Politics- President
Donald Trump has exhibited an obsession with the notion that certain people have superior genes for a long time. - Trump on Friday told a crowd of nearly all white supporters that they have "good genes" and referenced the "racehorse theory."
- "You have good genes. You know that, right? You have good genes. A lot of it is about the genes, isn't it, don't you believe? The racehorse theory. You think we're so different? You have good genes in
Minnesota ," Trump said. - Minnesota is a predominantly white state where many people are of Scandinavian descent.
- Trump has previously suggested he has superior genes and boasted about his "German blood."
President Donald Trump on Friday told a crowd of nearly all white supporters in Minnesota that they have "good genes" and referenced the "racehorse theory," or the belief that some people are born genetically superior.
"You have good genes. You know that, right? You have good genes. A lot of it is about the genes, isn't it, don't you believe? The racehorse theory. You think we're so different? You have good genes in Minnesota," Trump said to his supporters in a state where many people are of Scandinavian descent.
Minnesota is about 79% white, according to the US Census Bureau, and the crowd on Friday appeared to reflect that.
At other points in the rally, Trump disparaged refugees and applauded a recent incident in which a reporter was struck in the knee with a rubber bullet fired by police.
The president's comments on "good genes" prompted alarm on social media and comparisons to the Nazi obsession with the "master race" and eugenics.
"As a historian who has written about the Holocaust, I'll say bluntly: This is indistinguishable from the Nazi rhetoric that led to Jews, disabled people, LGBTQ, Romani and others being exterminated. This is America 2020. This is where the GOP has taken us," Steve Silberman, an author and historian, tweeted.
—Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) September 20, 2020
—James Fallows (@JamesFallows) September 19, 2020
—Radley Balko (@radleybalko) September 20, 2020
Trump has a long history of suggesting certain people, including himself, have superior genetics.
"I have Ivy League education, smart guy, good genes. I have great genes and all that stuff which I'm a believer in," Trump said at a 2016 rally in Biloxi, Mississippi.
"I'm a gene believer," Trump told CNN in 2010. "Hey, when you connect two racehorses, you get usually end up with a fast horse."
"I'm proud to have that German blood ... great stuff," Trump said in a 2014 documentary.
Trump has also rejected the notion that "all men are created equal," perhaps the most famous line from the Declaration of Independence, saying some men are "smart" and some "aren't."
During a tour in May of a Ford manufacturing facility in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the president praised Henry Ford's "good bloodlines."
Trump was heavily criticized over these comments at the time, given Ford's anti-Semitic writings and his relationship with the Nazis.