'To His Core, In His Bones': John Legend Gets Blunt In Message For 'Racist' Trump
Musician John Legend put Donald Trump on blast on Sunday, calling out the former president as a racist and then offering some specific examples.
“He’s done very little for us and he is at his core, truly, truly a racist,” Legend told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki.
Trump has claimed that he’s done more for Black Americans than “any other president since Abraham Lincoln and maybe including Abraham Lincoln,” and his supporters point to bipartisan criminal justice reform that Trump signed into law in 2018.
But Legend said Trump’s track record tells another story.
“He’s not been an ally,” Legend said. “At the same time he’s claiming credit for those small things, he’s also saying if people are stealing something they should get shot in the middle of the store. When we protested the killing of George Floyd, he advocated for the military to shoot us in the streets.”
During the unrest of 2020, Trump called protesters “thugs,” advocated that police shoot looters on sight, and suggested putting the military in charge of the response.
“He’s made it clear throughout his life that he believes Black people are inferior, like, he believes that to his core, in his bones. He wouldn’t let us live in his buildings back in the day,” he said, referring to a 1973 federal lawsuit that claimed Trump’s real estate company would not rent to Black tenants.
Legend also referred to Trump’s belief in “superior” genes and bloodlines.
“He clearly believes in a genetic hierarchy of humanity and it’s racially determined,” he said.
“So he is a tried-and-true, dyed-in-the-wool racist,” Legend ― who has achieved the rare feat of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards ― continued. “Like, in the core of his being, he’s a racist, so I don’t wanna hear what he has to say about what he’s done for Black people. He’s done for little for us. And he is, at his core, truly, truly a racist. You even hear what he says about immigration and what countries he wants people to come in from. They’re all very white.”
See more of his conversation with Psaki below: