Donald Trump Vs. Political Correctness

Of the many factors that may have prevented the recent shooting at the Inland Regional Center that killed 14 and injured even more, there's one factor in particular that stands out to the current GOP presidential front-runner. Donald Trump blames political correctness for the San Bernardino shooting, citing neighbors who felt as if they knew what was unfolding at the suspects' house. He alleges that they didn't feel comfortable coming forward after seeing the suspects engage in suspicious activities for fear of being seen as racially profiling the two. In a recent interview on CBS' Face the Nation, Trump had this to say about how PC culture acted as a blockade:

A lot of people knew what was going on in that house or that apartment and people were not wanting to call because they thought it would be inappropriate to call. They were saying that they would've been profiling and a person said, 'We sort of knew what was going on but we don't want to profile...' If they thought there was something wrong with that group and they saw what was happening and they didn't want to call the police because they didn't want to be profiling. I think that's pretty bad... Everybody wants to be politically correct and that's the problem we have in our country.

This isn't the first time that Trump has come down on political correctness, though this may be the most politically charged issue the GOP presidential hopeful has tied PC culture to. During the first Republican presidential debate, Trump mentioned that political correctness was a "big problem" and has consistently been dismissive of those who use such language. The very next month, Trump complained about political correctness yet again at a campaign stop in South Carolina.

Trump's response to the San Bernardino shooting appears to advocate more for the type of racial profiling he says that neighbors felt prevented them from coming forward about the suspects however. Going back to the Syrian refugee crisis and the debate of allowing those seeking asylum into the country, Trump was initially vocal and adamant about establishing a database tracking Muslims. He has since backed off a bit from those comments, insinuating that he's more focused on building a wall between the country and Mexico.

The candidate prides himself on his opposition to PC culture and credits not buying into political correctness as a marker for how much of a straight talking politician he is. By all accounts, however, Trump seems to be using political correctness as a crutch. When he was challenged by journalist George Stephanopoulos about his claims that there were Muslim citizens celebrating 9/11 in New Jersey, Trump blamed the This Week host's own political correctness for Stephanopoulos refusing to believe him. He similarly uses political correctness to simplify a tragedy that is still under investigation and incredibly complex.