In a fiery speech on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, Monday before an audience at a National Action Network event Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) tore into President Donald Trump.
The topic of his speech? Lessons Dr. King taught us that are especially relevant today, Mediaite reports.
“We have a hater in the White House. Birther-in-Chief. The Grand Wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. One of the things we have learned is that while Jim Crow may be dead he’s still got some nieces and nephews that are alive and well.”
And Trump has another thing coming if he thinks Democrats will give him any money for his wall, Jeffries added.
The congressman, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, has also lambasted Trump as a “racial arsonist” for his namby-pamby reaction to the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. In a 2017 interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, the senator added that Trump’s response has led people “to conclude that the President of the United States chose to pull the sheets off and reveal himself.”
After Blitzer asked him to compare Trump’s reaction to kneeling NFL players protesting racial injustice to the white supremacist rally that led to injuries and death, Jeffries replied:
“Trump’s reaction to Charlottesville was clearly inadequate, unacceptable, inappropriate, and for many people across America, led them to conclude that the president of the United States chose to pull the sheets off and reveal himself, in terms of his tendency to be a racial arsonist, fanning the flames of hatred.”
And it’s not the first time Jeffries has alluded to Trump as the “grand wizard.”
Grand Wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. has once again ripped the sheets off and exposed himself to the American People. What a DISGRACE https://t.co/FNpulOAL6u
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) January 12, 2018
While Jeffries also told Blitzer he doesn’t believe all Trump supporters are racist, the president’s behavior is extremely worrisome and added:
“That is not the case, but his behavior is deeply troubling to Americans of all race and religious backgrounds who believe in the values of tolerance, decency, and diversity.”
Blitzer asked the senator if he thinks Trump is racist.
“No,” Jeffries said. “He’s a racial arsonist. He uses race to advance his own ends — that’s troubling.”
This seems to be an apt description, especially since this president has caused so much suffering in order to get his wall, but Jeffries may be being too charitable. Trump has been directly responsible for the tear-gassing of innocent people. He has continually maligned Black NFL players for protesting racial injustice. He’s continued to spread lies and falsehoods against the immigrants hoping to cross the border, so it’s pretty much impossible for me to view him as anything else other than a racist.
You can watch Jeffries deliver his fiery speech in the video below.
Image license Public Domain by C-SPAN/U.S. Congress/New York Daily News via Wikimedia Commons
