WHEN A PRESIDENT POINTS AT A COMMUNITY AND SAYS, “THEY’RE THE PROBLEM,” HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE’S DOING
By The Unredacted Bastard — Righteous Rage Division | Professor of Fuckery | Keeper of the Receipts
Let’s get one thing absolutely straight before we dive into the flames:
When Donald Trump responded to the D.C. shooting by immediately blaming “Somalis” — not the suspect, not the circumstances, not the facts — he knew exactly what he was doing.
Not vaguely.
Not accidentally.
Not clumsily.
INTENTIONALLY.
STRATEGICALLY.
MALICIOUSLY.
This wasn’t a “slip.”
This wasn’t “heat of the moment.”
This wasn’t “political rhetoric.”
This was scapegoat manufacturing on a presidential scale — and Minnesota’s Somali community was placed squarely in the crosshairs.
And my dear reader, if you heard that and thought, “Jesus Christ, we’ve seen this movie before,” you’re goddamn right. Because we have. And we know how it ends.
But let’s start at the top
.
THE MOMENT THE MATCH HIT THE GASOLINE
Here’s what Trump said after the shooting — before the victim list was even confirmed, before investigators had finished a sentence, before anyone had time to breathe:
“We have a Somali problem.’’
And then:
“These people… they’re not sending their best.”
Sound familiar?
It’s the same xenophobic Mad Libs he used before every immigration crackdown of his first term — only now he’s president again, surrounded by loyalists, and absolutely frothing for a crisis he can weaponize.
So he pointed at an entire community — tens of thousands of Somali Americans in Minnesota alone — and told the country they were the threat.
Not a suspect.
Not a shooter.
An entire ethnicity.
A whole fucking community became the villain before dawn
.
💣 TRUTH BOMB #1:
He didn’t wait for evidence because evidence was never the point. Fear was the point.
DEMOCRACY DAMAGE REPORT
Step 1: Pick a group. Step 2: Blame them for everything. Step 3: Profit.
The Minnesota Somali community has lived this dance for decades. They know the moves. They know the consequences. They know how quickly a president’s words become someone else’s fists.
And Trump knows that too.
He knows that Minnesota Republicans have long flirted with anti-Somali narratives.
He knows that right-wing media lives for stories like this.
He knows that fear of “the other” is political gasoline in an election cycle.
So he did what authoritarians always do:
He fed the base a new villain to chew on.
And the machine responded exactly as expected:
Hate calls to Somali-owned businesses skyrocketed.
Online threats exploded.
Community leaders begged the public — again — not to paint them with a blood-soaked brush dipped in someone else’s violence.
Right-wing influencers skipped straight past “concern” to “deport them all.”
It was all so fucking predictable I could’ve written the script myself.
💣 TRUTH BOMB #2:
When the most powerful man in the country singles out your ethnicity, that is not “political speech.” It is a goddamn threat.
A SHORT HISTORY OF “WE KNOW THIS PATTERN AND IT NEVER ENDS WELL.”
Let’s take a brief, furious tour of America’s greatest hits:
Japanese Internment
One attack by one country.
But 120,000 people — most American citizens — lost their homes, businesses, dignity, freedom, and sometimes their lives.
Because fear makes people stupid.
And power makes that stupidity lethal.
Post-9/11 Muslim Surveillance & Targeting
A generation of Muslim, South Asian, and Arab Americans were treated like ticking bombs simply because they existed in a country hungry for a villain.
Entire communities became suspects by default.
Echoes sound familiar yet?
Post-Hurricane Katrina Anti-Black Myths
Remember the “superpredators looting the city” narrative?
Completely fabricated.
Devastating anyway.
The Trump Era Playbook (2015–2025)
Mexicans: “rapists.”
Muslims: “ban them.”
Haitians: “AIDS.”
African nations: “shithole countries.”
Immigrants: “poisoning the blood of our nation.”
Now: “The Somali problem.”
America’s greatest shame is how quickly this country accepts collective guilt as a political shortcut.
And Trump fucking thrives on that weakness.
💣 TRUTH BOMB #3:
Every authoritarian rises to power with the same three words: “Those people there.”
THE LOGIC IS BULLSHIT AND HERE’S WHY
Let’s dissect Trump’s “Somali problem” the way a forensic analyst dissects bullshit under a microscope.
1. Somali Americans are not disproportionately violent.
In fact, in Minnesota — the epicenter of Somali American life in the U.S. — crime rates in Somali-majority neighborhoods are lower than surrounding areas once socioeconomic factors are controlled.
2. The Minnesota Somali community is overwhelmingly U.S.-born or long-settled.
This isn’t a “new wave.”
This isn’t “unvetted immigrants.”
This is an American community with decades of roots.
3. The shooting wasn’t committed by “the community.”
Communities don’t commit crimes.
Individuals do.
But racists fucking love a shortcut.
4. Trump didn’t give a single shit about the facts.
He wasn’t reacting to a situation.
He was using a situation.
And let’s say the quiet part out loud:
If the suspect had been white, Trump would’ve talked for twenty minutes about mental health, fatherlessness, and “a disturbed young man in need of prayer.”
But when the suspect is Black and Muslim?
Collective guilt.
Collective blame.
Collective punishment.
Lather, rinse, repeat
.
💣 TRUTH BOMB #4:
It is always “personal responsibility” until the perpetrator is white. Then it’s therapy time.
THE REAL DANGER: THIS ISN’T JUST RHETORIC — IT’S POLICY SOFTENING
Why target Somalis?
Because Trump has a fucking agenda, and this moment is a gift to him.
He wants:
Mass deportations
Muslim-focused surveillance
Immigration restrictions
The re-branding of immigrants as national security threats
A pretext for using federal power in “high-risk” communities
Full public support for draconian policies
To achieve that, he needs a villain people will fear.
And he knows white America is already conditioned to fear Black Muslims.
He didn’t create the stereotype.
He just weaponized it more efficiently than anyone before him.
This is how modern pogroms begin:
Not with laws, but with rhetoric designed to justify laws.
BIPARTISAN BULLSHIT WATCH
Let’s not pretend both sides don’t know exactly what’s happening.
Democrats with spines made of wet linguine offer “concern.”
Republicans offer gasoline.
Right-wing media offers matches.
And centrists wring their hands while communities scramble to protect their kids.
It’s the same American playbook we’ve seen since the 1800s:
“There must be something wrong with them.”
— Every coward afraid to confront actual complexity
No, motherfucker.
There’s something wrong with YOU.
THE UGLIEST PART? HE KNEW MINNESOTA WOULD BLEED FOR THIS.
Targeting Somalis wasn’t random.
It was surgical.
Minnesota’s Somali population is:
Visible
Black
Muslim
Immigrant
Politically active
Community-organized
Fiercely proud
The perfect foil for a white rural grievance machine
In other words:
Exactly the kind of community Trump loves to demonize.
And he did it because he knew the fallout would be big enough to dominate news cycles but not big enough to spark national outrage.
He knew pundits would shrug.
He knew his base would cheer.
He knew Minnesota progressives would scream into the void while nothing structurally changed.
He knew he could punch down without consequence.
And that — THAT — is why this moment is so dangerous.
💣 TRUTH BOMB #5:
When the President decides an entire community is the enemy, the line between rhetoric and persecution evaporates overnight.
LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT COMES NEXT
If history is any indicator — and spoiler alert, it always fucking is — here’s what we should expect:
1. “Enhanced vetting” of Somali immigrants.
Translation: harassment, delays, punishment.
2. Increased surveillance of mosques, Somali nonprofits, and community organizations.
It’ll be framed as “safety.”
3. Calls for deportations.
Already starting.
4. Hate crimes.
Also already happening.
5. Political opportunists exploiting fear.
They’re writing fundraising emails as we speak.
6. “Patriotic” militias deciding they’re community protectors.
If you feel your skin crawl, that’s your survival instinct working properly.
This is the beginning of a moral emergency, and if we don’t name it as such, it becomes normalized before we even notice.
THE PUBLIC’S JOB: REFUSE THE FUCKING FRAME
You stop this by refusing to play the game.
You reject the “Somali problem” premise entirely.
You correct the lies every time you hear them.
You refuse to let an entire community be painted as monsters because a bigot in a state of power needed a political chew toy.
You refuse to let people hide behind “concern.”
You refuse to let racism masquerade as patriotism.
And above all:
You remember that the loudest voices calling for collective punishment are always the smallest people hiding behind the biggest flags.
PAID UPGRADE CTA — THE BASTARD WAY
Look, I’m retired. I’m reader-funded. No sponsors. No corporate leash.
If you want this level of fire, profanity, and historically informed rage every damn day, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
It keeps this operation independent, angry, sharpened, and loud as hell.
👉 Upgrade if you can. Rage like this doesn’t run on air.
CROSS-PROMO TO LOTUS
If you need a break from this firestorm, go read Lotus, the feline philosopher who roasts humanity with snark instead of napalm. She’s the soft landing to my hard truths — and the two of us are a hell of a combo.
LIKE, SHARE & SUBSCRIBE
If this hit you, share it.
If it pissed you off in the right way, subscribe.
If it made you think, pass it on.
That’s how resistance spreads.
BUY ME A COFFEE
If you want to fuel The Bastard’s next profanity-laced civic sermon, you can Buy Me A Coffee — because caffeine is cheaper than therapy and far more effective.
Hashtags
#UnredactedBastard #Minnesota #SomaliCommunity #TrumpRhetoric #Scapegoating #Receipts #Authoritarianism #ImmigrantJustice #DeepDive