Former Obama national security adviser says Trump's 'raw racism' is a global issue

Originally Published: 06 AUG 19 13:10 ET

By Devan Cole, CNN

(CNN) -- Former national security adviser Susan Rice slammed President Donald Trump in an op-ed for The New York Times, writing that his "raw racism" is a global issue.

"Is there no floor to how low this President and complicit Republicans are prepared to go to divide America? Yet, the consequences of Mr. Trump's raw racism are not contained within America's shores. They ricochet around the world as far away as New Zealand, poison the international climate and undermine America's ability to secure our global interests," Rice, who served in the Obama administration, wrote in the piece published Tuesday.

Rice's comments come as the country reels from two mass shootings in the span of 13 hours over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that killed at least 31. In the wake of the Texas domestic terrorism case, Democrats and progressives have called out Trump's incendiary language on immigration, accusing him of contributing to the rampage, which was carried out by a white supremacist who is believed to have authored a racist, anti-immigrant document targeting Hispanics. Rice joins former President Barack Obama and former FBI Director James Comey as the latest high-profile former official to speak out against racism following the attacks.

"When the President of the United States reveals himself to be an unabashed bigot, attacking minorities in his own country, America's ability to stand credibly against human rights abuses ... is thwarted in ways lasting and immeasurable," Rice wrote. "Dictators around the world encounter no opprobrium from our government and are comforted to find a fellow traveler in rhetoric and policies that demean his own people."

In the piece, Rice said that "it's hard to calculate the damage that President Trump's overt racism and almost daily attacks on black and brown people are having on the fabric of our nation," but she linked the Trump to the Texas shooting, adding: "With white supremacy bolstered from the Oval Office, hate crimes and domestic terrorism incidents are increasing, including, it appears, Saturday's mass shooting in El Paso."

During a speech at the White House on Monday, Trump called on the nation to condemn racism and white supremacy in the wake of the shootings, but he stopped short of acknowledging his own divisive and racist rhetoric.

Rice also said Trump's "goal, quite simply, is to pit Americans against one another for crass political purposes" and to "vent his unabashed personal prejudice," adding that congressional Republicans "by and large amplify his message through their deafening silence."