Casino King
Donald Trump was a big-shot gamblin’ man in the 1980’s, creating a name for himself with his casinos in Atlantic City. Unfortunately, he would go on to squander his dream of running cash-generating casinos when he went bankrupt. How do you not make a profit from a casino? Doesn’t the “house always win?”
In 1993, Donald Trump sat in front of members of Congress to discuss his casinos. He claimed that Native Americans, who were opening casinos in Atlantic City, “don’t look like Indians to me.”
You’ll recognize his reference to “blood” in this video. During the 2024 election, he would talk about how immigrants were “poisoning the blood of this country.”
After Trump made the racist comments, one member of Congress was deeply troubled by what he had just heard. He called out the disgusting reference to “blood” and shot back, saying he was glad they don’t have to go by Trump’s “sight test,” when approving funding for Native Americans, referencing his “They don’t look like Indians to me” statement.
He admonished Trump for his racist comments, pointing out that they were indeed exactly that—racist.
Racist comments attacking Native Americans again
There was another incident where Trump made racist comments about Native Americans in an attempt to turn the public against them and block the opening of a casino.
From the LA Times:
Soon after a [Native American] tribe announced plans to open a casino at a Catskills horse track, ads started appearing in local newspapers and on radio, sounding an alarm about unbridled crime and corruption.
“They came from the New York Institute for Law and Society, a new self-described grass-roots anti-gambling group targeting the St. Regis Mohawks. Its campaign in 2000, supposedly supported by 12,000 “pro-family” donors, warned of the evils an Indian casino would bring: “increased crime, broken families, bankruptcies and, in the case of the Mohawks, violence.”
Trump found himself in a scandal after making racist comments about Native Americans again, this time with the help of dark money. He did eventually have consequences this time. Trump, and the group that provided the funding, were fined $250,000 for spreading lies and airing the false attack ads.
Back in 1993, Trump was lashing out at the casino owners for one reason: their casinos would create competition. He didn’t want other casinos to open around his own in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He later went on to try and destroy another casino run by Native Americans when a group ran attack ads and that spread lies to create fear in people.
He’s been trying to bring out anger, fear. and hate in people ever since.
This video makes it clear that he has always been racist. In the past, he and his father would refuse to rent apartments in their building to black and brown tenants. They were taken to court over it and lost (though Trump still claims they won).
Donald Trump has continued to make racist comments after that hearing in 1993.
