After today we can conclude that Trump’s obsession with DEIA is both real, and a front.
It is real and personal in the sense that he, and those who surround him like Hegseth and Voght truly believe that the nation is swamped by DEI and that DEI is poison to effectiveness. You can see this in his response to the tragic crash at DCA.
And you can see it in the pointless order that followed which stated:
“This shocking event follows problematic and likely illegal decisions during the Obama and Biden Administrations that minimized merit and competence in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).”
This follows Trump’s efforts to purge federal staff for DEIA, not only those who worked in diversity or accessibility, but even those who merely took a class. (Credit Ed Kilgore):
After doing so, agencies were asked to identify additional staff who worked on those areas during a meeting with OPM staff last week, the officials said. These people said it seemed that the Trump administration had expected the number to be larger. Some agency officials parsed through position descriptions to find additional related roles.
The Trump administration has followed up with agencies about employees thought to be working on diversity issues as well as those who have attended internal diversity events, people familiar with the matter said.
This is a true obsession for some, and will do real harm to others.
But, DEIA is also a dodge. Trump’s response to the bogeyman after all has been to unleash a purge which will allow him an excuse to gut government capacity for regulation and public services; staff agencies with political loyalists; and likely privatize functions. As Robert Reich and others have noted these attacks fuel his overall goal of reducing government and empowering the rich, and by making it all about DEIA they can get their own “base” to suck it up.
The time has long since passed for us to worry about “identity politics” versus “good government” or even “popularism”. Trump is attacking everything at once and trying to take the foundation with it. We no longer have the luxury of defending one side and letting go of another, and trying will just weaken us all.