone being rightly demonized." The tweet received more than 18,000 likes and 5,400 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

Government Reaction

On June 28th, Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, denounced the video. He said, "There’s no question that he should not have retweeted it and he should just take it down."

Presidential candidate Vice President Joe Biden tweeted,^[7] "Today the President shared a video of people shouting 'white power' and said they were 'great.' Just like he did after Charlottesville. We’re in a battle for the soul of the nation -- and the President has picked a side. But make no mistake: it’s a battle we will win." The tweet received more than 276,000 likes and 64,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered the story, including Snopes,^[10] the New York Times,^[11] NPR,^[12] Rolling Stone,^[13] Associated Press^[14] and more.

Search Interest

Not available.

External References