We used to have a photo of a dog whistle in our photo library because the word was being thrown around so much during the Trump administration. President Trump set off a weeks-long news cycle when he called members of the violent gang MS-13 animals. Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood up for them, asking if they did not have a spark of humanity in them. Back during the Baltimore riots, Trump used the word "thug," and we were assured that it was racist. Jimmy Fallon bandleader Questlove said it was racist code.

The Associated Press, transcribing the Democrats' talking points, had to delete a tweet claiming that Trump had referred to all immigrants as thugs, just like he said that all Mexicans are rapists.

As you know, there was a shootout after the Kansas City Chiefs' victory parade Wednesday that left one person dead and many injured. President Biden tweeted about banning assault weapons, even though we're pretty sure the rival gangs used illegal handguns.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson made news by calling the shooters thugs. "What happened yesterday with those thugs is not who we are in Missouri," Parson said, blaming the chaos on "just a bunch of criminals, thugs out there, just killing people at an incident like that."

The Kansas City Star is reporting that Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has called the governor's remarks a racist "dog whistle."

So the shooters were black. That clears that up.

This is the same mayor who in 2021 announced plans to defund the police department $47 million:

This is also the same mayor who sued the state over a law requiring Kansas City to spend more on police.

Lucas sounds like the kind of guy who favors thugs over police officers.

"Thugs" is a dog whistle. Come on.

A beloved Michael Jackson impersonator.

This is what Lucas is concerned about? The governor using the word thugs?

We're certain they were all austere religious scholars.