President Trump can’t be a racist because he’s taken photos with black celebrities, including rappers and Al Sharpton, his son Donald Trump Jr. said in a interview this week.
Speaking to the Daily Caller, Don Jr. said Democrats are too quick to call people racists because it does a “disservice” to those who “are actually oppressed and hurt by real racism.” Think people who are shut out of housing because they’re black, or stereotyped as criminal, lazy and disease-ridden because they’re black.
Don Jr. then launched into a classic “some of his best friends are black” defense of his father: “I know him. I’ve seen him my whole life. I’ve seen the things he’s done. You know it’s amazing — all the rappers, all his African-American friends, from Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. I have pictures with them. We say ‘hi.’ Have always been friends.”
While it’s not true that “all the rappers” have photos with Trump, some do, including Snoop, Kanye, Ja Rule, and Lil Jon, who was a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice. And Don Jr. is correct about the long relationship between Trump and Jackson and Sharpton.
On Tuesday, Sharpton explained that Trump has changed since they met in the ’80s.
“We haven’t changed. He changed,” Sharpton said. “And what he’s changed to become is one who has proposed some of the most racist, bigoted policies. When he was talking right, we took pictures with him and welcomed to him to our events. When he went left, we stood up for what was right. He is promoting racism.”
