Donald Trump has a history of making “racist” comments and of being “too bigoted and racist.”
From the very start, his presidential campaign was marked by extreme rhetoric. He accused Mexican immigrants of being “rapists” and proposed a ban on Muslim immigration to the United States. In an exchange with CNN’s Jake Tapper in early 2016, Trump would not renounce the support of white supremacist David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
Trump, who was the original birther, has a long history of racially-charged statements and actions.
In 1989, he took out full-page ads in New York City newspapers demanding the reinstatement of the death penalty. The ads were purchased shortly after the arrest of five teens—four African Americans and one Hispanic—for the brutal rape of a female jogger in Central Park, and they were widely seen as a call for the execution of these youths. (At the subsequent trial, the teens were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms, but more than a decade later, it turned out they had been falsely accused and convicted—a serial rapist confessed to the crime and DNA evidence supported his account—and their convictions were vacated.)
Several months after jumping into the Central Park rape case, Trump appeared in an NBC News special on race in the United States. He declared that certain black Americans now had an advantage over white Americans.
Trump noted that if he were starting off in business at this point in time, he would “love” to be “a well-educated black.” He explained, “I really believe they do have an actual advantage today.” Later in the program, actor and director Spike Lee slammed Trump’s comments as “garbage” and “craziness.”
Here is the full quote:
A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market. And, I think, sometimes a black may think that they don’t really have the advantage or this or that but in actuality today, currently, it’s, uh, it’s a, it’s a great. I’ve said on occasion, even about myself, if I were starting off today I would love to be a well-educated black because I really believe they do have an actual advantage today.
WATCH:
In 1989, Trump told Bryant Gumbel, "a well educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well educated white in terms of job market."
"Sometimes a black may think they don't have the advantage…" Then he says if he were starting out he'd like to be a "well educated black" pic.twitter.com/JFSDkRGWBb [1]
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) August 14, 2018 [2]