As the chant of “send her back, send her back” echoed around the arena at his rally in North Carolina, the president had two options: let it go on or put a stop to it.
He could hardly blame the crowd. Trump had baited them on by painting a dark and at times distorted account of the behaviour of the left wing Somali-American congresswomen Ilhan Omar.
Trump said this included Omar blaming the US for terrorism, smearing American soldiers in Somalia, downplaying the 9/11 terror attacks, being sympathetic to al-Qaeda and being an anti-Semite.
Some of this was accurate, some of it was not. But Trump rallies are not events where facts are tested or reason debated. His supporters at these rallies act like a mob, moving as one at his instructions.
Trump fuelled the crowd, injecting ever more outrage as he attacked each of the four members of minority liberal congresswomen known as The Squad.
When the first Trump supporters started yelling “traitor”, the president continued undeterred.
When the crowd initially started a chant of “send her back” about Omar, the president continued his attack, pointing out the anti-Semitic comments Omar has made and since apologised for.
And when the cries of “send her back, send her back” echoed loudly across the area, Trump stood back from the podium for 13 seconds and soaked it in. He gave no sign that he was disturbed by a crowd calling on the expulsion from the US of a Muslim-American congresswomen simply because they did not agree with her views. After all, it was Trump who started the controversy only days earlier by calling on Omar to go back to her birth country of Somalia.
The sight of a president presiding over a racist chant reminiscent of the Jim Crow era was a shocking moment, stunning even conservatives and congressional Republicans.
The conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said it best, pointing out that while you might disagree vehemently with Omar’s views, her right to free speech is enshrined in the constitution.
“Vile,” Shaprio said of the “send her back” chant. “Omar is awful. She is a radical anti-Semite with terrible views. She is also an American citizen and chanting for her deportation based on her exercise of the First Amendment is disgusting.”
Senior Republicans were so shocked that they visited Vice President Mike Pence and expressed their concern, asking that the president quickly distance himself from the chant that he provoked.
“We have to be defined by our policies, not by offensive chants,” Republican Mark Walker told Pence.
Only after he was assailed by his own party and by conservative commentators from around the country did Trump move to limit the damage.
“I wasn’t happy with that message that they gave last night,” he said belatedly. “I was not happy when I heard that chant.”
Asked why he didn’t try to shut down, Trump claimed he did so by starting to speak “very quickly, and I think you know that.” His claim is not supported by the video.
Trump has made The Squad, and especially Omar, his new political target, portraying them as the radical socialist face of the Democratic Party.
He has decided that their hard-left polices and sometimes offensive statements will help energise his supporters.
That is a valid political strategy, but Trump is blinded by the prize and has so far shown no decency or judgment in the way he pursues it. If Trump wins re-election next year it will be despite his character, not because of it.
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia
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