Return of the nativists

The nativism unleashed by President Trump is ugly. America must transcend it.

Trump supporters.
(Image credit: Illustrated | NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images, jessicahyde/iStock)

In the beginning, there was San Bernardino.

Up until December 2015, Donald Trump's presidential campaign looked to most Americans like a boredom-alleviating diversion for an aging and affluent playboy. Then Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple, murdered 14 people at an office Christmas party in San Bernardino, California. It was the hot wind behind the brush fire of the Trump campaign — he soon called for his infamous Muslim ban — and the nation was plunged into furious debates about border walls, terrorism, and birth tourism.

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Rachel Lu

Rachel Lu is a writer based in Roseville, Minnesota. Her work has appeared in many publications, including National Review, The American Conservative, America Magazine, and The Federalist. She previously worked as an academic philosopher, and is a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.