When it comes to racism and politics, and in particular the racist high jinks of a certain former president, who really should bear the moniker, “Notorious P.I.G.” what goes around comes around — round, round like a ball — or even in the context of the 2024 presidential race now taking shape — a meatball. As a foodie, I can really sink my teeth into the latest GOP telenovela. But this latest drama will not be so appetizing to those who want to bring civility to politics. Of course, when speaking of civility, Donald Trump literally doesn’t know the meaning of the word. He wrote recently in a cheeky post on Truth Social — his answer to Twitter — that he wouldn’t dream of tagging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a likely rival for the Republican presidential nomination, with the nickname “Meatball Ron.”

Using a phrase like that would be inappropriate, wrote Trump, who is, as we all know, an expert on propriety. If there’s one thing we learned from the wince-inducing nightmare known as the Trump presidency, it set the Manhattan real estate mogul — turned celebrity con man, turned leader of the free world — doesn’t use language flippantly. 

Trump says precisely what he means. And you can bet he meant to say exactly what he said. Every utterance, even those of the most ding-a-ling variety, is meant to evoke a specific response. Sometimes his barbs fall flat. Other times they hit a bullseye. But his words always have purpose. And often, the purpose is to insult, wound, cripple or destroy. 

Who could forget the rhetorical gifts that Trump bestowed upon voters in his 2016 White House bid? Certainly not “Low-energy Jeb,” or “Little Marco.” You can bet Trump also made an impression on “Lying Ted,” and “Crooked Hillary.” 

So now it’s DeSantis’ turn to get baptized. But it’s how that ritual is carried out that matters. Why did Trump choose a word like “meatball?” More than one commentator, pundit or analyst has said it’s a subtle reference to DeSantis’ Italian heritage. 

Mamma Mia. Ron DeSantis, who spent $600,000 of Florida taxpayer money to ship Venezuelan refugees to the left wing enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, just to see the expression on liberals’ faces, is now getting the same treatment from Trump that the Mexicans got in 2015. 

In announcing his White House bid that year, Trump called people like my Mexican grandfather, criminals, rapists, and drug traffickers. Again, these words weren’t chosen by accident. And now a new word has emerged to bite Republicans in the ass. 

Of course, “meatball” is an obvious reference to DeSantis’ Italian heritage. A century ago in 1923, Italian immigrants were the Mexicans of the early 20th century. They were the number one target of nativist and fear-mongering politicians who worried that Italian immigrants wouldn’t assimilate. 

So of course, they did everything they could to make it harder for Italians to assimilate. Of course, that was a nonsensical worry. The Italians did assimilate just like the Irish and Germans before them. Still, Trump, who is himself a throwback to the nativism of the know-nothings and the corruption of Tammany Hall, wants to go back in time and paint DeSantis as something foreign and menacing and slippery. 

Same old Donald. That clown never learns his lesson and, apparently, neither does the MAGA  crowd and any other Republican out there who’s thinking about supporting Trump again. Don’t these people realize that evil doesn’t just go away, especially when you simply try to sweep it under the rug? 

Bigotry and prejudice need to be called out and confronted. Otherwise, these things get recycled and come back later in different shape or color. In fact, sometimes they’re in such a hurry to come back, they don’t even bother to change their appearance. They just reappear in their original form. All we have to do is recognize them.