Rantz: Seattle Mayor Durkan’s politically dangerous obsession with Trump

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan won’t stop talking about President Donald Trump. But her obsession is not based on a legitimate, principled disgust with the President’s positions; it’s a political strategy to appeal to social justice warriors and it can backfire bigly.

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Last week, Durkan emailed staff to condemn the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, while tying the violence to shootings she could exploit to show her commitment to different communities.

For the El Paso shooting, Durkan blamed Trump.

“In El Paso, the gunman, whose rhetoric mirrored our current President, acted on anti-immigrant racism, traveling hundreds of miles to target a predominantly Latinx community,” she stated, ignoring the Dayton shooter’s support of Antifa and far Left politicians because it didn’t fit her narrative.

This week, Durkan again turned her attention to a Trump policy, in order to call him racist. She took issue with the new “public charge” rule, which makes it easier to reject green cards for individuals relying on public assistance.

“In New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty stands tall and holds a torch that lights the way. And it proclaims: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ This rule contradicts the fundamental values on which the promise of America is built,” said Mayor Durkan in a press release. “Every day, it seems we wake up to new cruel and hateful policies like this one. Too many people have been hurt. We must and will fight the president’s anti-immigrant and anti-family agenda – and we will win.”

This is Durkan pretending to be outraged.

The Mayor is not seen as especially progressive by the activist base, which can make her re-election bid more difficult. Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, considerably more fringe than Durkan, is rumored to be interested in running for Mayor.

Durkan needs to win over the loud activists on Seattle Twitter, and by continuously attacking Trump, she is able to pretend to share their values, without alienating more pragmatic progressive Seattle voters that reject the crazy voices, while also generally disliking Trump.

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But this can backfire because of how inauthentic it is.

Durkan calls out a “cruel” policy by Trump, while increasing homeless sweeps these activists believe to be just as cruel. Durkan says the President targets communities of color, while she pushes regressive soda taxes that disproportionately impact communities of color. Every time Durkan goes after Trump with a press release, it just reminds how much of a phony progressive she is.

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