Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Georgia in February 2016. Photo from Twitter
Steve Russell, a member of the Cherokee Nation, warns Indian Country not to ignore Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump:
I have no patience for Indians who won’t attend to U.S. government because they value their tribal citizenship more. Leaving aside that most of those folks won’t attend to tribal government, either, you can’t keep any sovereign from messing with you by ignoring it. The U.S. has a system of dual sovereigns, state and federal, and tribal citizenship makes a third. Often, the three sovereigns don’t conflict, but when they do, you don’t help your favorite by forsaking your duty to heave and tug on the others. . . . Now, think about the hostile takeover of the national Republican Party by Donald Trump, about whom the best you can say is that what he will do as POTUS is a mystery. We do know, however, that the POTUS has a great deal of power, Trump, in his capacity as casino mogul, had plenty of fights with Indians over casino turf. It’s a fair assumption that President Trump will be no friend of Indians generally and tribal sovereignty particularly. While this is true of elections generally, this election in 2016 has telegraphed specific danger signals. Trump may be clownish at times, but we ignore this clown at our peril.Get the Story:
Steve Russell: Trump's Hostile Takeover of Republican Party: Bad News for Indians (Indian Country Today 3/17)
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