The Rev. Al Sharpton rejected the idea that former President Trump helped build economic security for Black Americans.
Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, Sharpton said Trump is partly responsible for the wealth gap that exists today between black and white Americans.
“The absurdity of acting as if Donald Trump did something,” Sharpton told host Joe Scarborough.
“Joe, you know, I’ve known Donald Trump for 35 years, and I’ve fought him, I’ve met with him, I’ve tried to get him to do things. I’ve never seen a black employee in Donald Trump’s office. Not one. He’s always said that climbing Trump Tower is like climbing the Rocky Mountains: The higher you climb, the whiter you get. I didn’t see a single black employee at his trial. So what has he done for black people? He didn’t do it as a private citizen, and as Steve Rattner’s chart shows, he didn’t do it as president.”
Sharpton’s comments come as the former president SemaphoresIn it, he said that black men in particular see all that he has done for them.
“They see what I’ve done, they see strength, and they want strength,” Trump said. “They want strength, they want security. They want jobs, they want to have their jobs. They don’t want millions of people coming in and taking their jobs. And that’s what’s happening. People coming into this country are taking jobs from African-Americans, and they know it.”
Trump’s comments were also condemned by former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, who called Trump’s comments “BS.”
Sharpton added Wednesday that achieving equal generational wealth takes more than one generation, noting that decades of oppression faced by black Americans since the abolition of slavery have stunted the progress of their communities.
“You have to remember that after they stopped Reconstruction and we got into this period that ended with Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, there was no legal change until Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. That’s a period that spans almost a century,” Sharpton said in Scarborough.
“We are the only race that by law cannot do certain things. We had prejudices against other races that came to this country, but were designated by law to not have equal rights. And we’re talking about my parents, my grandparents. So, you’re right. You can’t erase that in one generation because by law you can’t do certain things.”
