After a bizarre exchange with Reporter April Ryan in the nuttiest impromptu press conference we've ever seen, members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) have been weighing in on this racist administration.
Gregory Meeks, a member of the CBC said on Friday, "The "President" of the United States ask a reporter to reach out for a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, who deals with a legislative agenda is kind of funny. and I would say to him, utilizing his words, you know, he should use his African-American --I think he has one, maybe Amorosa."
That Amorosa line was sheer perfection. On MSNBC early Saturday, Thomas Roberts asked NY Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries to comment on what amounts to Donald Trump's propensity to surround himself with racists.
THOMAS ROBERTS Do you know what dates have been put out there and what conditions are out there for this (CBC) meeting?
JEFFRIES: ...it would seem to me that the primary condition would be if there's going to be a meeting with Donald Trump, that there has to be a -- a meaningful discussion around criminal justice reform, the need to end massive incarceration in America, the need to repair the Voting Rights Act after it was devastated by the Supreme Court back in 2013, the need to develop an economy that works for hardworking everyday Americans and not just big business....
Yesterday Jeffries spoke his mind about the Confederate elephant that always seems to be in Trump's room, Steve Bannon.
ROBERTS: I want to ask you about a comment you made on our air yesterday. I just want to remind folks what you had to say. Take a listen.
JEFFRIES (from Friday) We're looking forward to an open dialogue. Steve Bannon, however, should not be in the room. He's a stone cold racist and a White Supremacist sympathizer. It would be hard for me to participate in any meeting with Steve Bannon that normalizes his presence in the White House.
ROBERTS: Those are very serious accusations. Is Steve Bannon not being in the room part of your own condition with the CBC of how this meeting can take place constructively?
JEFFRIES: Well, I don't set conditions for the CBC, but from my perspective, it doesn't seem to me to be a productive thing to have Steve Bannon, given his history, in the room. What possibly could he add to the discussion of value that would lead to a productive conversation around dealing with issues of importance to the African-American community?
ROBERTS: Do you think that President Trump is going to hear those comments and use that as any type of leverage to not have a meeting with the CBC, to feel insulted by a comment about Steve Bannon, his top strategist?
JEFFRIES: It's not clear to me, but he made the decision to bring Steve Bannon into the White House. it seems to me there would have to be some consequences. Otherwise, we'll normalize the presence of such an individual. You've had Democrats and Republicans, people all throughout the country who have questioned the decision to bring someone like Steve Bannon into the White House. And so my observations are nothing novel.
ROBERTS: So we did see the "president" address the issue of racism during his Thursday press conference. and this happened with an exchange with a reporter who is Jewish and also reports for a Jewish publication. Take a look.
He plays the portion of the conference with the Jewish reporter and Trump's dismissive tone. In case you have any doubt that Trump is utterly divorced from the truth, one clear indicator that he is lying is his overuse of the superlative "I'm the most tolerant, or I'm the least racist." Here's another example:
TRUMP So here's the story, folks. Number one, I am the least anti-semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism. the least racist person.
Roberts discussed the exchange with the Jewish reporter at the press conference, and reported that he still sides with Trump, sadly.
ROBERTS: ...But then he went on to say he's the least racist person you've ever met. Do you feel as if there is an issue with "President" Trump and his perspective on racism solely because his top strategist is Steve Bannon?
No. I think that we should look at "president" Trump's own history of dealing with issues related to the African-American community and other communities of color and it in and of itself is very troubling. We know for five years Donald Trump perpetrated the racist lie that Barack Obama was not born in United States of America even though there was every reason in the world to believe that that was not true. It was just an attempt to delegitimize the first Black President of the United States of America, and someone, who, by the way, did a tremendous job.
He also had adverse histories relating to the Central Park 5, calling for them to get the death penalty, even though they were five Black and Latino individuals who were wrongly convicted. There's a history there. Donald Trump will have to deal with in terms of his own doing. In terms of the Steve Bannon phenomenon, the reality is this -- Steve Bannon ran Breitbart News. Breitbart News is a self-described platform for the alt-Right. The alt-Right promotes, in the view of many Americans, anti-semitism and White Supremacy. White Supremacy equals racism. Therefore, through a process of deductive reasoning, the person who ran Breitbart News has some questions to answer as it relates to the level of respect he has for tolerance and diversity in our society.
That alt-Right Bannon could never be trusted to answer questions honestly.
Great work, Jeffries, Meeks and the CBC! Keep calling out these racists, we need you good Democrats more than ever.
