Donald Trump Relies on Eugenics Concepts, UT Prof Argues in New Book

Donald Trump, who says things like that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” (Photo by Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0)

“They’re poisoning the blood of our country”

“These are bad – these are animals, and we have to stop it”

“A lot of it is about the genes, isn’t it, don’t you believe? The racehorse theory.”

If you had to bet money on it, who spoke each of these quotes? Adolf Hitler or Donald Trump?

Donald Trump said all three.

Shannon Bow O’Brien, a UT-Austin expert in presidential speechmaking, has spent the last couple years studying the deep-rooted American tradition of eugenics.

“Trump seems to adhere to more eugenics rhetoric than racially charged language, which I find scarier,” O’Brien said.

With the 2024 election coming up, O’Brien’s latest book release, Eugenics in American Political Life, is extremely important. While eugenics in the American imagination is often only associated with the Holocaust, O’Brien points out that eugenics as a movement began in America – and is still alive and well.

“Ask yourself the question: do we still see inferences of who should belong and who shouldn’t belong?” O’Brien said. “Do we still see a language of superiority?”

Eugenics, according to the definition of early 20th century scientist and Nazi darling Charles Davenport, was the “science of the improvement of the human race by better breeding.” The field was developed in America before it was adopted by the Third Reich, with many prominent political figures and educational institutions taking a vested interest. In Germany, it justified the Holocaust. In America, it justified forced sterilization in 31 states and bizarre efforts to incentivize white people to reproduce, such as “Fitter Family” and “Better Baby” contests.

O’Brien developed an interest in the American eugenics movement when reflecting back on her upbringing and education in Kentucky. O’Brien noticed a “clash” between her grandparents, parents, and her generation. “People were taught eugenics, fundamentally, at a very young age back then,” said O’Brien. “Then, when it’s stripped out of the classrooms, you have another generation that grows up without a heavy diet of white superiority. I found this 'clash’ intriguing and the root of the fight for equality within America.”

In the first half of the book, O’Brien lays the foundation, diving into the history of the American eugenics movement. She discusses Calvinist (predestination) thought during the founding of America, laying the groundwork for what she calls “ideas of innate superiority and inferiority.” This ideology helped white Americans justify slavery. Additionally, O’Brien examines early American political speeches, finding many prominent figures such as John Harvey Kellogg and Theodore Roosevelt engaging with eugenic rhetoric.

“If you asked me five years ago who was my favorite president, it was Teddy. I have a much more complicated relationship with Theodore Roosevelt today,” said O’Brien, referring to Roosevelt’s concerns of “race suicide” when white Protestant women didn’t have children. “And a lot of [that complication] has come out of working on this book, because I was appalled that he liked to throw around the term race suicide.”

During her research, O’Brien spent a lot of time dissecting prominent eugenicists’ and politicians’ speeches, encountering content that, even for a historian of two decades, she found “shocking and frustrating.”

One particular moment O’Brien recalls as “startling” was her analysis of John B. Knox’s speech during the Alabama Constitutional Convention in 1901. Knox, when discussing voting rights for Black Americans, stated that they “would not know what to do with it if [they] had it. I would just as soon give a toddler a razor in his hand expecting him not to hurt himself.”

Throughout her book, O’Brien makes readers think about the type of rhetoric politicians use. She wants readers to ask themselves: “Why are they saying this? What is their purpose? What are their goals?”

In the latter half of her book, O’Brien shifts to the present, analyzing Donald Trump’s rhetoric through a eugenics lens. In one example, she discusses Trump’s preference for Nordic countries, dissecting one of Trump’s speeches in which he said, “We should have more people from Norway.” O’Brien believes these details matter because they help us understand the “why” behind certain policies. She notices a pattern of racial preference within his rhetoric.

O’Brien’s book has a table categorizing the various nicknames Trump uses, blocked out by white men, men of color, white women, and women of color. “What Trump calls women of color is frightening compared to white women,” says O’Brien. “He uses racially charged slurs,” such as “Nimrada” referring to Nikki Haley or “Coco Chow” referring to former United States Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

Another instance O’Brien points out is Trump’s questioning the ethnic background of nonwhite political candidates. From his extensive questioning of former President Obama’s and Nikki Haley’s natural-born citizen status, Trump criticizes anyone who lives outside of his narrow view of what it means to be an American.

But it’s not just his language, it’s also his policies.

In 2016, the Trump administration kicked off their first 100 days with a travel ban for people from Muslim-majority countries.

In 2017, Trump signed an executive order expanding the Mexico-United States barrier, otherwise known as “The Wall.”

O’Brien’s book tackles an uncomfortable truth: Eugenics is still deeply ingrained into American identity and politics.

“If history doesn’t offend you a little bit, we’re probably not teaching it right.” says O’Brien.