We see the rabid ralliers shouting “Send her back” and we think “Once again Trump is shilling to the extreme right base.” And we may think “But at least traditional Republicans won’t pander to those racist rednecks from North Carolina.”

But there’s a far more frightening trend developing. Trump already has a lock on the far right; he’s now pitching his rhetoric to draw in the middle ground: these four women “hate America” i.e. “they hate you.” The Republicans who had originally opposed Trump’s pandering to white nationalists (as had Lindsey Graham in 2016) realize that if they lose the support of traditional conservative / moderate Republican voters, they’ll be booted out of office, and they’re leaping from the Republican frying pan into the Trump fire.

Like the moderate Episcopal bishops criticized by MLK in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” for opposing immediate civil rights reform in favor of a gradualist approach, the middle ground is racist / xenophobic but don’t think they are, because they’re not as extreme as the white nationalists. These conservatives / moderates believe they’re just standing up for their country.

We cannot afford to let the middle ground and their elected officials feel comfortable with Trump’s patriotic racism.