Imagine if, after months of picking on you for your religious beliefs, your asshole, racist boss abruptly fired you and then on your birthday sent you an email that says he hopes you’re enjoying your “time off.”
Though on a much grander scale, that’s essentially what Donald Trump did to Iranians on Wednesday when he issued a statement wishing them “freedom, dignity, and wealth” in celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Iranians might be able to enjoy more “freedom, dignity, and wealth” if Trump wasn’t personally trying so hard to ban them from entering the country.
Trump, who both failed to mention the Jews and announce his initial Muslim ban on Holocaust Remembrance Day, also called Iranian-Americans “one of the most successful immigrant groups in our country’s contemporary history” in his tone-deaf statement. He certainly has a knack for turning simple gestures of kindness into flagrant displays of disregard.
Trump has tried to push through two immigration bans on several Muslim-majority countries, including Iran in both bans. Both of his executive orders have been blocked by federal judges. Hawaii argues that the revised ban is “state-sanctioned discrimination toward Muslims,” which is unconstitutional.
The ban continues to disrupt the lives and families of Muslims and Muslim-Americans in America and around the world. According to the New York Times, for many Iranian-Americans, “this is the first time since arriving in the United States after the Iranian revolution of 1979 that they feel that they cannot risk leaving the country for fear they will not be allowed to return.”
The statement was released by the White House on Trump’s behalf, but he hasn’t personally tweeted anything about Nowruz. He did give a shoutout to farmers and ranchers for the very important National Ag Day, organized by the Agriculture Council of America, on Tuesday:
GET JEZEBEL RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
