(Not) surprise surprise: Donald Trump is a xenophobe

All this bold “Trump is a xenophobe” talk is nice or whatever after he displayed his xenophobia and deliberate ignorance for the 453,607th time since he announced he was running for president to make America hate again, but these words aren’t new:

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

And these words aren’t new either:

“It’s coming from more than Mexico. It’s coming from all over South and Latin America, and it’s coming probably — probably — from the Middle East. But we don’t know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don’t know what’s happening.”

Apparently, too many of us have forgotten that xenophobia has been part of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign since he launched it. This time around, the nouns changed, but the clown did not. So I don’t know where any of this nouveau outrage is coming from, but this guy is who he’s said he is, and he’s not changing.

The data show why he won’t: Immigration was an issue in the presidential exit polls for the first time in 2016. More than 1 in 8 voters said it was the most important issue facing the country, and those voters went for Trump nearly 2:1:

In the seven swing states that Trump won, the margin was no smaller than 39 points (69-30 in Florida), and in Pennsylvania, it was 57 points (78-21). Six of those seven states’ exit polls (13 percent of Indianans said immigration was the top issue, but Indiana’s vote breakdown for that segment is listed as n/a):

Florida:

Michigan:

North Carolina:

Ohio:

Pennsylvania:

Wisconsin:

And since 2016, the issue has become most important to more voters: Gallup’s tracking poll of the most important issues in voters’ eyes has it at 23 percent as of June, and it hasn’t been lower than 16 percent since December:

Trump thinks he can win on it, and if he’s going to win Pennsylvania again, he’s going to have to win immigration again — or find something even more potent: It gave him a net 5.7 points in the state in 2016.

He won by less than a point.

Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign on xenophobia. If his continued xenophobia surprises you, you’ve been living under a mighty white rock.