美国国家公共电台 NPR 'He Says Stupid Stuff': Amid Outrage, Trump Supporters Shrug Off Racist Language

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

President Trump¹ rephrased some racist² remarks without changing the meaning. He said that four lawmakers should go back where they came from and then said if they don't like America, they can leave. The lawmakers, for the record, are Americans elected by Americans. And NPR's Tovia Smith visited the district of one, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.

TOVIA SMITH, BYLINE³: As President Trump was dismissing criticism of what he said, he was also insisting that, quote, "a lot of people love it." But in deep blue Massachusetts, not so much.

D L POLONSKY: He's racist. He's psychotic. He's destroying democracy.

SMITH: D.L. Polonsky (ph) wears a "Deport⁴ Trump" button in Allston, a gritty neighborhood of Boston that's represented by African American Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. An anti-Trump political cartoonist, Polonsky says he's offended by the president's latest comments but not surprised. He sees it as a deliberate political stunt⁵ meant to rally Trump's base.

POLONSKY: He's just trying to distract. He's just gaslighting. And he's just a disruptor.

SMITH: Around the corner at a neighborhood bar, bartender Sarah Leib says Trump has hit a new low - again. He's dragging down the public discourse⁶, she says, and jacking up resentment⁷ among white Americans. Take the guy the other night who she refused to serve because he was already drunk.

SARAH LEIB: He's like, you won't serve me because I'm a white male. I'm like, dude, like - (laughter) there's - yeah, I've never seen anything like that.

SMITH: Leib says Trump is completely unfair to attack any member of Congress for criticizing policies.

LEIB: That's what they're supposed to do. I mean, they're doing their job, and they're doing it effectively. But his ego⁸ is so fragile and thin, he says some asinine⁹ thing, that now that's in the news.

SMITH: On the upside, 23-year-old Ana Maria Arabanos says the whole uproar¹⁰ is focusing positive attention on the squad¹¹, including her Congresswoman, Ayanna Pressley.

ANA MARIA ARABANOS: And I'm grateful that we do have leaders that are representative of me, like, being a woman of color, who are standing¹² up to him.

SMITH: Across the bar, 60-year-old Republican Chris Kennedy, who voted for Trump, sees a different upside. He doesn't like the president's comments, but he is happy that Trump is drawing attention to issues like immigration policy.

CHRIS KENNEDY: I think as negative as he is and as much of a troublemaker¹³ as he is, he is contributing to a very positive forward momentum¹⁴ because politicians behind him will have no choice but to focus on these issues that he has pushed to the surface.

SMITH: Fifty-four-year-old Bill Rhoades, who's in town on business from Connecticut, is also a Trump fan but only, he says, because he purposely does not follow Trump's tweets.

BILL RHOADES: You can't let it bother you because, I mean, he says stupid stuff every week. But as long as he's doing a good job, then that's good. I mean, my stock has soared. The economy's doing well.

SMITH: All that counts more, Rhoades says, than what he sees as Trump's questionable¹⁵ comments.

RHOADES: Unless he's actually called them out on their race, I don't think it's racist. I mean, I've heard other people say stuff like that too.

ALAN WALTER: That sounds like something I'd say too.

SMITH: Sixty-five-year-old Alan Walter says he sees it as a plus that the president doesn't cow to political correctness. And he points his criticism at the Democrats¹⁶, who he says are playing the race card.

WALTER: You know, the racist thing is so burnt out, man. It's such a lame¹⁷ label. Just - oh, just say, oh, he's a racist. It's the easiest thing to do.

SMITH: But Walter also agrees with Trump critics on one thing, that the president's controversial comments are less a slip of the tongue than a deliberate strategy he hopes will win him a second term in office.

Tovia Smith, NPR News, Boston.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

5 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

6 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

7 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

8 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

9 asinine   

adj.愚蠢的

参考例句：

• It is an asinine discussion.那是个愚蠢透顶的讨论。
• I must have been insane to listen to your asinine gibberish!我真是昏了头居然听信了你的胡说八道！

10 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

11 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 troublemaker   

n.惹是生非者，闹事者，捣乱者

参考例句：

• I would hate you to think me a troublemaker.我不愿你认为我是个搬弄是非的人。
• Li Yang has always been a troublemaker.李阳总是制造麻烦。

14 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

15 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

16 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。