The president is attacking black athletes again.

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump tapped out a series of angry Twitter posts attacking black athletes and celebrities. If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The president has gone after LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Jemele Hill, and countless others — all in the past few months.

Notice something? There’s no mistaking the fact that the subject of Trump’s ire are all prominent African Americans. It’s no coincidence that Trump makes a sport of attacking black celebrities, especially those who have been outspoken against his policies or behavior in office.

But others have noticed this disturbing trend as well; in fact, there’s emerging evidence that the attacks are turning off the people they’re designed to rally to Trump’s side — his white, conservative base.

On Sunday, the president expressed his frustration with LaVar Ball, who told ESPN in a Friday interview that Trump didn’t do much to secure the release of his son LiAngelo from Chinese authorities following the younger Ball’s arrest on shoplifting charges earlier this month. The prickly president lashed out, saying in a tweet, “I should have left them in jail!”

Then, early Monday morning, Trump returned to Twitter, criticizing Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, calling for his suspension for the rest of the professional football season because Lynch sat during part of the “Star-Spangled Banner” and stood during the Mexican national anthem.

This is getting predictably tiresome. As anyone who has been paying attention to his constant Twitter barrages knows well, Trump’s social media blasts are intended to bolster his base of supporters, riling them up at the slightest opportunity to keep his supporters from give full attention to his problems. In effect, Trump uses racism to change the media’s focus away from him and to vilify people of color.

These diversions have happened so often and almost always paint black or brown people in an unflattering light, while portraying Trump as an aggrieved victim or unappreciated benefactor.

For example, a group of Republican women in North Carolina who voted for Trump said during a recent focus group that they had become increasingly disappointed with him, partly because they felt he was distracted by picking fights with people who don’t praise him.

There’s little remaining doubt about the method to Trump’s madness. His racist rants follow a pattern: When breaking news suggests he or members of his administration are in trouble, he finds a scapegoat of color to divert public attention.

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-politics-of-distraction-bbc96303f290/