DPCC Co-Chair Jeffries Calls Trump “A Racial Arsonist”

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WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy & Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on CNN to discuss President Trump's recent remarks on the NFL protests. Jeffries highlighted the raw deal of chaos and confusion Trump is handing down to the American people and how Democrats will bring A Better Deal to all Americans. Below are excerpts from the interview and click here to watch the video

"Time and time again, Donald Trump has proven to the nation that he's not a "uniter" - he's clearly a divider. And in the context of his remarks, he went down to the heart of Dixie in Alabama before an all white or mostly white crowd, the good old boys, so to speak, and he engaged in what many of us I think can fairly call race baiting. You have to imagine that this whole protest situation unfolded in the context of some very specific things that were happening to the African American community. Now, we have come a long way in America, we still have a long way to go on the question of race. Some want sugar coat the African American experience but the facts are the facts. As a community, we have been forced to endure slavery, rape, kidnapping, Jim Crow segregation, mass incarceration, a lynching epidemic, and now of course police brutality that continues to this very day…[That is what] prompted Colin Kaepernick and others to kneel down so that others might have the courage to stand up. That is it a uniquely American thing to do and shame on Donald Trump for criticizing these athletes."

"His reaction to Charlottesville was clearly inaccurate, inappropriate and unacceptable. For many people throughout America, [it] 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, fan the flames of hatred, and of course in that context suggested that there was violence on all sides when we understand that it was neo-Nazis, it was the KKK who were responsible for the loss of life of one courageous American and the damage that was done to so many others. It's this atmosphere that we find it troubling, with all that's happening in the world and the country, that Donald Trump would choose to go after a few black athletes in the NBA and NFL.

"Let me simply say that time and time again [Trump has] refused to distance himself from individuals like David Duke, a vowed white supremacist, as well as others for reasons that many of us can't figure out. Why in the world would anyone equivocate, particularly the leader of the free world, as it relates to individuals like the KKK and neo-Nazis? That's deeply troubling. We know Donald Trump has a history of fanning the flames of racial hatred, using stereotypes to advance his own personal and political agenda. For five years he perpetrated the racist lie that Barack Obama was not born in the United States of America and then rode that lie into the White House, which is why we are all being subjected to what we are dealing with right now. That's not to say that all of his supporters are racist, that is not the case. But his behavior is deeply troubling to Americans of all races and religious backgrounds who believe in the values of tolerance, decency and diversity."

"[Trump] is a racial arsonist. He uses race to advance his own ends. That's troubling. I'm not going to stand here and call him a racist or not- but I will speak to the facts which have been part of his journey, going all the way back to the time that Donald Trump and Trump organization was sued by the Nixon Justice Department by engaging in housing discrimination against black and Puerto Rican applications in the 1970s. And then of course the situation with the Central Park Five - individuals who were wrongfully accused, wrongfully convicted, and wrongfully imprisoned, black and latino young men, for a crime they didn't commit. It was Donald Trump who led the lynch mob trying to persecute these individuals. Americans are smart enough to put the facts together for themselves. He's offering the American people a very raw deal, chaos and confusion - here on Capitol Hill Democrats we are planning for the American people a much better deal focused on better jobs, wages, and a better future for people of every single race."

"He has chosen to use elements of racial hatred and anxiety and stereotypes to advance himself as he sees it with some in his base. That should be problematic. I can't speak to his heart. I've never met him. I've never talked with him. I've never sat with him. I can only speak to the things that prior to his arrival at 1600 Pennsylvania avenue and subsequent to him being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America. And what I'm suggesting is that that should trouble everyone, particularly the desire to provide aid and comfort to individuals like the neo-Nazis and the KKK members who were responsible for the tragedy in Charlottesville."

" It is indecent. It's inconsistent with who we are as Americans. Those NFL players, all they were doing was standing up for uniquely American principles, like equal protection under the law, liberty and justice for all, and exercising what is a deeply American value embedded in the first amendment: freedom of speech and expression. Why Donald trump the president would attack those individuals is beyond me."

Congressman Jeffries also spoke on this subject on the House Floor. Click here to watch the video.