Roy Johnson, a regular columnist for AL.com, published an article Thursday asserting that President Donald Trump is “normalizing racism,” along with anyone in or seeking public office who supports him.

Johnson wrote that race is the number one issue in American society, and Trump has caused racism to go from being coded to overt.

“[R]ace weighs upon us every day,” Johnson said. “It peppers our timelines, to exhaustion, at times.”

He continued, “It’s the virus infecting our elections. Right now.”

The columnist then cited the case of Florida’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, Rep. Ron DeSantis, who recently implored his state’s voters not “to monkey this up” by electing his socialist Democrat of an opponent – who is black.

Of DeSantis, Johnson said, “The man might as well have been carrying a bamboo tiki torch.”

“That he was so comfortable using those words reveals yet again just how much Trump has normalized racism. And not just as president,” Johnson added.

The liberal blog’s columnist did not blame just Trump the president or Trump the candidate – he said Trump is responsible for America’s race problem going back three decades.

“In 1989, he famously called for the death penalty for five black and Latino teens who were accused of raping a white woman in Central Park. They were [later] acquitted,” Johnson outlined, as his proof.

He then wrapped up his argument by going even farther – not just blaming Trump, but blaming every candidate and official who supports the nation’s commander-in-chief as well.

“Any candidate, however, who blithely and blindly goes ‘all-in’ with Trump, who uses his name as much as their own in campaign ads and speeches, also embraces the heinous millstone of racial divisiveness the president has sown,” Johnson claimed.

“Whether they mean to or not,” he continued.

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn