WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, issued this statement reacting to President Trump’s racist slur during a ceremony honoring Native American Code Talkers:
“The president should study his history. The Native American Code Talkers are true war heroes whose patriotism and honor during World War II helped ensure our victory against oppression and hatred. The Code Talkers gave back to their country by sharing their language even though they were born into a nation that often denied them their most basic civil rights and even when they faced bigotry and injustice in their own lands. Donald Trump’s racist joke – during Native American Heritage Month no less – demeaned the contributions that the Code Talkers and countless other Native American patriots and citizens have made to our great country. This moment in history won’t overshadow the contribution the Code Talkers made and continue to make to our nation. But racist comments like that are never acceptable, and are in especially poor taste against the backdrop of Andrew Jackson’s portrait. The days when the President of the United States was held as a moral authority around the world were over 11 months ago, but at what should have been a solemn ceremony to honor Native veterans, Donald Trump took low even lower.”
