On Wednesday, Pat Buchanan – a man who routinely suggests that what he calls white European ethno-nationalism must be the basis of a future America – admitted that Donald Trump shares his beliefs. Touting Trump, Buchanan exposited on Trump’s philosophy: “You could call it tribalism. You could call it ethno-nationalism.”
Tribalism and ethno-nationalism are code-words for racism. There is no reason to suggest that conservative principles are an inherent part of such a philosophic perspective; tribalism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “loyalty to a tribe or other social group especially when combined with strong negative feelings for people outside the group.” More specifically, as Macmillan Dictionary defines the term, tribalism means “a way of thinking or behaving in which people are more loyal to their tribe than to their friends, their country, or any other social group.”
Thus loyalty to one’s tribe, which for Buchanan has always meant loyalty to whites descended from Europeans, supersedes loyalty to one’s country, which is, in actuality, similar to the modern Democratic Party’s insistence on appealing to ethnic groups as separate entities, rather than the traditional American insistence on a commitment to shared values.
Some pertinent examples of Buchanan’s white racism:
From Suicide of a Superpower: “And as the faith that gave birth to the West is dying in the West, peoples of European descent from the steppes of Russia to the coast of California have begun to die out, as the Third World treks north to claim the estate.
From The End of White America: “Those who believe the rise to power of an Obama rainbow coalition of peoples of color means the whites who helped to engineer it will steer it are deluding themselves. The whites may discover what it is like to ride in the back of the bus.”
Buchanan, like Trump, can praise dictators; he wrote of Adolf Hitler, “He was also an individual of great courage, a soldier’s soldier in the Great War, a leader steeped in the history of Europe, who possessed oratorical powers that could awe even those who despised him. But Hitler’s success was not based on his extraordinary gifts alone. His genius was an intuitive sense of the mushiness, the character flaws, the weakness masquerading as morality that was in the hearts of the statesmen who stood in his path.”
“The whites may discover what it is like to ride in the back of the bus.”
Pat Buchanan
It’s not at all surprising that the same man who could praise Hitler and also denied Jews were gassed at Treblinka in World War II, saying, “Diesel engines do not emit enough carbon monoxide to kill anybody,” would praise the same man who tolerates alt-right racist groups.
It’s not surprising that the same man who once wrote of former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, “Take a hard look at Duke’s portfolio of winning issues and expropriate those not in conflict with GOP principles, [such as] reverse discrimination against white folks,” would praise the same man who refused to denounce Duke only days before the Louisiana primary.
It’s not surprising that Buchanan feels free to endorse Trump with all of his tribalist, ethno-nationalist heart.