Donald Trump called me “crooked as hell” as he spread lies about the fraud that occurred in Minnesota. Any keen observer will recognize the pattern of inciting hostility against me and the Somali community whenever his own failures and corruption catches up to him. He routinely reaches for the same tired playbook of lies, racism and deflection.

This is not a new strategy. Lyndon B Johnson once said: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” This is exactly what Trump’s doing: demonizing Black and brown people so that we pay less attention to him picking our pockets in broad daylight. He uses fraud as a political cudgel while protecting his donor base and enriching himself.

The truth is Trump doesn’t care about addressing fraud. He has repeatedly pardoned and rewarded some of the most brazen financial criminals. He pardoned Philip Esformes, convicted in what his own Department of Justice described as the “largest health care fraud scheme ever charged”.

He granted clemency to Lawrence Duran after a $205m fraud conviction. He commuted Jason Galanis’s sentence and pardoned Devon Archer, who were both tied to tens of millions in fraud, and also pardoned Joseph Schwartz for a $38m fraud scheme, and reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley for........

© The Guardian