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Salon
Salon
Politics
Heather Digby Parton

FORGOTTEN HISTORY: Desantis tries to out trump trump | History Defined

Students from the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School AP Spanish class help deliver food to St Andrew's Episcopal Church on Sept. 15. Two planes of migrants from Venezuela arrived suddenly on the island Wednesday night. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

There were so many scandals during the Trump years that it's hard to remember all. Some stand out, of course, like his blatant obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation and his attempted extortion against the Ukrainian government in hopes of smearing Joe Biden. And of course Trump went out with a bang, attempting a coup and inciting an insurrection. Those things got him impeached — and may end up getting him indicted. But there was so much more.

You certainly recall the horrific family separation policy at the border, which caused an international outcry and was finally reversed under pressure. Trump eventually did build segments of his silly wall, but did not get the sharp spikes on top or the alligator moat, ideas he actually raised at various points. He asked whether the Border Patrol or National Guard could shoot undocumented immigrants at border crossings (OK, maybe just in the leg) and he campaigned on the idea of reviving the hideous 1950s policy "Operation Wetback," which rounded up immigrants (and sometimes U.S. citizens as well) and dropped them off in the Mexican desert with no food, water or money. Luckily, American law has evolved enough to prevent such inhumane practices, which I'm sure disappointed him. (These days he's proposing a similar approach with unhoused citizens in American cities, so the idea has stuck with him.)

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